Ezekiel 24:10

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

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The Lord GOD issues this command through the prophet Ezekiel concerning the "city of bloodshed." The directive is delivered during a siege narrative where the prophet is instructed to enact a prophecy of impending judgment.

The words — הַרְבֵּ֤ה (har.Beh) means "increase" or "pile," and הָתֵ֖ם (ha.Tem) means "complete" or "finish," emphasizing the exhaustive preparation of the cooking process. These terms frame the divine command as a deliberate, thorough act rather than a casual instruction.

The thread — The imagery of piling resources for destruction parallels Jeremiah 17:3 and Jeremiah 20:5, where God surrenders Judah’s wealth and treasures to plunder. Lamentations 1:10 further reflects this theme as the adversary seizes the city’s accumulated riches.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine judgment operates with the same methodical preparation as a deliberate cooking process. It asks the reader to confront the reality that every element of the targeted city will be systematically consumed and left without remainder.

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

הַרְבֵּ֤הhar.Behincrease הָעֵצִים֙ha./'e.Tzimthe/ wood<s>הַדְלֵ֣קhad.Lekkindle הָאֵ֔שׁha./'Eshthe/ fire הָתֵ֖םha.Temcomplete הַבָּשָׂ֑רha./ba.Sarthe/ meat וְהַרְקַח֙ve./har.Kachand/ mix הַמֶּרְקָחָ֔הha./mer.ka.Chahthe/ seasoning וְהָעֲצָמ֖וֹתve./ha./'a.tza.Motand/ the/ bones יֵחָֽרוּ׃ye.Cha.rulet them be charred

King James Version

Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 17:3 O My mountain in the countryside, I will give over your wealth and all your treasures as plunder, because of the sin of your high places, within all your borders.
Jeremiah 20:5 I will give away all the wealth of this city—all its products and valuables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah—to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.
Lamentations 1:10 The adversary has seized all her treasures. For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary—those You had forbidden to enter Your assembly.
Lamentations 2:16 All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see it!”