Ezekiel 24:5

5 taken from the pick of the flock, and pile the bones underneath. Bring it to a rolling boil, till it's all cooked, even the bones.'

Ezekiel 24:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 24:5

Take the choice of the flock
King, princes, nobles, magistrates, priests and rulers of the people: and burn also the bones under it:
or, "put a pile of bones under it" {u}; the bones of them that are slain in it; denoting the great slaughter of them; or the bones of the innocent that had been murdered in it; which were the cause of these judgments coming upon them; and caused the wrath of God to burn the more hotly against them; or the bones of the wicked: and make it boil well;
the pot; that the water may be very hot and boiling; denoting the severity of the judgments of God in the city, to the destruction of many by sword, famine, and pestilence: and let them seethe the bones of it therein;
that the strongest among them may be weakened and destroyed by the length and severity of the siege, and the judgments attending it. The Targum is,

``bring near the kings of the people, and even join auxiliaries with them; hasten the time of it yea, let her slain be cast in the midst of her.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 (hytxt Mymueh rwd) "pyram ossium sub ipsa", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Starckius. (rwd) "rogus, strues materiae combustibililis rotunda", Stockius, p. 223.

Ezekiel 24:5 In-Context

3 And tell this allegory to these rebels; say that Adonai ELOHIM says: 'Put a pot on the fire; put it there, pour water in it;

4 Put in it pieces of meat, all the best parts - the thigh, the shoulder; fill it with the choicest cuts,

5 taken from the pick of the flock, and pile the bones underneath. Bring it to a rolling boil, till it's all cooked, even the bones.'

6 "Therefore Adonai ELOHIM says: 'Woe to the city drenched with blood, to the pot whose scum is in it, and whose scum has not been removed. Empty it piece by piece, without troubling to draw lots.

7 For her blood is still in her; she poured it on bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust.