Ezekiel 24:4

4 Heap together into it the pieces thereof, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, choice pieces and full of bones.

Ezekiel 24:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 24:4

Gather the pieces thereof into it
fire being made, and the pot set on, and water poured into it, the next thing is, to put in the pieces that are to be boiled; and these are to be gathered; meaning the people of the land, that were to be gathered from the several parts of it, for their security, as they thought; but the event proved it was for their ruin: even every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder;
the princes and gentry, the great and the mighty, the rich and wealthy of the people; who, upon the invasion, got together in Jerusalem, to secure their persons and substance: fill it with the choice bones;
or with those pieces that have the choice bones, that are full of marrow; the strongest among the people; the soldiers, or such as were fit for war; the best of their militia, brought hither to defend the city; but, in fact, to be slain, as they were. The Targum is,

``gather the princes thereof into the midst of her, every terrible man and warrior; fill her with the army of the people.''

Ezekiel 24:4 In-Context

2 Son of man, write thee the name of this day, on which the king of Babylon hath set himself against Jerusalem to day.
3 And thou shalt speak by a figure a parable to the provoking house, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Set on a pot, set it on, I say, and put water in it.
4 Heap together into it the pieces thereof, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, choice pieces and full of bones.
5 Take the fattest of the flock, and lay together piles of bones under it: the seething thereof is boiling hot, and the bones thereof are thoroughly sodden in the midst of it.
6 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose rust is in it, and its rust is not gone out of it: cast it out piece by piece, there hath no lot fallen upon it.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.