Ezekiel 12:19

And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. SAY UNTO THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND - the Jews in "the land" of Chaldea, who thought themselves miserable as being exiles, and envied the Jews left in Jerusalem as fortunate. THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD ... OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL - contrasted with "the people in the land" of Chaldea. So far from being fortunate as the exiles in Chaldea regarded them, the Jews in Jerusalem are truly miserable, for the worst is before them, whereas the exiles have escaped the miseries of the coming siege. THAT HER LAND MAY BE DESOLATE FROM ALL THAT IS THEREIN - literally, 'that the land...

17-20 The prophet must eat and drink in care and fear, with trembling, that he might express the condition of those in Jerusalem during the siege. When ministers speak of the ruin coming upon sinners, they must speak as those that know the terrors of the Lord. Afflictions are happy ones, however grievous to flesh and blood, that improve us in the knowledge of God....

THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND - Chaldaea. OF THE INHABITANTS - In respect to “the inhabitants.” DESOLATE FROM, ALL THAT IS THEREIN - i. e., stripped of all its inhabitants and of all its wealth. At one and the same time, Jeremiah was prophesying in Jerusalem, and Ezekiel in Chaldaea; the prophecies of the former were sent to the exiles, and those of Ezekiel to the dwellers at Jerusalem, that the guiding hand of One God in different places might be made clear (Jerome)....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 12:1 THE WORD OF THE LORD, etc. This formula, so familiar in Isaiah and Jeremiah, appears for the first time in Ezekiel, but occurs repeatedly afterwards, especially in this chapter (verses 8, 17, 21, 26. and again Ezekiel 13:1; Ezekiel 14:2, _et al._)_. _The teaching by "the visions of God" ceases, and that of direct message or symbolic acts is resumed. In each case the point aimed at was the same. The people who heard the one or saw the other were to be taught how utterly groundless was the hope that Jerusalem could hold out against its enemies. The interval between the two was probably a short one, and the new teaching, we may conjectu

AND SAY UNTO THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND,.... Of Chaldea, where the prophet now was; not the natives of the land, but the Israelites, who were captives in it; who were ready to murmur and repine at their own case, as miserable; and at that of the Jews at Jerusalem, as happy; and therefore they are taught by this sign, as well as by the following prophecy, that they were mistaken: THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD OF THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM; or to them, or "concerning" them y; whom the captives in Chaldea thought lived so happily, and would continue so: [AND] OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL; or, "upon the land of Israel" z; inhabitants on it; to this sense the Targum and Septuagint Version interpret it, and also Kimchi: THEY SHALL EAT THEIR BREAD WITH CAREFULNESS, AND DRINK THEIR WATER WITH ASTONISHMENT; meaning at the siege of Jerusalem, when they could not eat and drink in peace; but, while they were ea...

CHAPTER S 12-19 Signs, Messages, and Parables _ 1. Signs given through the prophet (Ezekiel 12:1) _ 2. The message of speedy judgment (Ezekiel 12:21) 3. The message against false prophets and prophetesses. (Ezekiel 13:1) 4. The message against the elders (Ezekiel 14:1) 5. The parable of the vine given to the fire (Ezekiel 15:1) 6. The parable of the abandoned child and Israel's whoredom (Ezekiel 16:1)

THE STRAITS OF THE SIEGE. In another message whose symbols resemble those of Ezekiel 4:10 f., Ezekiel 4:16 f., he seeks to bring home to them the certain and horrible privations of the siege....

OF THE INHABITANTS. to the inhabitants. THE LAND, &c.. concerning the land, &c. Hebrew admath. See note on Ezekiel 11:17. HER. Some codices, with one early printed edition, read "their". ALL. The 1611 edition of the Authorized Version omitted this "all"....

A new symbol of the terror and violence and desolation about to come upon the land....

B. The Suffering of Jerusalem's Inhabitants 12:17-20 TRANSLATION (17) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (18) son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and fear. (19) Say unto the people of the land, Thus says the LORD to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, unto the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fear, and their water they shall drink with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from its fullness, because of the violence of all those who dwell in her. (20) And the inhabited cities shall become desolate, and the land shall be an astonishment, that you may know that I am the LORD. COMMENTS After an interval of passivity and silence, another command came to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 12:17). He was to set forth symbolically the conditions which would exist in Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege. Meager ration