Ezekiel 24

General context

The heading reads "in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month," and the prophet is told to write the name of that day, for "the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day." He is to utter a parable to the rebellious house: set on a pot, pour in water, fill it with choice pieces and bones and boil it. Then, "Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein," the pieces are to be brought out one by one with no lot cast. Her blood is set "upon the top of a rock," not covered with dust, so that fury may come up. The fire is heaped up to consume flesh and bones, then the empty pot is set on the coals so its scum may be consumed; her great scum did not go out. Because he purged her and she was not purged, she will not be purged until his fury rests on her; "I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent." A second word tells the prophet that the Lord will take away "the desire of thine eyes with a stroke," and he is not to mourn or weep, nor cover his lips, nor eat "the bread of men." He speaks to the people in the morning; "at even my wife died"; in the morning he does as commanded. When the people ask what this means for them, he answers that the Lord will profane his sanctuary, "the desire of your eyes," and their sons and daughters left behind will fall by the sword; they will do as he has done, "Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign." When one who escapes comes with the news, the prophet's mouth will be opened and he will "be no more dumb," a sign to them, "and they shall know that I am the Lord."

Cited passages: Ezekiel 24:1, Ezekiel 24:2, Ezekiel 24:3, Ezekiel 24:4, Ezekiel 24:5, Ezekiel 24:6, Ezekiel 24:7, Ezekiel 24:8, Ezekiel 24:9, Ezekiel 24:10, Ezekiel 24:11, Ezekiel 24:12, Ezekiel 24:13, Ezekiel 24:14, Ezekiel 24:16, Ezekiel 24:17, Ezekiel 24:18, Ezekiel 24:19, Ezekiel 24:21, Ezekiel 24:22, Ezekiel 24:23, Ezekiel 24:24, Ezekiel 24:25, Ezekiel 24:26, Ezekiel 24:27

Ezekiel 24 (KJV)

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Historical context

This is the fourth chapter to open with a dated heading, "the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day," and the only one the text ties to an event on that same day: "the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day." The day is to be written down, and the news is to reach the prophet later through "he that escapeth," who will let him "hear it with thine ears." The prophet's name is printed here inside the Lord's speech to the people, "Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign"; the Lord otherwise addresses him as "son of man." His wife is named only as "the desire of thine eyes" and then in "my wife died"; her name and any cause beyond "a stroke" are not given, and the narrator records the death in one clause between two mornings. The mourning customs are known only by their negation: he is to bind his headdress, keep his shoes on, not cover his lips and not eat "the bread of men." The pot recalls the saying quoted in 11:3, "this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh," now with the Lord's own recipe. The blood "upon the top of a rock" is stated first as the city's act and then as the Lord's, "I have set her blood upon the top of a rock." The promise that his mouth will be opened and he will "be no more dumb" recalls 3:26, "that thou shalt be dumb," and the chapter does not report the escapee's arrival.

Cited passages: Ezekiel 24:1, Ezekiel 24:2, Ezekiel 24:26, Ezekiel 24:24, Ezekiel 24:25, Ezekiel 24:16, Ezekiel 24:18, Ezekiel 24:17, Ezekiel 11:3, Ezekiel 24:7, Ezekiel 24:8, Ezekiel 24:27, Ezekiel 3:26

Literary context

Two words of the Lord share one day. The first is a parable told as instructions in the imperative, "Set on a pot," "Gather the pieces," "Heap on wood," so the hearer cooks the city; then "Woe to the bloody city" is spoken twice, at 24:6 and 24:9, and the recipe turns into a burning, the flesh consumed, the bones burned, the empty pot scorched. "Scum" and "purged" are the repeated words, and the pot is finally judged for what it could not lose. The second word is a sign-act, and the text names it so, "Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign," but here the sign is a death, and the narration is compressed: morning, evening, morning, with "my wife died" set between. The people's question, "Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us," draws an answer that maps each forbidden gesture onto them, "ye shall do as I have done," line by line: tires, shoes, lips, bread. "The desire of thine eyes" is said of the wife and then "the desire of your eyes" of the sanctuary, binding the two losses in one phrase. The chapter ends on an opened mouth and the recognition formula, with the hearing still to come from an escapee.

Cited passages: Ezekiel 24:3, Ezekiel 24:4, Ezekiel 24:10, Ezekiel 24:6, Ezekiel 24:9, Ezekiel 24:11, Ezekiel 24:13, Ezekiel 24:24, Ezekiel 24:18, Ezekiel 24:19, Ezekiel 24:22, Ezekiel 24:23, Ezekiel 24:16, Ezekiel 24:21, Ezekiel 24:27

Key moments

1. Write the name of the day (Ezekiel 24:2). The prophet is told to record the day the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem.
2. Set on a pot (Ezekiel 24:3). The parable of the pot begins with water and choice pieces.
3. Woe to the bloody city (Ezekiel 24:6). The pot with scum is the bloody city, its pieces brought out one by one.
4. The desire of thine eyes (Ezekiel 24:16). The Lord announces he will take the prophet's wife with a stroke and forbids mourning.
5. At even my wife died (Ezekiel 24:18). The prophet speaks in the morning, his wife dies at evening, and he obeys.
6. Ezekiel is unto you a sign (Ezekiel 24:24). The people will lose sanctuary and children and do as the prophet has done.
7. No more dumb (Ezekiel 24:27). When an escapee brings the news, the prophet's mouth will be opened.

For reflection

The prophet's wife dies at evening and he does in the morning as he was commanded, with no word of his own about her. What is the reader to make of a grief the text records but does not let him show?

People in this chapter

• Ezekiel
• Jacob

Also indexed here:

• A wife of Ezekiel