Ezekiel 12:10
in Ezekiel 12Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are there.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are.
KJV
Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them.
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This verse in Ezekiel 12
Commentary
10 notes on this verseSay thou unto them, thus saith the Lord God,.... In answer to their sneering question; or notwithstanding their stupidity and indolence, and in order to awaken them out of it: this burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem; the present reigning prince in Jerusalem, King Zedekiah.
This site's exposition
in the morning the word of the LORD came to me
on Ezekiel 12:8-11
The explanation comes the next morning. The Lord names the target: “This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are there.” Ezekiel is to say, “I am a sign to you,” his own actions a small enactment of the exile to come.
This site's exposition
This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem
The answer names who the sign is for: the prince in Jerusalem and all Israel still there. Albert Barnes explains that a burden is a word of coming woe laid on a person or people. The load on the shoulder of Ezekiel pictures that weight.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 10 and following) This burden is upon the prince who is in Jerusalem, and upon all the house of Israel who are among them. Say: I am your omen: as I have done, so it shall be done to them. They shall go into exile and captivity. But the prince who is among them shall be carried on shoulders, he shall go out in darkness; they shall dig through the wall to bring him out; his face shall be covered, so that he may not see the land with his eyes.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
); but, to prepare them for the prophecy of it, he must first give them a sign of it, must speak it to their eyes first and then to their ears: and here we have, 1.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
), This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem; they knew who that was, and gloried in it now that they were in captivity that they had a prince of their own in Jerusalem, and that the house of Israel was yet entire there, and therefore doubted not but in time to do well enough.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Say - Though they inquire not, yet tell them what I mean hereby, that this prophecy is a burden which the kingdom shall groan under.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Burden - A word used to indicate a prediction of woe to be borne by some individual or people (Isa 13:1 note). Ezekiel, bearing his “stuff” on his shoulder was a sign of the weight of calamity coming upon king and people.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
JOSEPHUS [Antiquities, 10.7] reports that Ezekiel sent a copy of this prophecy to Zedekiah. As Jeremiah had sent a letter to the captives at the Chebar, which was the means of calling forth at first the agency of Ezekiel, so it was natural for Ezekiel to send a message to Jerusalem confirming the warnings of Jeremiah.
This burden - This prediction concerning the prince. By this I point out the capture, misery, and ruin of Zedekiah.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
[Concerning] the prince is this burden Concerning King Zedekiah, I am showing this מַשָּׂא, burden, an expression denoting prophecy.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Say to them, 'Thus said Hashem Elokim: This burden of nevuah is upon the prince in Yerushalayim, and all the house of Yisrael who are among them.'
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֱמֹ֣ר | ʾemor | say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כֹּ֥ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֖ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהֹוִ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| הַנָּשִׂ֞יא | hanasi' | [is] the prince | H5387 → | 134 times |
| הַמַּשָּׂ֤א | hamasa' | the oracle | H4853 → | |
| הַזֶּה֙ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| בִּיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם | birushalam | in Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הֵ֥מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| בְתוֹכָֽם׃ | vetokham | [are] in midst of them | H8432 → | 418 times |
אֱמֹ֣רsay
ʾemorH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֔םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
כֹּ֥הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֖רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהֹוִ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
הַנָּשִׂ֞יא[is] the prince
hanasi'H5387 →134 times
הַמַּשָּׂ֤אthe oracle
hamasa'H4853 →
הַזֶּה֙<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
בִּיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םin Jerusalem
birushalamH3389 →643 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
בֵּ֥ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֲשֶׁר־who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
הֵ֥מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
בְתוֹכָֽם׃[are] in midst of them
vetokhamH8432 →418 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
2 Kings 9:25And Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, “Pick him up and throw him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember that when you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 13:1
This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 21:19
Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where…
- Isaiah 13:1
Through
Isaiah 13:1This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
it leads to
- Isaiah 47:1–15
“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
- Jeremiah 50:1
This is the word that the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans:
- Isaiah 1:1
This is the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
- Revelation 17:1–18
Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.
- Daniel 5:6
his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.
- Isaiah 47:1–15
Through
Isaiah 14:28In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received:
it leads to
- 2 Kings 16:20
And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David, and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.
- 2 Kings 16:20
About Ezekiel

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.
