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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
24:1-27 Two Losses. Although not explicitly linked, the two losses recounted here almost certainly belong together, and they come at a turning point in Ezekiel's prophetic career. The first loss (vv. 1-14) is that of the city of Jerusalem--with a Babylonian siege launched, it is the beginning of the end. The second loss, that of Ezekiel's own wife (vv. 15-24), triggers his most poignant symbolic action. Finally (vv. 25-27), the promise of the end is made, linking this chapter back to the prologue and forward to what lies beyond the destruction of Jerusalem.
24:1-14 Jerusalem, the Bloody Pot. This is the last of Ezekiel's "parables" (see 12:22). It uses imagery already found in the temple vision (see 11:2-3) but further developed and with greater clarity here. As the Babylonians lay siege to Jerusalem, it is likened to a boiling pot. A brief "song" in 24:3b-5 receives two explanations in vv. 6-14.
24:1-5 The oracle is precisely dated in v. 1. The notation here in Hebrew does not follow the pattern found for the dates in the rest of the book but corresponds exactly to that of 2 Kings 25:1 (see also Jer. 39:1; 52:4). It seems that here the date accords with the years of a king's reign rather than years of exile (Ezekiel's norm). It is thus equivalent to (or if reckoned by years of exile). The content of the "parable" speaks for itself (in addition to Ezek. 11:2-3, cf. Mic. 3:3): anticipation builds as the fine stew cooks.
24:2 The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. Jerusalem was
24:6-9 Some difficult Hebrew obscures the first phase of explanation. The picture seems to be that of a corroded pot which has spoiled the broth. The reference to blood (vv. 7-9) is unexpected and takes the imagery in a different direction, reminiscent of 22:2-4.
24:10-14 The compounded nature of corruption and rot demands that both the pot and its contents be completely consumed (v. 11; see 22:15). The cleansing fire burns with such intensity that nothing will remain. The first-person forms of 24:14 are repetitive and insistent: this is God's work, and it is certain to come.
24:15-24 No Mourning for Ezekiel's Wife. No further reference is made to a date, but the placement of this account next to the oracle marking the siege of Jerusalem is significant. Ezekiel has performed other symbolic actions (4:1-5:17; 12:1-28; 21:19-20), but this must be the most painful. It elicits no protest (cf. 4:14; 20:49). Ezekiel has learned that there is nothing that God cannot ask of him. He is now about
24:15-18 A bare glimpse is given of Ezekiel's inner life; there is little else like it in prophetic literature. One may wonder about the nature of marriages in ancient Judah, but Ezekiel's wife was the delight of his eyes. The list of mourning rites forbidden to him is easily understood, except for the reference to bread of men (v. 17), which must refer to bread provided to the bereaved (see Hos. 9:4). One can only imagine what this embodied oracle cost Ezekiel.
24:16 you shall not mourn or weep. This is a unique symbolic action commanded of Ezekiel alone, not intended as a pattern for believers generally to follow (cf. John 11:35; Acts 8:2).
24:19-24 Such apparent indifference to bereavement was unsettling, but Ezekiel's neighbors infer that this bizarre behavior is for their "benefit" (v. 19). The desecration of the temple would be devastating and numbing, breaking the people's spirit, and exile would ensue. Here too is a rare glimpse of the social devastation of exile, as the corresponding losses for Ezekiel's fellow exiles will be your sons and your daughters whom you left behind (v. 21). The recognition formula (v. 24; cf. Introduction: Style) concludes the oracle.
24:25-27 Fugitive News. As for you, son of man. The final verses of this oracle are for Ezekiel himself, and continue the language of bereavement found in the preceding verses. The prophecy foretells the destruction of Jerusalem and the arrival of a fugitive (v. 26) bearing the news. Much like Zechariah's renewed speech at the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:64), Ezekiel's speech will be regained at this event, and again Ezekiel will be a sign to them, as he has been at the death of his beloved. This brief passage forges connections that span the book. Ezekiel's muteness began with the report in Ezek. 3:26; it will be released with the arrival of the fugitive in 33:21, when the oracles about Jerusalem resume following the foreign-nation oracles (25:1-32:32).
