1And the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying: 2Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house. 3Therefore, son of man, prepare your belongings for exile, and go into exile by day in their sight. You shall go from your place into exile to another place in their sight. It may be that they will consider, though they are a rebellious house. 4By day you shall bring out your belongings in their sight, as though going into captivity; and at evening you shall go in their sight, like those who go into captivity. 5Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry your belongings out through it. 6In their sight you shall bear them on your shoulders and carry them out at twilight; you shall cover your face, so that you cannot see the ground, for I have made you a sign to the house of Israel. 7So I did as I was commanded. I brought out my belongings by day, as though going into captivity, and at evening I dug through the wall with my hand. I brought them out at twilight, and I bore them on my shoulder in their sight. 8And in the morning the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 9Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, What are you doing? 10Say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are among them. 11Say, I am a sign to you. As I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity. 12And the prince who is among them shall bear his belongings on his shoulder in the dark and go out. They shall dig through the wall to carry them out through it. He shall cover his face, so that he cannot see the ground with his eyes. 13I will also spread My net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there. 14And I will scatter to every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his troops; and I will draw out the sword after them. 15And they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the earth. 16But I will leave of them a number of men from the sword, from famine, and from pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the nations wherever they go. And they shall know that I am Jehovah. 17Moreover the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 18Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and anxiety. 19And say to the people of the land, Thus says the Lord Jehovah to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their water with horror, so that her land may be emptied of all who are in it, because of the violence of all those who dwell in it. 20Then the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall become desolate; and you shall know that I am Jehovah. 21And the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 22Son of man, what is this proverb that you people have about the land of Israel, which says, The days are prolonged, and every vision fails? 23Tell them therefore, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel. But say to them, The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision. 24For no more shall there be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25For I, Jehovah, speak, and the Word which I speak will come to pass; it will no more be drawn out. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and perform it, declares the Lord Jehovah. 26Again the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 27Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is saying, The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times afar off. 28Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: None of My words will be drawn out any more, but the word which I speak will be done, declares the Lord Jehovah.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 EZEKIEL'S TYPICAL MOVING TO EXILE: PROPHECY OF ZEDEKIAH'S CAPTIVITY AND PRIVATION OF SIGHT: THE JEWS' UNBELIEVING SURMISE AS TO THE DISTANCE OF THE EVENT REPROVED. (Eze. 12:1-28)
eyes to see, and see not, . . . ears to hear, and hear not--fulfilling the prophecy of
Deut 29:4, here quoted by Ezekiel (compare
Isa 6:9;
Jer 5:21). Ezekiel needed often to be reminded of the people's perversity, lest he should be discouraged by the little effect produced by his prophecies. Their "not seeing" is the result of perversity, not incapacity. They are wilfully blind. The persons most interested in this prophecy were those dwelling at Jerusalem; and it is among them that Ezekiel was transported in spirit, and performed in vision, not outwardly, the typical acts. At the same time, the symbolical prophecy was designed to warn the exiles at Chebar against cherishing hopes, as many did in opposition to God's revealed word, of returning to Jerusalem, as if that city was to stand; externally living afar off, their hearts dwelt in that corrupt and doomed capital.
3 stuff for removing--rather, "an exile's outfit," the articles proper to a person going as an exile, a staff and knapsack, with a supply of food and clothing; so "instruments of captivity,"
Jer 46:19, Margin, that is, the needful equipments for it. His simple announcements having failed, he is symbolically to give them an ocular demonstration conveyed by a word-painting of actions performed in vision.
consider-- (
Deut 32:29).
4 by day--in broad daylight, when all can see thee.
at even--not contradicting the words "by day." The baggage was to be sent before by day, and Ezekiel was to follow at nightfall [GROTIUS]; or, the preparations were to be made by day, the actual departure was to be effected at night [HENDERSON].
as they that go forth into captivity--literally, "as the goings forth of the captivity," that is, of the captive band of exiles, namely, amid the silent darkness: typifying Zedekiah's flight by night on the taking of the city (
Jer 39:4;
Jer 52:7).
5 Dig--as Zedekiah was to escape like one digging through a wall, furtively to effect an escape (
Ezek 12:12).
carry out--namely, "thy stuff" (
Ezek 12:4).
thereby--by the opening in the wall. Zedekiah escaped "by the gate betwixt the two walls" (
Jer 39:4).
6 in . . . twilight--rather, "in the dark." So in
Gen 15:17, "it" refers to "thy stuff."
cover thy face--as one who muffles his face, afraid of being recognized by anyone meeting him. So the Jews and Zedekiah should make their exit stealthily and afraid to look around, so hurried should be their fight [CALVIN].
sign--rather, "a portent," namely, for evil.
9 What doest thou?--They ask not in a docile spirit, but making a jest of his proceedings.
10 burden--that is, weighty oracle.
the prince--The very man Zedekiah, in whom they trust for safety, is to be the chief sufferer. JOSEPHUS [Antiquities, 10.7] reports that Ezekiel sent a copy of this prophecy to Zedekiah. As Jeremiah had sent a letter to the captives at the Chebar, which was the means of calling forth at first the agency of Ezekiel, so it was natural for Ezekiel to send a message to Jerusalem confirming the warnings of Jeremiah. The prince, however, fancying a contradiction between
Ezek 12:13; "he shall not see Babylon," and
Jer 24:8-
Jer 24:9, declaring he should be carried to Babylon, believed neither. Seeming discrepancies in Scripture on deeper search prove to be hidden harmonies.
