Ezekiel 11:1-13

A. The Jerusalem Leaders Denounced 11:1-13

TRANSLATION

(1) And a spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the eastern gate of the house of the LORD, the one that faces east, and behold, in the entrance of the gate twenty-five men. And I saw in their midst Jaazaniah ben-Azur and Pelatiah ben-Benaiah, princes of the people. (2) And He said unto me, Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and give wicked counsel in this city; (3) who say, It is not near, let us build houses.[247] It is the pot, and we are the meat. (4) Therefore, prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man. (5) And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak! Thus says the LORD: You have said thus, O house of Israel, and the things of your spirit I surely know. (6) You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with slain. (7) Therefore, Thus says the LORD: Your slain which you have put in your midst, they are the meat, and it is the pot; but you shall be brought forth[248] from its midst. (8) A sword you have feared, and a sword I shall bring against you (oracle of the Lord GOD). (9) And I will bring you out from its midst, and I will place you in the hand of strangers, and I will execute judgments among you. (10) With the sword you shall fall, upon the border of Israel I shall judge you; and you shall know that I am the LORD. (11) It shall not be your pot, nor shall you be in its midst as meat; but I will judge you unto the border of Israel. (12) And you shall know that I am the LORD in whose statutes you did not walk, and whose judgments you did not execute, but have done according to the judgments of the nations which are round about you.

[247] Lit. not In the near (future) the building of houses.
[248] Another reading is, I will bring you forth.

COMMENTS

The leading citizens of Jerusalem were convinced of the impregnability of the Holy City. In Ezekiel 11:1-13 Ezekiel was commissioned to smash this vain delusion. Blackwood succinctly summarizes the vision which is unraveling: Jerusalem will die, but faith will lives.[249]

[249] Blackwood, EPH, p. 84.

In this vision the prophet feels himself swept off his feet and carried by a spirit to another part of the Temple. From the inner court where Ezekiel was last said to be standing (Ezekiel 8:16), the prophet was transported to the eastern gate of the outer court. This was the spot where the throne-chariot had momentarily set down (Ezekiel 10:19). This area just outside the sacred Temple precincts was traditionally a place of public assembly (cf. Jeremiah 26:10).

At the eastern Temple gate Ezekiel saw twenty-five men. Are these the same men Ezekiel observed worshiping the sun in Ezekiel 8:16? Probably not.[250] The former company was a priestly group, while these twenty-five appear to have been lay leaders. Furthermore, the two groups are seen in different localities. What significance there may be in the number twenty-five cannot be ascertained.[251] The men seem to have been members of a political pressure group.

[250] Many capable commentators do make the identification between the two groups.
[251] Various conjectures (1) two from each tribe of Israel with the king at their head; (2) two from each of the twelve divisions of the army with their commander; (3) two representatives from each of the twelve regions of the city with their president.

Two of the twenty-five men were easily identified by Ezekiel. Jaazaniah[252] and Pelatiah were prominent statesmen, princes of the people (Ezekiel 11:1). This term refers to the ruling class of Judah, not necessarily the royal family.[253]

[252] Not to be confused with the Jaazaniah of Ezekiel 8:11 who was the son of Shaphan. This Jaazaniah was the son of Azur. An Azur is found In Jeremiah 28:1 as the father of Hananiah the false prophet. Could this Jaazaniah have been the brother of Hananiah?

[253] See Jeremiah 26:10; Jeremiah 26:12; Jeremiah 26:16; Jeremiah 26:21; Jeremiah 36:14, et al.

The twenty-five men are said to be those who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city, i.e., Jerusalem (Ezekiel 11:2). Exactly what this iniquity and counsel consisted of is not certain. Since this narrative dates from the latter half of Zedekiah's reign, Jeremiah's experiences with the princes may give some indication. In open contradiction to Jeremiah's constant proclamation of certain doom for Jerusalem, the princes optimistically advised the people of the city's invulnerability. This anti-Babylon faction constantly agitated for revolt against the authority of Nebuchadnezzar. Such policies were tantamount to rebellion against the will of God (Jeremiah 27:12 ff.), and were therefore politically and spiritually disastrous.

The defiant boast of these evil counselors is cited in Ezekiel 11:3. It (the judgment of which the true prophets spoke) is not near;[254] let us build houses. Jeremiah had bidden the exiles in Babylon to build houses and settle down for a long stay (Jeremiah 29:5). The evil princes urged that houses be built[255] in Jerusalem, that business proceed as usual. Jeremiah had threatened the inhabitants of Jerusalem with the image of the seething pot (Jeremiah 1:13); but the rebel party regarded Jerusalem as the caldron which would protect the meat the inhabitants of the city from the fire of destruction. The schemers thus assured themselves that the walls of Jerusalem would afford them adequate protection in the event of an attack by the army of Babylon.

[254] The Greek version turns this into a question, Is not the time at hand to build houses?
[255] Many modern commentators prefer the translation the time is not near to build houses. The idea would then be that all attention should be devoted to war against Babylon, not house-building. While this translation is possible, the explanation is farfetched.

