Ezekiel 11:7

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: The slain you have laid within this city are the meat, and the city is the pot; but I will remove you from it.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel to the rebellious Jerusalem leaders. He addresses them immediately after condemning their multiplication of murders within the city walls.

The words — The Hebrew לָ/כֵ֗ן (la./Khen) means "therefore," and חַלְלֵי/כֶם֙ (cha.lei./Khem) translates to "your slain ones." These terms anchor the pronouncement to their specific, completed actions.

The thread — The city-as-pot metaphor recurs in Ezekiel 24:3 and echoes the flesh-stripping imagery of Micah 3:2. Both passages use culinary violence to depict divine judgment on corrupt leadership.

Why it lands — The text states that the city has become a cooking vessel for the dead the leaders slaughtered. It requires a reader to accept that God will extract them from their self-made trap rather than preserve them.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

לָכֵ֗ןla./Khen<to>/ therefore כֹּֽה־koh-thus אָמַר֮'a.Marhe says אֲדֹנָ֣י'a.do.Nai[the] Lord יְהוִה֒Yah.wehYahweh חַלְלֵיכֶם֙cha.lei./Khemslain [ones]/ your אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhich שַׂמְתֶּ֣םsam.Temyou have put בְּתוֹכָ֔הּbe./to.Kha/hin/ [the] midst of/ it הֵ֥מָּהHe.mahthey הַבָּשָׂ֖רha./ba.Sar[are] the/ meat וְהִ֣יאve./Hi'and/ it הַסִּ֑ירha./Sir[is] the/ pot וְאֶתְכֶ֖םve./'et./Khemand/ <obj.>/ you הוֹצִ֥יאho.Tzi'he will bring out מִתּוֹכָֽהּ׃mi./to.Kha/hfrom/ [the] midst of/ it

King James Version

Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 24:3 Now speak a parable to this rebellious house and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Put the pot on the fire; put it on and pour in the water.
Micah 3:2 You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones.
2 Kings 25:18 The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
Jeremiah 52:24 The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
Ezekiel 3:9 I will make your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or dismayed at their presence, even though they are a rebellious house.”