Ezekiel 5:4

4 And again thou shalt take of them, and thou shalt cast forth them into the midst of the fire (and thou shalt throw them forth into the midst of the fire). And thou shalt burn them in (the) fire; and (the) fire shall go out of that into all the house of Israel.

Ezekiel 5:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 5:4

Then take of them again
Of that small number preserved: and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire:
this was fulfilled in Gedaliah and the Jews that were with him, over whom the king of Babylon had made him governor, who were slain by Ishmael, ( Jeremiah 41:1-7 ) ; [for] thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel;
from this barbarous murder of Gedaliah and his men, judgment came upon all the house of Israel; a war commenced between Ishmael and Johanan the son of Kareah; and afterwards Nebuzaradan carried captive great numbers of them that were left in the land. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it, "from these shall a fire come forth" which Jarchi interprets of these intimations given the prophet, from whence judgments should come upon all the house of Israel. It may be understood of those that were left in the land, and of such who returned from the captivity; for whose sins, and those of their posterity, the wrath of God came forth upon all the house of Israel, to the utter destruction of their nation, city, and temple, by Titus Vespasian.

Ezekiel 5:4 In-Context

2 Thou shalt burn the third part with fire in the midst of the city, by the [ful]filling of days of besieging. And thou shalt take the third part, and shalt cut (it) by sword in the compass thereof. But thou shalt scatter the tother third part into the wind; and I shall make naked a sword after them. (Thou shalt burn a third part of it with fire in the midst of the city, at the fulfilling, or at the end, of the days of the besieging. And thou shalt take another third part, and shalt cut it by the sword all around the city. And thou shalt scatter the other third part into the wind; and I shall make naked a sword to go after that hair.)
3 And thou shalt take thereof a little number (of those hairs), and thou shalt bind those in the highness of thy mantle.
4 And again thou shalt take of them, and thou shalt cast forth them into the midst of the fire (and thou shalt throw them forth into the midst of the fire). And thou shalt burn them in (the) fire; and (the) fire shall go out of that into all the house of Israel.
5 The Lord God saith these things, This is Jerusalem; I have set it in the midst of heathen men, and lands in the compass thereof. (The Lord God saith these things, This is Jerusalem; I have set it in the midst of the heathen, and the other lands all around it.)
6 And it despised my dooms, that it was more wicked than heathen men; and it despised my commandments more than lands that be in the compass thereof. For they have cast away my dooms, and they went not in my commandments. (And it despised my laws, or my judgements, so that it was more wicked than the heathen; and it despised my commandments more than the lands that be all around it. For they have throw away my laws, or my judgements, and they did not obey my commandments.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.