In his vision Ezekiel heard himself bidden to do the true work of a prophet in rebuking the defiant rebels. Concerning these Jerusalem leaders God had an urgent message. The repetition of the command to prophesy (Ezekiel 11:4) underscores this urgency. As in Ezekiel 2:2 Ezekiel felt the Spirit of God fall upon him. He knew that he would speak the word of the Lord inerrantly, and hence he prefaced his visionary oracle with the phrase Thus says the Lord. His message was addressed to the house of Israel, a term which in Ezekiel's day was restricted to the people of Judah the remnant of Israel. God knew what the leaders of Israel had been saying, and He knew their thoughts as well (Ezekiel 11:5).

In Ezekiel 11:6 Ezekiel makes a serious accusation against the Jerusalem leadership: You have multiplied your slain in this city. This has been taken by some to be prophetic invective against the violence of the Jerusalem leadership.[256] The term slain is often used in classical Hebrew prophecy to refer to the helpless victims of social and political iniquities.[257] Plenty of examples from the biographical narratives of Jeremiah can be adduced to substantiate the charge of ruthlessness against the national leaders in Jerusalem. However, context here would seem to point in the direction of another interpretation of the accusation in Ezekiel 11:6. It might be called a predictive accusation. The defiant attitude of the anti-Babylonian party would result in the streets of Jerusalem being filled with those slain by Babylonian swords. The princes or governmental leaders were ultimately responsible for this needless slaughter.

[256] Wevers. NCB, p. 94.

[257] E. g., Isaiah 1:21-23; Amos 2:6-8; Hosea 4:1-3, Micah 3:1-3.

The prophet was led of the Lord to respond to their derisive and defiant caldron simile. The evil practices of Jerusalem's rulers had resulted in a situation in which the city walls would only serve to entrap and not protect. The gullible inhabitants of Jerusalem were bound together within the city for slaughter. The Jerusalem caldron was a pot of death, and the leaders were responsible for the slain the corpses which would fall in the streets of that city. But at least those slain would remain in Jerusalem, interred in their native land. For the war-mongers a worse fate was in store. They would fall into the hand of the ruthless Nebuchadnezzar and would be brought forth by him out of the midst of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 11:7).

Stripped of metaphor, Ezekiel 11:7 states simply that Jerusalem will afford no protection to the inhabitants. Many would be slain; others would be carried away into captivity on foreign soil. With all their talk about security, the leaders really feared an attack by the sword, i.e., Babylon. These fears, Ezekiel announced, would be justified by events (Ezekiel 11:8).

In Ezekiel 11:9 Ezekiel becomes more specific about the expulsion of the leaders from Jerusalem, and in so doing he eliminates any ambiguity in his previous statement. Their expulsion from Jerusalem spoken of in Ezekiel 11:7 would not result in escape to safe refuge. God would deliver them into the hands of strangers, i.e., the Babylonians. Through the instrumentality of these foreigners God would execute His judgments upon the rebels (Ezekiel 11:9). Ultimately they would fall by the sword. They would taste the judgment of the Lord upon the border of Israel. This prediction was fulfilled when the princes of Judah were massacred at Riblah (Jeremiah 52:9-10) which was on the frontier of the old Northern Kingdom (cf. 1 Kings 8:65; 2 Kings 14:25). When this prediction came to pass they would know that I am the Lord that Yahweh is not indifferent to the conduct of man (Ezekiel 11:10).

Ezekiel 11:11-12 a simply serve to underscore the dramatic predictions of the previous verses. Jerusalem would not serve as a caldron to protect the meat, i.e., these leaders, from the fire of the Babylonian army. Rather, they would experience divine judgment upon the border of Israel. The fulfillment of these predictions would establish that the one who spoke through the prophetic mouthpiece was really Yahweh, the God who will not leave the wicked unpunished. These leaders had disregarded the statutes and ordinances of the Lord, but on the contrary had followed heathen customs and practices (Ezekiel 11:12). They were therefore deserving of divine wrath.

As Ezekiel prophesied in his vision a dramatic event took place. One of the leaders, Pelatiah ben Benaiah, dropped dead.[258] Whether the death of Pelatiah was an actual event which is incorporated into the vision,[259] or whether it is purely a symbolic and visionary occurrence cannot be determined. In any case Ezekiel was startled and horrified by this occurrence. He certainly interpreted it as an ominous sign. Following his natural impulse as prophetic intercessor, Ezekiel fell on this face in earnest supplication before the Lord. In a loud voice he cried out his exasperation and agony, Ah Lord God? A question conveys an oblique petition on behalf of his people.[260] Will You make a full end of the remnant of Israel? The remnant of Israel would be those who were left in Jerusalem after the Babylonian siege in 597 B.C. The prophet interpreted the death of Pelatiah, one of the chief counselors of the city, to mean that the entire population of Jerusalem would share a similar fate.

[258] Compare the death of the false prophet Hananiah (Jeremiah 28:17).

[259] Taylor (TOTC, p. 110) feels Pelatiah actually died in Jerusalem at the very moment that Ezekiel had his vision. Subsequent reports of the incident reaching the exiles would have confirmed the authenticity of the vision and Ezekiel's supernatural power.

[260] Compare the prayer in Ezekiel 9:8.