Ezekiel 24:10

The Parable of the Cooking Pot · Ezekiel 24:1–14
Read Ezekiel 24

Translations

Modern
Pile on the logs and kindle the fire; cook the meat well and mix in the spices; let the bones be burned.
Traditional
Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.
Literal
Heap on the wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and mix in the spices, and let the bones be burned up.
Latin
Congere ossa, quæ igne succendam: consumentur carnes, et coquetur universa compositio, et ossa tabescent.

Original

Hebrew
English
Pile on the logs and kindle the fire; cook the meat well and mix in the spices; let the bones be burned.

Notes

God said he would make Jerusalem like a red-hot cooking pot, as if it were in a refiner's furnace. However, even this fire would not remove its corruption, because Jerusalem's impurity was permanent.

At first, the picture of a cooking pot seems positive. It makes people think about good food and shared meals. In many cultures, a meal brings people together in peace and joy.

The pot was filled with choice pieces of meat from a sacrifice. A fire burned under the pot. The meat began to cook slowly.

However, like many parables, this story has a sharp ending. What should have been a good meal became rotten and unclean. The best pieces of meat went into the pot, but they came out spoiled.

The pot represents Jerusalem (Ezekiel 24:9). The meat inside represents the people. Instead of being pure and pleasing to God, they had become corrupt (morally ruined). As a result, the pot and its contents would be burned and destroyed.

Theme notes and profiles

Prophetic Sign Acts

Events

Glossary

Ezekiel, Book of

Topics

Cooking: Spice Used In Ezekiel: Teaches by Pantomime: Employs a Boiling Pot to Symbolize the Destruction of Jerusalem Instruction by Object Lessons: The Boiling Pot Prophets: Frequently in Their Actions Were Made Signs to the People Sin: The Israelites