Ezekiel 12:6

In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel. CARRY IT FORTH IN THE TWILIGHT - rather, 'in the dark.' So the English version rightly in Genesis 15:17 [ baa`ªlaaTaah (H5939)]. IT - "it" refers to "thy stuff." THOU SHALT COVER THY FACE - as one who muffles his face, afraid of being known by any one meeting him. So the Jews and Zedekiah should make their exit stealthily, and afraid to look around, so hurried should be their flight (Calvin). I HAVE SET THEE FOR A SIGN - rather, a portent, namely, for evil....

1-16 By the preparation for removal, and his breaking through the wall of his house at evening, as one desirous to escape from the enemy, the prophet signified the conduct and fate of Zedekiah. When God has delivered us, we must glorify him and edify others, by acknowledging our sins. Those who by afflictions are brought to this, are made to know that God is the Lord, and may help to bring others to know him....

Verse Ezekiel 12:6. _THOU SHALT COVER THY FACE, THAT THOU SEE NOT THE_ _GROUND_] Referring to the blinding of Zedekiah: even the _covering_ _of the face_ might be intended to signify that in this way Zedekiah should be carried to Babylon _on men's shoulders_ in some sort of _palanquin_, with a _cloth tied over his eyes_, because of the recent wounds made by extracting them. All the prophecies from this to the _twentieth_ chapter are supposed to have been delivered in the _sixth_ year of Zedekiah, _five_ years before the taking of Jerusalem. How accurate the prediction! and how exactly fulfilled!...

THOU SHALT COVER THY FACE - A sign of mourning (see Ezekiel 24:17); also of Zedekiah’s blindness Ezekiel 12:12....

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

IN THEIR SIGHT SHALL THOU BEAR [IT] UPON [THY] SHOULDERS,.... The bundle, packed up for his use and service, carried out through the wall dug by him. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it, as if he himself was to be carried out upon the shoulders of another, thus: "in their sight, upon the shoulders, thou shall be carried"; but the former sense is best: [AND] CARRY [IT] FORTH IN THE TWILIGHT; signifying the same as before: THOU SHALL COVER THY FACE, THAT THOU SEE NOT THE GROUND; or "land"; not the land of Israel, but the land of Chaldea, where the prophet was: this shows that great shame and confusion which should attend the king of Judah when he fled, and great fear and terror also; and likewise his regard to his eyes being put out by the king of Babylon; so that he saw not the land into which he was carried captive, Jeremiah 52:11;

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)

EZEKIEL 12. EXILE FORESHADOWED. Ezekiel 12:1. Flight from the Beleaguered City. Ezekiel's message of doom has surely been made plain enough, but the rebellious house will not listen; for one thing, their confidence in the indestructibility of the monarchy and the throne made such a message incredible. Well then, if they will not hear, they must be made to see; and again, as before (4) Ezekiel incarnates his message. By his conduct, he becomes a prophetic sign. In the daytime, before the eyes of the people, he packs a few belongings together, such as an exile might take with him to the land for which he was destined; then, having thus stimulated their curiosity, he carries them on his shoulder in the dead of night through a hole which he had dug in the wall (apparently of his house). In the morning, in answer to their astonished queries, he tells them plainly that it is a prophetic sy

COVER THY FACE. The sign (Ezekiel 12:11) that Zedekiah would disguise himself. THE GROUND. the land: i.e. the land Zedekish was going forth from and would never see again. Hebrew. _eth haerez._ A SIGN. Hebrew. _'oth._ Compare Genesis 1:14. Divine portents as to things that were to come....

Symbolical action, prefiguring the escape and capture of the fugitives The details of the symbol seem to be as follows: First, the prophet prepares "stuff for removing" such articles as one meaning to escape would carry with him. These things being prepared, he brings them out. It is not said where he deposits them; it would be in some place convenient to make his escape from, in the vicinity of the wall of the city. These things he does before the eyes of the people during daylight. His action represents the conduct of persons in a besieged city, whose movements are free within the city; hence this part of the action is done openly (Ezekiel 12:3). Secondly, these preparations having been made by day, the prophet himself goes out in the even, in the darkness, and digs through the wall, making his escape at the opening, and carrying on his shoulder the articles which he had prepared to t...