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Ezekiel 24

Ezekiel 24:12

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

Translations

Modern
It has frustrated every effort; its thick rust has not been removed, even by the fire.
Traditional
She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.
Literal
With toiling she has grown weary, and the abundance of her corrosion has not gone out from her—into the fire with her corrosion!
Latin
Multo labore sudatum est, et non exivit de ea nimia rubigo ejus, neque per ignem.

Original

Hebrew
English
It has frustrated every effort; its thick rust has not been removed, even by the fire.

Notes

Ezekiel 24:9–12

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.

Ezekiel 24:1–14

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

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