“ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the bloody city, to the cauldron whose rust is in it, and whose rust hasn’t gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece. No lot is fallen on it.
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the bloody city, to the cauldron whose rust is in it, and whose rust hasn’t gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece. No lot is fallen on it.
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Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.
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Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose filth is therein, and whose filth is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; no lot is fallen upon it.
Cross-references (27)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 24:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 22:2 “You, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations.
- Nahum 3:1 Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. The prey doesn’t depart.
- 2 Kings 24:4 and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Yahweh would not pardon.
- Ezekiel 22:27 Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
- Obadiah 1:11 In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots for Jerusalem, even you were like one of them.
- Micah 7:2 The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net.
- Nahum 3:10 Yet was she carried away. She went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets, and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
- Joshua 7:16-18 So Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel near by their tribes. The tribe of Judah was selected. He brought near the family of Judah, and he selected the family of the Zerahites. He brought near the family of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was selected. He brought near his household man by man, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected.
- Joshua 10:22 Then Joshua said, “Open the cave entrance, and bring those five kings out of the cave to me.”
- 1 Samuel 14:40-42 Then he said to all Israel, “You be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” The people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” Therefore Saul said to Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Show the right.” Jonathan and Saul were chosen, but the people escaped. Saul said, “Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son.” Jonathan was selected.
- 2 Samuel 8:2 He struck Moab, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive. The Moabites became servants to David, and brought tribute.
- 2 Kings 21:16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; in addition to his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight.
- Jeremiah 6:29 The bellows blow fiercely. The lead is consumed in the fire. In vain they go on refining, for the wicked are not plucked away.
- Ezekiel 9:5-6 To the others he said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him, and strike. Don’t let your eye spare, neither have pity. Kill utterly the old man, the young man, the virgin, little children and women; but don’t come near any man on whom is the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” Then they began at the old men who were before the house.
- Ezekiel 11:6-9 You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain. “ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Your slain whom you have laid in the middle of it, they are the meat, and this is the cauldron; but you will be brought out of the middle of it. You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword on you,” says the Lord Yahweh. “I will bring you out of the middle of it, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.
- Ezekiel 11:11 This will not be your cauldron, neither will you be the meat in the middle of it. I will judge you in the border of Israel.
- Ezekiel 22:6-9 “ ‘ “Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood. In you have they treated father and mother with contempt. Among you they have oppressed the foreigner. In you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow. You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths. Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood. In you they have eaten on the mountains. They have committed lewdness among you.
- Ezekiel 22:12 In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me,” says the Lord Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 23:37-45 For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through the fire to them to be devoured. Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my Sabbaths. For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and behold, they have done this in the middle of my house. “Furthermore you sisters have sent for men who come from far away, to whom a messenger was sent, and behold, they came; for whom you washed yourself, painted your eyes, decorated yourself with ornaments, and sat on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you set my incense and my oil. “The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her. With men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on their hands, and beautiful crowns on their heads. Then I said of her who was old in adulteries, ‘Now they will play the prostitute with her, and she with them.’ They went in to her, as they go in to a prostitute. So they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. Righteous men will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
- Ezekiel 24:9 “ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great.
- Ezekiel 24:11-13 Then set it empty on its coals, that it may be hot, and its bronze may burn, and that its filthiness may be molten in it, that its rust may be consumed. She is weary with toil; yet her great rust, rust by fire, doesn’t leave her. “ ‘ “In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you and you weren’t cleansed, you won’t be cleansed from your filthiness any more, until I have caused my wrath toward you to rest.
- Joel 3:3 and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
- Jonah 1:7 They all said to each other, “Come! Let’s cast lots, that we may know who is responsible for this evil that is on us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
- Matthew 23:35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.
- Revelation 11:7-8 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. Their dead bodies will be in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
- Revelation 17:6 I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement.
- Revelation 18:24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Signifying that they should not be destroyed all at…
Signifying that they should not be destroyed all at once, but by little and little.
Whose iniquities and wicked citizens there yet remain.
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Spare none estate or condition.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 24:6 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe…
Eze 24:6 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum [is] therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.
Ver. 6. Woe to the bloody city,] i.e., Blood guilty, and full of crimes capital that call for blood.
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To the pot whose scum is in it.] Who are hardened in their wickedness, which is evident to all men, and are not amended by punishments.
Let no lot fall upon it,] i.e., Let none escape unpunished. In wars often they cast lots to save some and slay some.
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 All this allegory contains woeful and heavy tidings, misery…
All this allegory contains woeful and heavy tidings, misery and desolation to them that are represented by it.
The bloody city; see Eze 22:2,3; Jerusalem, which is this pot.
