Ezekiel 5:4

4 and of them thou dost take again, and hast cast them unto the midst of the fire, and hast burned them in the fire -- out of it cometh forth a fire unto 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 A third part with fire thou dost burn in the midst of the city, at the fulness of the days of the siege; and thou hast taken the third part, thou dost smite with a weapon round about it; and the third part thou dost scatter to the wind, and a weapon I draw out after them.

3 And thou hast taken thence a few in number -- and hast bound them in thy skirts;

4 and of them thou dost take again, and hast cast them unto the midst of the fire, and hast burned them in the fire -- out of it cometh forth a fire unto all the house of Israel.

5 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: this [is] Jerusalem, In the midst of the nations I have set her, And round about her [are] the lands.

6 And she changeth My judgments into wickedness more than the nations, And My statutes more than the lands that [are] round about her, For against My judgments they have kicked, And My statutes -- they have not walked in them.