Ezekiel 24:4

Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones. GATHER THE PIECES THEREOF INTO IT - "the pieces thereof" - i:e., those which properly belong to it as its own. EVEN EVERY GOOD PIECE ... FILL IT WITH THE CHOICE BONES - i:e., the most distinguished of the people. The "choice bones" in the pot have flesh adhering to them. The "bones" under the pot () are those having no flesh, and used as fuel, answering to the poorest, who suffer first, and are put out of pain sooner than the rich, who endure what answers to the slower process of boiling....

1-14 The pot on the fire represented Jerusalem besieged by the Chaldeans: all orders and ranks were within the walls, prepared as a prey for the enemy. They ought to have put away their transgressions, as the scum, which rises by the heat of the fire, is taken from the top of the pot. But they grew worse, and their miseries increased. Jerusalem was to be levelled with the ground. The time appointed for the punishment of wicked men may seem to come slowly, but it will come surely. It is sad to think how many there are, on whom ordinances and providences are all lost....

THE PIECES THEREOF - Or, that belong to it; i. e., the pieces which are designed for the caldron, and belong to it as the inhabitants belong to the city. The choice pieces are the choice members of the community Ezekiel 11:3....

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

GATHER THE PIECES THEREOF INTO IT,.... fire being made, and the pot set on, and water poured into it, the next thing is, to put in the pieces that are to be boiled; and these are to be gathered; meaning the people of the land, that were to be gathered from the several parts of it, for their security, as they thought; but the event proved it was for their ruin: even EVERY GOOD PIECE, THE THIGH AND THE SHOULDER; the princes and gentry, the great and the mighty, the rich and wealthy of the people; who, upon the invasion, got together in Jerusalem, to secure their persons and substance: FILL IT WITH THE CHOICE BONES; or with those pieces that have the choice bones, that are full of marrow; the strongest among the people; the soldiers, or such as were fit for war; the best of their militia, brought hither to defend the city; but, in fact, to be slain, as they were. The Targum is, "gather t...

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

EZEKIEL 24. THE LAST MESSAGE BEFORE THE FALL OF THE CITY. Ezekiel 24:1. The Rusty Caldron. We now reach the last message delivered by Ezekiel before the fall of the city; and, curiously enough, it was delivered on the opening day of the siege (2 Kings 25:1) an event of which Ezekiel must have known by his gift of second sight. In a probably acted parable, the city is compared to a pot filled with pieces of flesh (=the inhabitants), including choice pieces (= the leaders). But beneath the pot a huge fire is blazing, symbolic of the siege. Then, after boiling, the pieces are taken out in any order, symbolic of indiscriminate dispersion; but, as the pot is rusty, it is set again empty upon the furious fire, to be cleansed of its rust by the flames. The rust is symbolic of the blood, shed in injustice an

The rusted caldron set on the fire (1) Ezekiel 24:1. A caldron is to be set on the fire, filled with water, pieces of flesh cast into it and fuel piled under it that it may boil furiously. The caldron is Jerusalem; the pieces of flesh the inhabitants; the fire and boiling the siege with its terrible severities. The pieces of flesh shall be pulled out of the caldron indiscriminately, symbol of the universal dispersion when the siege is over. (2) Ezekiel 24:6. Explanation: these sufferings are judgments for the sins of the city, its bloodshed and uncleanness, which are public and open. This blood and filthiness cleaves to it like rust to a caldron. (3) Ezekiel 24:9. Rising anew into tones of menace the divine voic

FILL IT WITH THE CHOICE BONES— _And every choice part which cleaveth to the bones._ Houbigant. The _bones,_ says Calmet, signify the _princes_ or _chief citizens,_ and the _flesh_ the _common people._...

A. The Parable of the Cooking Pot 24:1-14 TRANSLATION (1) And the word of the LORD came unto me in the ninth year, the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, saying, (2) Son of man, write for yourself the name of the day, this very day; this very day the king of Babylon has leaned upon Jerusalem. (3) Utter a parable against this rebellious house, and say unto them; Thus says the Lord GOD: Set on the pot, set it on, and pour water into it. (4) Gather into it the pieces belonging to it, every good piece the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones. (5) Take the choice of the flock, and also pile the bones under it; boil it well, that its bones may boil in the midst of it. (6) Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose filth is in it, and whose filth has not gone out of it! Bring it out piece by piece; no lot is fallen upon it. (7) For her bl...