Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 24:11
Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and [that] the filthiness of it may be molten in it, [that] the scum of it may be consumed.
11. scum of it ] Rust. When the contents of the caldron have been seethed and emptied out of it the siege and dispersion the caldron itself shall be set empty upon the coals that its filth and rust may be molten and consumed a figure for the purifying judgments continued long after the destruction of the city.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Set it, the hieroglyphic pot, empty; the water, flesh, bones, all consumed, i.e. the citizens all wasted with sword, famine, or pestilence, the city left as an empty, overboiled pot.
Upon the coals thereof; signifying the burning of the city itself, after the emptying of its inhabitants.
That the brass of it; perhaps he alludes to the impudence of their sins, in that the city is likened to a pot of brass.
May be hot; Gods judgments would increase upon them, as heat doth in a pot set on coals.
And may burn; which is the highest degree; so should these miseries increase.
That the filthiness, type of the sinfulness, the unreformed sinfulness of the city, may be molten in it; that their wickedness may be taken away with their persons and city: they should have been purged by gentler meltings which God used; since they were not, nor would be purified, now they shall be melted to the utter destruction of them.
The scum: see Eze 24:6.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. set it empty . . . that . . .brass . . . may burn, . . . that . . . scum . . . may beconsumedEven the consumption of the contents is not enough;the caldron itself which is infected by the poisonous scum must bedestroyed, that is, the city itself must be destroyed, not merely theinhabitants, just as the very house infected with leprosy was to bedestroyed (Le 14:34-45).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then set it empty upon the coals thereof,…. The city, when emptied of its inhabitants and substance, like a pot that is boiled over, and all in it boiled away, or taken out; burn it with fire, as the city of Jerusalem when taken and plundered was:
that the brass of it may be hot, and burn; as brass will when set on coals: or, “the bottom of it” w; so Ben Melech observes, from the Misnah, that the lower part or bottom of a pot, cauldron, or furnace, is called the brass of it; and so the sense is, make the fire burn so fierce as to burn the bottom of the pot; or the canker and rust of it, which the following words explain:
and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed; the abominable wickedness of this people; since they were not reformed and brought to repentance for it by the admonitions and instructions given them, and by the chastisements and corrections laid upon them, they with their sins should be consumed in this terrible manner. The Targum is,
“I will leave the land desolate, that they may become desolate; and that the gates of her city may be consumed; and that those that work uncleanness in the midst of her may melt away, and her sins be consumed.”
w “fundum ejus”, Pagninus, Vatablus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(11) Set it empty upon the coals.Keeping up the strong figure of the parable, after all the inhabitants have passed under judgment the city itself is to be purged by fire. It is unnecessary here to think of heat as removing the rust (scum) from the cauldron; the prophets mind is not upon any physical effect, but upon the methods of purifying defiled metallic vessels under the law (see Num. 31:23). It was a symbolical rather than a material purification, and in the present case involved the actual destruction of the city itself. In Eze. 24:11-14, the obduracy of the people is set forth in strong language, together with the completeness of the coming judgment in contrast to the in-effectiveness of all former efforts for their reformation (Eze. 24:13); and, finally, the adaptation of the punishment to the sin (Eze. 24:14). The word translated lies in Eze. 24:12 means pains or labour. Translate, The labour is in vain; her rust does not go out of her, even her rust with fire. In Eze. 24:13 lewdness would be better rendered abomination.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 24:11 Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and [that] the filthiness of it may be molten in it, [that] the scum of it may be consumed.
Ver. 11. That the brass of it may be hot, and may burn. ] This Gregory a fitly applieth to Rome, taken and wasted by the Lombards. This city, ever since it was Papal – and then it first began to be so – was never besieged, but it was taken by the enemy.
a Iam vacua ardet Roma: iam enim et ipsa olla consumitur, in qua prius carnes et ossa consumebantur. – Hom. 18 in Ezek.
brass = copper.
hot = scorched.
Eze 24:11-14
Eze 24:11-14
“Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that it may be hot, and the brass thereof may burn, and that the filthiness thereof may be molten in it, that the rust of it may be consumed. She hath wearied herself with toil; yet her great rust goeth not forth out of her; her rust goeth not forth by fire. In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have cleansed thee, and thou wast not cleansed, thou shalt not be cleansed from thy filthiness any more, until I have caused my wrath toward thee to rest. I, Jehovah have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord Jehovah.”
What is indicated here is the utter uselessness of the rusted caldron; not even fire could burn the corrupted copper enough to cleanse it. In the analogy, the caldron is the city of Jerusalem, the destruction of which is already under way, as this was written.
“In spite of the seemingly terrible hopelessness of the situation described here, a gleam of hope appears in Eze 24:13, even as there also did in Eze 16:42. When the punishment of Israel has done its full work, then Jehovah might cause his fury toward Israel to rest.
“These verses, Eze 24:11-14, declare that the only recourse is to set the caldron upside down on the fire and melt it away; Jerusalem must be destroyed in order to be cleansed.” “The tragedy of national sins, which began as occasional lapses, but which at last became part and parcel of Jerusalem’s way of life, finally became a tragedy that not even God could redeem.
“She hath wearied herself with toil …” (Eze 24:12). Some versions read “lies” instead of “toil” in this clause; but Bunn tells us that “The literal meaning here is that `Yahweh has worn himself out attempting to purify the people.’ Due to uncertainties in the text, this verse is disputed as to its meaning. McFadyen suggested that this clause should probably be omitted. Whatever the exact meaning of the verse may be, the thought is certainly the futility of any further effort on the part of God to purge his rebellious people.
The many things God had done in order to preserve and save Israel included: the giving of the Law of Moses, the sending of many prophets, severe punishments, miraculous judgments in their marvelous deliverances, the ministrations of the Levitical system with its priests and Levites, etc., etc.
However, as Henry pointed out, “It is sad to think how many there are, even today, upon whom the death of Christ, the establishment of his spiritual body the Church, the sacred New Testament, and all of the ordinances and blessings of Christianity, are utterly lost in the indifference and lethargy of mankind.
set it: Jer 21:10, Jer 32:29, Jer 37:10, Jer 38:18, Jer 39:8, Jer 52:13
that the filthiness: Eze 20:38, Eze 22:15-23, Eze 23:26, Eze 23:27, Eze 23:47, Eze 23:48, Eze 36:25, Isa 1:25, Isa 4:4, Isa 27:9, Mic 5:11-14, Zec 13:1, Zec 13:2, Zec 13:8, Zec 13:9, Mal 4:1, Mat 3:12, 1Co 3:12, 1Co 3:13, The pot was Jerusalem; the flesh, the inhabitants in general: every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, Zedekiah, his family, and princes; the bones, the soldiers; the fire and water, the calamities they were to suffer; and the setting on of the pot, the commencement of the siege.
Reciprocal: 2Ki 21:13 – I will wipe Isa 24:1 – maketh the Isa 64:7 – consumed Eze 24:6 – to the pot Eze 24:13 – thy filthiness Rev 17:4 – filthiness
Eze 24:11. Here a slight change is made in the use of the parable. The enemy is to devour the desirable pieces that have been boiled, leaving the scum in the kettle. Then the pot is to be put back on the fire that the brass (the material of which the vessel is made) may get hot again. It was then to burn the scum right into the pores of the metal and thus be consumed.
Then Ezekiel was to keep the empty caldron on the coals with the fire burning hotly under it so it would glow and all the impurities in it would burn up. This represented the continuing purification of Jerusalem after all the Jews had left it. It would remain empty, and that condition would free it from all sinful pollution for many years to come.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)