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Whose scum is therein; filthiness, her abominations, all her lewdness, are still within. her; they have not been punished, restrained, or cast out by the execution of just and good laws; but the citizens have with obstinacy, impenitence, and with impudence continued in them.
Whose scum is not gone out of it; the same thing repeated for confirming what was said.
Bring it out piece by piece; let them know it shall be a lingering destruction to them, yet a total, one piece after another, till all be consumed.
Let no lot fall upon it; lots are for saving some, and determining who they shall be; but here shall no such discrimination be made, no sparing any and slaying others by lot, who do not die shall go into captivity.
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 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, woe to the…
Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, woe to the bloody city,.... Here the parable begins to be explained; and shows that by the pot is meant the city of Jerusalem, called the bloody city, because of the blood of the prophets, and of righteous persons, and of innocent babes, that was shed in it; and which was the cause of the judgments of God coming upon her, which would issue in her destruction, and therefore "woe unto her"; see Mat 23:37,
to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it; when a pot boils, a scum arises, and appears upon the top of the water, which the cook usually takes off: this denotes the filthiness and wickedness of the people of the Jews, which would work up and be seen by the judgments of God upon them; yet should not be removed, but continue on them, unrepented of, and unpardoned. It signifies that they would remain hardened in their sins; and that the judgments of God would have no effect upon them to bring them to repentance; and that God would have no mercy on them, or pardon their sins:
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bring it out piece by piece: the people that were in Jerusalem, of every class and rank, of every age and sex; suggesting that they should not be all destroyed at once, but some at one time, and some at another; some in one way, and some in another; some by famine, others by the pestilence, and others by the sword; some by sallying out upon the enemy; others by endeavouring to make their escape privately, and fall into their hands:
let no lot fall upon it; to save some, and destroy others, as is often done in war; signifying that all were destined to destruction, some way or another; and none should be spared; they that escaped the pestilence should die by famine; and they that escaped them both should die by the sword; and they that escaped all three should be carried into captivity. The Targum is,
"captivity upon captivity shall go out with her, because repentance was not in her.''
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 bloody city - Jerusalem. Whose scum - Her…
The bloody city - Jerusalem. Whose scum - Her wickedness is still within her. Piece by piece - One piece after another 'till all be consumed. No lot - Lots are for saving some, but here shall be no sparing any.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. Let no lot fall upon it.] Pull…
Verse 6. Let no lot fall upon it.] Pull out the flesh indiscriminately; let no piece be chosen for king or priest; thus showing that all should be involved in one indiscriminate ruin.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Eze 24:6-8. Wherefore thus saith the Lord — Here…
Eze 24:6-8. Wherefore thus saith the Lord — Here begins an explication of the preceding symbolical representation; Wo to the bloody city — Jerusalem, which is this pot; whose scum is therein — Whose filthiness, or wickedness, is not purged out of it. Bring it out piece by piece — One piece after another till all be taken. Let nothing be left in it; let it be emptied of every thing. This signified the entire ruin and spoil of the city and the inhabitants of it, all without distinction being either killed or carried into captivity. Let no lot fall upon it — There shall be no lot cast to determine who shall be spared and who consumed, or who shall be left and who carried into captivity; for they shall be all either destroyed or carried away. For her blood is in the midst of her — The innocent blood which she hath shed. She set it upon the top of a rock — Openly and publicly, without fear, or shame, or reluctance; she set it where it might be seen by all, and seen long; she shed blood in a presumptuous manner, and with a high hand; she was impudent and barefaced in her cruelties; she did not seek to cover or excuse them. She poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust — As being ashamed of shedding it. “These words allude to the command of the law: Lev 17:13, that they should cover the blood of any beast, or other living creature which was slain, with dust; which precept was not only intended to prevent their eating of blood, but also to give men a sort of horror or aversion to bloodshed.” — Lowth. That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance — For such impudent murders as these, which even dared the divine indignation. I have set her blood upon the top of a rock — Her punishment shall be as notorious in the sight of the world as her sin was. I will punish it so openly, and in such a manner, as shall not be soon forgotten.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Scum - Better, rust (and in Eze 24:11-12).
Scum - Better, rust (and in Eze 24:11-12).
Bring it out piece by piece - It, the city; bring out the inhabitants, one by one, clear the city of them, whether by death, exile, or captivity.
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Let no lot fall upon it - In the captivity of Jehoiakim and in that of Jehoiachin, some were taken, others left. Now all shall be removed.
