Ezekiel 24:5

Take the choicest of the flock and pile the fuel beneath it. Bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.’

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel during the siege of Jerusalem, using the metaphor of a cooking pot to address the impending judgment on the city.

The words — The text highlights מִבְחַר (miv.Char) meaning “the choicest of” and רַתַּח (ra.Tach) meaning “make boil,” which frame the command to prepare the pot with elite cuts and intense heat.

The thread — This imagery of a city emptied piece by piece parallels the historical judgment where Nebuchadnezzar slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons and nobles at Riblah, as recorded in Jeremiah 39:6 and Jeremiah 52:10.

Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that Jerusalem’s elite status will not prevent the pot from being emptied, requiring the reader to accept that divine judgment processes the city without casting lots or showing favoritism.

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

מִבְחַ֤רmiv.Char[the] choicest of הַצֹּאן֙ha./tzoNthe/ flock לָק֔וֹחַla.Ko.achtake וְגַ֛םve./Gamand/ also דּ֥וּרdurpile up הָעֲצָמִ֖יםha./'a.tza.Mimthe/ bones תַּחְתֶּ֑יהָtach.Tei./haunder/ it רַתַּ֣חra.Tachmake boil רְתָחֶ֔יהָre.ta.Chei./haboiling/ its גַּם־gam-also בָּשְׁל֥וּba.she.Luthey have cooked עֲצָמֶ֖יהָ'a.tza.Mei./habones/ its בְּתוֹכָֽהּ׃ סbe./to.Kha/hin/ [the] midst of/ it

King James Version

Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 52:10 There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the officials of Judah.
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.
Jeremiah 39:6 There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the nobles of Judah.
Ezekiel 20:47 Say to the forest of the Negev: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite in you a fire, and it will devour all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and by it every face from south to north will be scorched.
Ezekiel 24:9 Yes, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the kindling high.
Ezekiel 34:16 I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’
Ezekiel 34:20 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says to them: ‘Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
Revelation 19:20 But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.