11 sign--portent of evil to come (
Ezek 24:27;
Zech 3:8, Margin). Fulfilled (
2Kgs 25:1-7;
Jer 52:1-
Jer 52:11).
12 prince . . . among them--literally, "that is in the midst of them," that is, on whom the eyes of all are cast, and "under whose shadow" they hope to live (
Lam 4:20).
shall bear--namely, his "stuff for removing"; his equipments for his journey.
cover his face, that he see not the ground--See on
Ezek 12:6; the symbol in
Ezek 12:6 is explained in this verse. He shall muffle his face so as not to be recognized: a humiliation for a king!
13 My net--the Chaldean army. He shall be inextricably entangled in it, as in the meshes of a net. It is God's net (
Job 19:6). Babylon was God's instrument (
Isa 10:5). Called "a net" (
Hab 1:14-
Hab 1:16).
bring him to Babylon . . . ; yet shall he not see it--because he should be deprived of sight before he arrived there (
Jer 52:11).
14 all . . . about him--his satellites: his bodyguard.
bands--literally, "the wings" of an army (
Isa 8:8).
draw out . . . sword after them--(See on
Ezek 5:2;
Ezek 5:12).
16 I will leave a few . . . that they may declare . . . abominations--God's purpose in scattering a remnant of Jews among the Gentiles; namely, not only that they themselves should be weaned from idolatry (see
Ezek 12:15), but that by their own word, as also by their whole state as exiles, they should make God's righteousness manifest among the Gentiles, as vindicated in their punishment for their sins (compare
Isa 43:10;
Zech 8:13).
18 Symbolical representation of the famine and fear with which they should eat their scanty morsel, in their exile, and especially at the siege.
19 people of the land--the Jews "in the land" of Chaldea who thought themselves miserable as being exiles and envied the Jews left in Jerusalem as fortunate.
land of Israel--contrasted with "the people in the land" of Chaldea. So far from being fortunate as the exiles in Chaldea regarded them, the Jews in Jerusalem are truly miserable, for the worst is before them, whereas the exiles have escaped the miseries of the coming siege.
land . . . desolate from all that is therein--literally "that the land (namely, Judea) may be despoiled of the fulness thereof"; emptied of the inhabitants and abundance of flocks and corn with which it was filled.
because of . . . violence-- (
Ps 107:34).
20 the cities--left in Judea after the destruction of Jerusalem.
22 proverb--The infidel scoff, that the threatened judgment was so long in coming, it would not come at all, had by frequent repetition come to be a "proverb" with them. This skeptical habit contemporary prophets testify to (
Jer 17:15;
Jer 20:7;
Zeph 1:12). Ezekiel, at the Chebar, thus sympathizes with Jeremiah and strengthens his testimony at Jerusalem. The tendency to the same scoff showed itself in earlier times, but had not then developed into a settled "proverb" (
Isa 5:19;
Amos 5:18). It shall again be the characteristic of the last times, when "faith" shall be regarded as an antiquated thing (
Luke 18:8), seeing that it remains stationary, whereas worldly arts and sciences progress, and when the "continuance of all things from creation" will be the argument against the possibility of their being suddenly brought to a standstill by the coming of the Lord (
Isa 66:5;
2Pet 3:3-4). The very long-suffering of God, which ought to lead men to repentance, is made an argument against His word (
Eccl 8:11;
Amos 6:3).
days . . . prolonged . . . vision faileth--their twofold argument: (1) The predictions shall not come to pass till long after our time. (2) They shall fail and prove vain shadows. God answers both in
Ezek 12:23,
Ezek 12:25.
23 effect--literally, "the word," namely, fulfilled; that is, the effective fulfilment of whatever the prophets have spoken is at hand.
24 no more . . . vain vision . . . flattering divination--All those false prophets (
Lam 2:14), who "flattered" the people with promises of peace and safety, shall be detected and confounded by the event itself.
25 word . . . shall come to pass--in opposition to their scoff "the vision faileth" (
Ezek 12:22). The repetition, "I will speak . . . speak," &c. (or as FAIRBAIRN, "For I, Jehovah, will speak whatever word I shall speak, and it shall be done") implies that whenever God speaks, the effect must follow; for God, who speaks, is not divided in Himself (
Ezek 12:28;
Isa 55:11;
Dan 9:12;
Luke 21:33).
no more prolonged--in opposition to the scoff (
Ezek 12:22), "The days are prolonged."
in your days--while you are living (compare
Matt 24:34).
27 Not a mere repetition of the scoff (
Ezek 12:22); there the scoffers asserted that the evil was so often threatened and postponed, it must have no reality; here formalists do not go so far as to deny that a day of evil is coming, but assert it is still far off (
Amos 6:3). The transition is easy from this carnal security to the gross infidelity of the former class.