Ezekiel 12:7

So I did as I was commanded. I brought out my bags for exile by day, and in the evening I dug through the wall by hand. I took my belongings out at dusk, carrying them on my shoulder as they watched.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Ezekiel addresses the house of Israel while enacting a prophetic sign at the moment he complies with the divine command to simulate departure. The action unfolds during daylight and at dusk while the people observe his movements.

The words — The term כֵּן (ken) translates literally as "so" or "thus," functioning as a textual marker of immediate compliance. The verb צֻוֵּיתִי (tzu.vei.Ti) means "I was commanded," anchoring the action to external divine instruction rather than personal initiative.

The thread — This structural pattern of prophetic obedience recurs in Ezekiel 24:18, where Ezekiel performs a public ritual following a personal loss, and in Ezekiel 37:7 and 37:10, where he speaks exactly as directed to produce a visible result.

Why it lands — The text records a deliberate, observable act of compliance that forces the audience to confront the certainty of exile. It requires the reader to treat symbolic warnings as binding historical events and to respond to divine instruction with tangible action.

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

וָאַ֣עַשׂva./'A.'asand/ I did כֵּן֮kenso כַּאֲשֶׁ֣רka./'a.Sherjust/ as צֻוֵּיתִי֒tzu.vei.TiI was commanded כֵּ֠לַיKe.la/ibaggage<s>/ my הוֹצֵ֜אתִיho.Tze.tiI brought out כִּכְלֵ֤יki/kh.Leilike/ baggage<s> of גוֹלָה֙go.Lahexile יוֹמָ֔םyo.Mamby day וּבָעֶ֛רֶבu./va./'E.revand/ in the/ evening חָתַֽרְתִּי־cha.tar.ti-I dugלִ֥יl/i<for>/ myselfבַקִּ֖ירva./Kirin the/ wall בְּיָ֑דbe./Yadby/ hand בָּעֲלָטָ֥הba./'a.la.Tahin the/ darkness הוֹצֵ֛אתִיho.Tze.tiI brought [it] out עַל־'al-on כָּתֵ֥ףka.Tefa shoulder נָשָׂ֖אתִיna.Sa.tiI lifted [it] up לְעֵינֵיהֶֽם׃ פle./'ei.nei./Hemto/ eyes/ their

King James Version

And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 24:18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And the next morning I did as I had been commanded.
Ezekiel 37:7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded. And as I prophesied, there was suddenly a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
Ezekiel 37:10 So I prophesied as He had commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet—a vast army.
Jeremiah 32:8 Then, as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and urged me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.’” Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
Ezekiel 2:8 And you, son of man, listen to what I tell you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you.”
Ezekiel 12:3 Therefore, son of man, pack your bags for exile. In broad daylight, set out from your place and go to another as they watch. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.
Matthew 21:6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
Mark 14:16 So the disciples left and went into the city, where they found everything as Jesus had described. And they prepared the Passover.
John 2:5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”
John 15:14 You are My friends if you do what I command you.