Ezekiel 12:4
in Ezekiel 12Bring out your baggage for exile by day, as they watch. Then in the evening, as they watch, go out like those who go into exile.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And thou shalt bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing; and thou shalt go forth thyself at even in their sight, as when men go forth into exile.
KJV
Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity.
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This verse in Ezekiel 12
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The particulars which Ezekiel here foretold actually occurred (compare 2Ki 25:4; Jer 39:4); but at this time Zedekiah seemed to be prosperous, and the Jews at Jerusalem expected, it is clear, a long continuance of his prosperity (see Eze 17:1 note). The prophetic character of the passage is undoubted (the prophet is declared to be “a sign,” Eze 12:6) - the genuineness of the book and of the position of the passage in the book, are beyond dispute; in the historical event we have an exact fulfillment. The only legitimate inference is that the prophet received his knowledge from above.
This site's exposition
pack your bags for exile
on Ezekiel 12:3-7
Ezekiel is told to “pack your bags for exile” with the hope, “Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.” He digs “through the wall,” for “I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.” He performs it to the letter before any explanation.
This site's exposition
Bring out your baggage for exile by day
Ezekiel is to act out an exile while the people watch, bringing out his baggage by day and leaving in the evening. Albert Barnes notes that each detail later came true when Zedekiah fled, as 2 Kings 25:4 records. At the time the king still seemed secure.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Ver. 4 seqq.) And you shall bring out your baggage like the baggage of an exile by day in their sight. And you shall go out in the evening before them, as one goes out into exile before their eyes. Dig through the wall for yourself, and you shall go out through it in their sight. You shall bear your baggage on your shoulders (Vulgate: you shall be carried): you shall escape in darkness (Vulgate: you shall be brought out).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Then shall thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight,....
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהוֹצֵאתָ֨ | vehotzeta | and you will bring out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| כֵלֶ֜יךָ | kheleikha | baggage<s> your | H3627 → | 325 times |
| כִּכְלֵ֥י | kikhlei | like baggage<s> of | H3627 → | 325 times |
| גוֹלָ֛ה | golah | exile | H1473 → | 43 times |
| יוֹמָ֖ם | yomam | by day | H3119 → | 50 times |
| לְעֵֽינֵיהֶ֑ם | leeineihem | to eyes their | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וְאַתָּ֗ה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| תֵּצֵ֤א | tetze' | you will go out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| בָעֶ֙רֶב֙ | vaerev | in the evening | H6153 → | 134 times |
| לְעֵ֣ינֵיהֶ֔ם | leeineihem | to eyes their | H5869 → | 887 times |
| כְּמוֹצָאֵ֖י | kemotzaei | like goings out of | H4161 → | 27 times |
| גּוֹלָֽה׃ | golah | exile | H1473 → | 43 times |
וְהוֹצֵאתָ֨and you will bring out
vehotzetaH3318 →1067 times
כֵלֶ֜יךָbaggage<s> your
kheleikhaH3627 →325 times
כִּכְלֵ֥יlike baggage<s> of
kikhleiH3627 →325 times
גוֹלָ֛הexile
golahH1473 →43 times
יוֹמָ֖םby day
yomamH3119 →50 times
לְעֵֽינֵיהֶ֑םto eyes their
leeineihemH5869 →887 times
וְאַתָּ֗הand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
תֵּצֵ֤אyou will go out
tetze'H3318 →1067 times
בָעֶ֙רֶב֙in the evening
vaerevH6153 →134 times
לְעֵ֣ינֵיהֶ֔םto eyes their
leeineihemH5869 →887 times
כְּמוֹצָאֵ֖יlike goings out of
kemotzaeiH4161 →27 times
גּוֹלָֽה׃exile
golahH1473 →43 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 12:12And at dusk the prince among them will lift his bags to his shoulder and go out. They will dig through the wall to bring him out. He will cover his face so he…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 25:4
Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden.…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 39:4
When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and they…
- Ezekiel 12:6
And as they watch, lift your bags to your shoulder and take them out at dusk; cover your face so that you cannot see the land. For I have made you a sign to…
- 2 Kings 25:4
Through
2 Kings 25:4Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden.…
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:36
As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 33:21
In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”
- Leviticus 26:36
Through
Jeremiah 39:4When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and they…
it leads to
- Amos 2:14
Escape will fail the swift, the strong will not prevail by his strength, and the mighty will not save his life.
- 2 Chronicles 32:5
Then Hezekiah worked resolutely to rebuild all the broken sections of the wall and to raise up towers on it. He also built an outer wall and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City…
- Amos 2:14
Through
Jeremiah 52:7Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:32
The fords have been seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers are terrified.”
- Jeremiah 51:32
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).