Ezekiel 24:16

Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. BEHOLD, I TAKE AWAY FROM THEE THE DESIRE OF THINE EYES - his wife: representing the sanctuary () in which the Jews so much gloried. The energy and subordination of Ezekiel's whole life to his prophetic office is strikingly displayed in this narrative of his wife's death. It is the only memorable event of his personal history which he records, and this only in reference to his soul-absorbing work. His natural tenderness is shown by that graphic touch, "the desire of thine eyes." What amazing subjection, then, of his individual feeling to his prophetic duty, as manifested in the simple statement (), "So I spake unto the people in...

15-27 Though mourning for the dead is a duty, yet it must be kept under by religion and right reason: we must not sorrow as men that have no hope. Believers must not copy the language and expressions of those who know not God. The people asked the meaning of the sign. God takes from them all that was dearest to them. And as Ezekiel wept not for his affliction, so neither should they weep for theirs. Blessed be God, we need not pine away under our afflictions; for should all comforts fail, and all sorrows be united, yet the broken heart and the mourner's prayer are always acceptable before God....

Verse Ezekiel 24:16. _BEHOLD, I TAKE AWAY FROM THEE THE DESIRE OF THINE_ _EYES_] Here is an intimation that the stroke he was to suffer was to be above all grief; that it would be so great as to prevent the relief of tears. Curae leves loquuntur, graviores silent, is a well-accredited maxim in such cases. Superficial griefs affect the more easily moved passions; great ones affect the soul itself, in its powers of reasoning, reflecting, comparing, recollecting, c., when the sufferer feels all the weight of wo. _NEITHER SHALL THY TEARS RUN DOWN._] Τουτο γαρ ιδιον των οφθαλμων εν τοις μεγαλοις κακοις· εν μεν γαρ ταις μετριαις συμφοραις αφθονως τα δακρυα καταρῥει, - εν δε τοις ὑπερβαλλουσι δεινοις φευγει και τα δακρυα και προδιδωσι και τους αφθαλμους· Achill. Tat. lib. 3. c. 11. For this is the cas

The death of Ezekiel’s wife took place in the evening of the same day that he delivered the foregoing prophecy. This event was to signify to the people that the Lord would take from them all that was most dear to them; and - owing to the extraordinary nature of the times - quiet lamentation for the dead, according to the usual forms of mourning, would be impossible. Ezekiel 24:17 The priest in general was to mourn for his dead (Leviticus 21:1 ff); but Ezekiel was to be an exception to the rule. The “tire” was the priest’s mitre. EAT NOT THE BREAD OF MEN - Food supplied for the comfort of the mourners. Eze

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 24:1 IN THE NINTH YEAR. We pass from the date of Ezekiel 20:1 to B.C. 590, and the very day is identified with that on which the army of Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem (Jeremiah 39:1; 2 Kings 25:1). To the prophet's vision all that was passing there was as plain as though he saw it with his own eyes. The siege lasted for about two years. The punishments threatened in Ezekiel 23:1, had at last come near. We may probably infer that a considerable interval of silence had follo

SON OF MAN, BEHOLD,.... This is said to raise the attention of the prophet, something strange and unusual, interesting and affecting, being about to be delivered: I TAKE AWAY FROM THEE THE DESIRE OF THINE EYES WITH A STROKE; meaning his wife; who very probably was of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to; however, of an amiable disposition, and in her conjugal relation very agreeable to the prophet; and, no doubt, a truly religious woman, and upon all account's desirable to him. This lovely object of his affection the Lord, who is the sovereign disposer of all persons, signifies he would take away from him by death unto himself; that is, suddenly and at once; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions render it, "with a sudden stroke"; as sometimes persons are struck with death at once with an apoplexy or palsy. The Targum renders it, with the pestilence; it was what the Jews call d...

Ezekiel 24:1. The exact date is given by the prophet. It was the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year. What happened also on that date we find recorded in 2 Kings 25:1: “And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, came, he and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.” How did Ezekiel know about all this? It was the Lord who gave him this information and led him to record the date. This is the statement of the second verse: “Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this selfsame day, the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.” What does higher criticism have to say to this? We quote a recent commentator: “These verses

THE DESIRE OF THINE EYES. Put by the Figure of speech _Periphrasis_ (App-6): for Ezekiel's wife.. symbol of Jerusalem, See Ezekiel 24:21. STROKE: or plague....

The prophet's abstention from mourning on the death of his wife a symbol of the stupefaction of the people at the news of the fall of the city 16. _with a stroke_ The word need not be pressed to mean a sudden unexpected death, apart from all previous sickness. _thy tears run down_ wanting in LXX....

III. A SIGNIFICANT DATE 24:1-27 Chapter 24 begins with an important chronological note. According to verse one Nebuchadnezzar began his attack against Jerusalem in the ninth year (of Zedekiah), the tenth day of the tenth month.[363] The Jews commemorated this date for centuries by fasting (Zechariah 8:19). Ezekiel was told to write the name of the day of the week and the day of the month (_this very day)._ This written record was to be made so that later when the news filtered back to the captives in Babylon the genuine prophetic foresight of Ezekiel would be authenticated. Three things of importance happened in the ministry of Ezekiel at the same time the siege of Jerusalem was beginning several hundred miles away. Ezekiel delivered a proclamation in the form of a parable on that day (Ezekiel 24