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 Rust: the inveterate malice of the city, ver. 12.…
Rust: the inveterate malice of the city, ver. 12. --- Upon it. Hurl the pieces of meat out of the pot, without any choice. (Calmet) --- All the people shall feel my indignation, the rich as well as the poor, ver. 13. (Haydock)
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 scum--not ordinary, but poisonous scum, that is, the people's…
scum--not ordinary, but poisonous scum, that is, the people's all-pervading wickedness.
bring it out piece by piece--"it," the contents of the pot; its flesh, that is, "I will destroy the people of the city, not all at the same time, but by a series of successive attacks." Not as FAIRBAIRN, "on its every piece let it (the poisonous scum) go forth."
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let no lot fall upon it--that is, no lot, such as is sometimes cast, to decide who are to be destroyed and who saved (Sa2 8:2; Joe 3:3; Oba 1:11; Nah 3:10). In former carryings away of captives, lots were cast to settle who were to go, and who to stay, but now all alike are to be cast out without distinction of rank, age, or sex.
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 6. Scum — Rather, rust (as also Eze_24:11-12).
6. Scum — Rather, rust (as also Eze_24:11-12).
Therein — Rather, thereon. Usually the rust is removed from a pot before using it, but here it is to remain as the symbol of Jerusalem’s iniquity (Qimchi).
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Let no lot fall upon it — Qimchi explains that the pieces are so small that not a single limb can be recognized, nor lots cast upon them to assign them any special destination; or that the pot itself is corrupted and eaten with verdigris, and therefore the meat is unclean and no part of it fit to be eaten; or that the inhabitants are to be snatched out of the city indiscriminately; or no lot is to be taken (2Sa_8:2), for all alike must perish. Modern expositors select from these explanations according to taste.
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 6. Explanation: the caldron is Jerusalem, the bloody city.
6. Explanation: the caldron is Jerusalem, the bloody city.
whose scum] rust.
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bring it out] i.e. the caldron as having contents.
let no lot fall] The contents (the inhabitants) shall be pulled out indiscriminately. The dispersion is alluded to.
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 (6) Scum.—This word, which occurs five times in these…
(6) Scum.—This word, which occurs five times in these verses (Eze_24:6; Eze_24:11-12), is found nowhere else. Interpreters are agreed in the correctness of the old Greek version of it, rust. The thought is, that not only the inhabitants of the city are wicked, but that this wickedness is so great that the city itself (represented by the cauldron) is, as it were, corroded with rust. It is therefore to be utterly destroyed, “brought out piece by piece” (see 2Ki_25:10); no lot is to fall upon it to make a discrimination, since nothing is to be spared. All previous judgments had been partial; this is to be complete.
(6-14) These verses contain the application of the parable in two distinct parts (Eze_24:6-14), but in such wise that the literal and the figurative continually run together. A new feature, that of the rust on the cauldron, is also introduced. A somewhat similar figure may be found in Isa_4:4, but with the difference that Ezekiel, as usual, goes much more into minute details.
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 Scum. The word is not found elsewhere. The Authorized…
Scum. The word is not found elsewhere. The Authorized Version follows the Vulgate. Keil and the Revised Version give "rust." As the cauldron was of brass (Ver. 11), this must have been the verdigris which was eating into the metal, and which even the blazing fire could not get rid of. The pieces that are to be brought out are the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who are to be carried into exile. There was to be "no lot cast," as was often done with prisoners of war, taking every tenth man (decimating) of the captives for death or exile. (comp. 2Sa_8:2) All alike were doomed. (Joe_3:3)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues telling a parable to Ezekiel about a cooking pot that represents Jerusalem. This parable continues through Ezekiel 24:14. (See: Parables)
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the city of blood
Here "blood" is a reference to "murder." AT: "the city of murderers" (See: Metonymy)
a cooking pot
Yahweh continues to compare Jerusalem to a cooking pot. AT: "it is like a cooking pot" (See: Metaphor)
rust
the red material that forms on metal. Rust eats away at metal and eventually destroys it
Take piece after piece
Yahweh does not give this command to a specific person. This is a general command given to an unspecified person within this metaphor.
but do not cast lots for it
Casting lots was a way of choosing which pieces of meat to take out, but because Yahweh wants to take out all of the pieces of meat, there is no need to cast lots.
translationWords
woe
blood
lots
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 24:6-8 The cooking pot was beyond cleansing. Jerusalem was…
24:6-8 The cooking pot was beyond cleansing. Jerusalem was full of blood that she had shed and left exposed. The Old Testament required that the blood of animals shed for meat be covered with earth (Lev 17:13). By leaving the blood of her innocent victims exposed, Jerusalem was doubly guilty. Her own blood would justly be splashed on the rocks (cp. Ps 137:8-9).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.