Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile of wood for the bones under the cauldron. Make it boil well. Yes, let its bones be boiled within it.”
Parallel Translations
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Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile of wood for the bones under the cauldron. Make it boil well. Yes, let its bones be boiled within it.”
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Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.
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Take the choice of the flock, and pile also the bones under it; make it boil well, that the bones thereof may also be seethed in the midst of it.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 24:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 52:10 The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. He also killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
- Jeremiah 52:24-27 The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold: and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and seven men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the middle of the city. Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. The king of Babylon struck them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
- Jeremiah 39:6 Then the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons in Riblah before his eyes. The king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah.
- Ezekiel 20:47 Tell the forest of the South, ‘Hear Yahweh’s word: The Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it will devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree. The burning flame will not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north will be burned by it.
- Ezekiel 24:9-10 “ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great. Heap on the wood. Make the fire hot. Boil the meat well. Make the broth thick, and let the bones be burned.
- Ezekiel 34:16-17 “I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them in justice.” ’ “As for you, O my flock, the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.
- Ezekiel 34:20 “Therefore the Lord Yahweh says to them: ‘Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
- Revelation 19:20 The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, heap.
Or, heap.
Meaning, of the innocents, whom they had slain, who were the cause of the kindling of God’s wrath against them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 24:5 Take the choice of the flock, and…
Eze 24:5 Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, [and] make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.
Ver. 5. Take the choice of the flock.] The king and his peers.
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And burn also the bones.] The dry bones, the common people, for these will burn like wood.
And let him seethe the bones.] The choice bones. {Eze 24:4}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Take the choice; pick out the very best in…
Take the choice; pick out the very best in the flock, that is, the greatest, richest, most powerful for authority and interest in the nation and city.
Burn; or, heap together in order to burn, to make a fire with.
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The bones; not of the pieces to be boiled, but the bones of the many innocents murdered in Jerusalem and in the land; for their blood crieth for vengeance, and their bones, scattered on the face of the earth, will both make and maintain this fire.
Make it boil well; let the fire be so great, and the pot so long over, till all within it be boiled thoroughly, till all the strength and marrow be wasted, and the very flesh drop to pieces; so shall this people be wasted by this judgment. Seethe the bones: see Eze 24:4; this is doubled to assure us, however the meaner sort did, the more considerable part of the Jews should not escape. In this allegory there may lie couched an exact correspondence between the sins and punishments of this people; their sin was the slaying the best, or by oppressing them broke their bones, boiled out the marrow, sucked them dry; and now God will retaliate to these men.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Take the choice of the flock,.... King, princes, nobles,…
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:
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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.''
(u) "pyram ossium sub ipsa", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Starckius. "rogus, strues materiae combustibililis rotunda", Stockius, p. 223.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The bones - Not of the pieces to be…
The bones - Not of the pieces to be boiled, but of the many innocents murdered in Jerusalem; for their blood crieth for vengeance, and their bones scattered on the face of the earth, will both make and maintain this fire.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. Make it boil well] Let it boil…
Verse 5. Make it boil well] Let it boil over, that its own scum may augment the fire, that the bones - the soldiers, may be seethed therein. Let its contentions, divided counsels, and disunion be the means of increasing its miseries, רתח רתחיה rattach rethacheyha, let it bubble its bubbling; something like that of the poet: -
"Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble:
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Fire burn, and cauldron bubble."
Very like the noise made by ebullition, when a pot of thick broth, "sleek and slab," is set over a fierce fire. Such was that here represented, in which all the flesh, the fat and the bones were to be boiled, and generally dissolved together.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Burn - Rather, as in margin; the bones would…
Burn - Rather, as in margin; the bones would serve for fuel.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The, &c. Literally, "its boiling has grown hot;" the…
The, &c. Literally, "its boiling has grown hot;" the citizens suffer terribly. --- Bones. Hebrew hatsamim, (Haydock) may denote the more solid meat.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain burn . . . bones--rather, "pile the bones." Literally,…
burn . . . bones--rather, "pile the bones." Literally, "Let there be a round pile of the bones."
therein--literally, "in the midst of it."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. Burn also the bones — R.V., “pile also…
5. Burn also the bones — R.V., “pile also the bones under it.” Great critics, like Smend and Cornill, read “wood” instead of “bones,” but this is opposed to all the versions. Bones were sometimes used as fuel in case of extremity. The prophet has pictured the land as being desolated by fire and covered with the bones of the slain. Did he mean to suggest that the bones of their own kinsmen slain in the defense of the city should be fuel which would make the Jerusalem pot boil? At any rate the use of bones vividly suggests a state of siege.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. burn also the bones] a pile also of…
5. burn also the bones] a pile also of wood under it. If “pile” could be read as a verb, and pile also wood, the construction would be easier. In spite of the versions wood must be substituted for “bones.”
make it boil well] Lit. make boil its boilings. The word “boilings” does not occur again; possibly by changing a letter “boil its pieces,” parallel to its bones in next clause.
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let them seethe] let the bones thereof be seethed. Naturally here and Eze_24:4 “bones” include the flesh upon them. They are those of such parts as leg and shoulder.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (5) Burn also the bones under it.—It is uncertain…
(5) Burn also the bones under it.—It is uncertain whether this is or is not the exact sense. The word for “burn” means, as is shown in the margin, heap, and is a noun. This is taken by many with a verb implied, in the sense of “make a heap of wood to burn the bones.” On the other hand, the sense of the text is that given in most of the ancient versions, and it is certain that bones, before the fat is extracted, may be used for fuel. It is better, therefore, to translate quite literally, heap the bones under it, leaving the same ambiguity as in the original as to whether the bones are to be burned upon the fuel or themselves used for fuel. In either case, the bones are those which are left after “the good pieces” have been put into the cauldron. No part of the people shall escape; the refuse alike with the choice is doomed to destruction.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Burn also the bones under it; better, with the…
Burn also the bones under it; better, with the Vulgate and Revised Version, pile the bones. The bones of animals were often used as fuel. Currey quotes an interesting passage from Livingstone"s "Last Journal," 1. p. 347, narrating how, when the supply of ordinary fuel failed, he made his steamer work with the bones of elephants. See a like practice among the Scythians (Herod., 4:61).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.