And it came to pass when I prophesied
Or, "as I prophesied" F9; that is, while he was prophesying, or declaring the above things from the mouth of the Lord, concerning the slaughter of the Jews by the sword, and the captivity of the rest: that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died;
one of the princes of the people, and was among the five and twenty men the prophet saw at the door of the east gate of the temple, ( Ezekiel 11:1 ) ; this man dropped down dead on a sudden, just as Ananias and Sapphira at the feet of Peter, ( Acts 5:5 Acts 5:10 ) . It was in a vision Ezekiel saw this, and in the temple; but no doubt at the same time this prince died at his own house, whose death was notified to the prophet in this way; then fell I down upon my face;
as greatly surprised at the event, and filled with concern at what would be the issue of this providence; looking upon it as a pledge and earnest, a token and forerunner, of the utter destruction of the people: and cried with a loud voice;
expressing the vehemency of his affection, and the earnestness of his supplication: and said, ah, Lord God! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of
Israel?
or, "art thou making?" F11 the ten tribes had been carried captive many years ago, and a large number of the other two tribes in Jeconiah's captivity, so that there were but a remnant left in the land; and, upon the sudden and awful death of this prince, the prophet feared the Lord was going to make an utter end of them at once; which he deprecates.