Ezekiel 24:11
in Ezekiel 24Set the empty pot on its coals until it becomes hot and its copper glows. Then its impurity will melt within; its rust will be consumed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that it may be hot, and the brass thereof may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the rust of it may be consumed.
KJV
Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 24
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThis was Jerusalem's case: She has wearied with lies, wearied her God with purposes and promises of amendment, which she never stood to, wearied herself with her carnal confidences, which have all deceived her,
This site's exposition
I will even make the pile for fire great
on Ezekiel 24:9-14
The fire is built greater still, the bones themselves burned. Keil reads the escalation from cooking to scorching the empty vessel as the point where the metaphor gives out. Henry notes the chapter's most severe line, I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent.
This site's exposition
Set the empty pot on its coals
With the contents gone, the fire turns to the pot itself, the city. The heat burns away rust that no washing had removed. Henry described Jerusalem worn out with broken promises of amendment.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 24, Verse 1 onwards) Then in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Let the vipers and their nest be consumed together. (2.) What is the quarrel God has with it. He would not take these severe methods with Jerusalem but that he is provoked to it; she deserves to be thus dealt with, for, [1.] It is a bloody city (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The filthiness - A type of the unreformed sinfulness of the city.
Then set it empty upon the coals thereof,....
By the sign of Ezekiel's not mourning for the death of his wife is shown that the calamities coming upon Jerusalem were too great to be lamented, so great that they should sink down under them into a silent despair,
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
set it empty . . . that . . . brass . . . may burn, . . . that . . . scum . . . may be consumed--Even the consumption of the contents is not enough; the caldron itself which is infected by the poisonous scum must be destroyed, that is, the city itself must be destroyed, not merely the inhabitants, just as the very house infected with leprosy was to be destroyed (Le 14:34-45).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
pile on the wood, kindle the fire And to pile on the wood, to kindle the fire.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Multiply the kings, gather the armies, set the supports, and prepare the warriors against her; and her mighty men shall be confused.
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. 5 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
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהַעֲמִידֶ֥הָ | vehaamideha | and set it | H5975 → | 521 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| גֶּחָלֶ֖יהָ | gechaleiha | burning coals its | H1513 → | 18 times |
| רֵקָ֑ה | rekah | empty | H7386 → | |
| לְמַ֨עַן | lemaan | so that | H4616 → | 272 times |
| תֵּחַ֜ם | techam | it may grow warm | H2552 → | |
| וְחָ֣רָה | vecharah | and it will be hot | H2787 → | 10 times |
| נְחֻשְׁתָּ֗הּ | nechushtah | bronze its | H5178 → | 140 times |
| וְנִתְּכָ֤ה | venitekhah | and it will be melted | H5413 → | 21 times |
| בְתוֹכָהּ֙ | vetokhah | in [the] midst of it | H8432 → | 418 times |
| טֻמְאָתָ֔הּ | tumatah | uncleanness its | H2932 → | 36 times |
| תִּתֻּ֖ם | titum | it may be consumed | H8552 → | 63 times |
| חֶלְאָתָֽהּ׃ | chelatah | rust its | H2457 → | 5 times |
וְהַעֲמִידֶ֥הָand set it
vehaamidehaH5975 →521 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
גֶּחָלֶ֖יהָburning coals its
gechaleihaH1513 →18 times
רֵקָ֑הempty
rekahH7386 →
לְמַ֨עַןso that
lemaanH4616 →272 times
תֵּחַ֜םit may grow warm
techamH2552 →
וְחָ֣רָהand it will be hot
vecharahH2787 →10 times
נְחֻשְׁתָּ֗הּbronze its
nechushtahH5178 →140 times
וְנִתְּכָ֤הand it will be melted
venitekhahH5413 →21 times
בְתוֹכָהּ֙in [the] midst of it
vetokhahH8432 →418 times
טֻמְאָתָ֔הּuncleanness its
tumatahH2932 →36 times
תִּתֻּ֖םit may be consumed
titumH8552 →63 times
חֶלְאָתָֽהּ׃rust its
chelatahH2457 →5 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
Malachi 4:1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…
it leads to
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8
in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
- 2 Peter 3:7
And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
- Malachi 3:2
But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- Isaiah 47:14
Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals to warm them or fire to sit beside.
- Isaiah 5:24
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected…
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8
Through
Jeremiah 21:10For I have set My face against this city to bring disaster and not good, declares the LORD. It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, who will destroy it…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 52:13
He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 44:11
Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will set My face to bring disaster and to cut off all Judah.
- Jeremiah 52:13
Through
Isaiah 1:25I will turn My hand against you; I will thoroughly purge your dross; I will remove all your impurities.
it leads to
- Malachi 3:3
And He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in…
- Malachi 3:3
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.