Ezekiel 24:16
in Ezekiel 24“Son of man, behold, I am about to take away the desire of your eyes with a fatal blow. But you must not mourn or weep or let your tears flow.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet thou shalt neither mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.
KJV
Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.
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This verse in Ezekiel 24
Commentary
11 notes on this verseSon of man, behold,.... This is said to raise the attention of the prophet, something strange and unusual, interesting and affecting, being about to be delivered: I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke; meaning his wife; who very probably was of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to; however, of an amiable disposition, and in her conjugal relation very agreeable to the prophet; and, no doubt, a truly religious woman, and upon all account's desirable to him.
This site's exposition
the word of the Lord came unto me, saying
on Ezekiel 24:15-18
The Lord tells the prophet he takes away the desire of thine eyes, and forbids him to mourn her. Keil reads the bare notice, and at even my wife died, as deliberately unadorned. Henry reads the loss, calling it the costliest sign any prophet was ever asked to perform.
This site's exposition
the desire of your eyes
The desire of his eyes is his wife, who dies that evening in verse 18. The phrase shows how dear she was to him. Clarke read the command to shed no tears as a sign of a grief too heavy to weep.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 15 and following) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with a plague, and you shall not mourn or weep, neither shall your tears flow. Sigh in silence, you shall not mourn for the dead. Your turban shall be on your head, and your sandals shall be on your feet; you shall not cover your lips nor eat the bread of mourners. Therefore, I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
(4.) That is least safe which is most dear; we know not how soon the desire of our eyes may be removed from us and may become the sorrow of our hearts, which is a good reason why those that have wives should be as though they had none, and those who rejoice in them as though they rejoiced not, 1 Cor. vii.
6 Wherefore thus saith the Lord G OD ; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it. 7 For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v6-7
With a stroke - A sudden stroke, by my own immediate hand. We know not how soon the desire of our eyes may be removed from us. Death is a stroke, which the most pious, the most useful, the most amiable are not exempted from.
He must not give vent to his passion by weeping, or letting his tears run down, though tears are a tribute due to the dead, and, when the body is sown, it is fit that it should thus be watered.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes - Here is an intimation that the stroke he was to suffer was to be above all grief; that it would be so great as to prevent the relief of tears. Curae leves loquuntur, graviores silent, is a well-accredited maxim in such cases. Superficial griefs affect the more easily moved passions; great ones affect the soul itself, in its powers of reasoning, reflecting, comparing, recollecting, etc., when the sufferer feels all the weight of wo.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
His natural tenderness is shown by that graphic touch, "the desire of thine eyes." What amazing subjection, then, of his individual feeling to his prophetic duty is manifested in the simple statement (Eze 24:18), "So I spake . . . in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded." stroke--a sudden visitation.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The death of Ezekiel’s wife took place in the evening of the same day that he delivered the foregoing prophecy. This event was to signify to the people that the Lord would take from them all that was most dear to them; and - owing to the extraordinary nature of the times - quiet lamentation for the dead, according to the usual forms of mourning, would be impossible. Eze 24:17 The priest in general was to mourn for his dead (Lev 21:1 ff); but Ezekiel was to be an exception to the rule. The “tire” was the priest’s mitre. Eat not the bread of men - Food supplied for the comfort of the mourners. Eze 24:23 Pine away - Compare Lev 26:39. The outward signs of grief were a certain consolation. Their absence would indicate a heart-consuming sorrow. Eze 24:27 Ezekiel had been employed four years in foretelling the calamities about to come to pass. He had been utterly disregarded by the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and received with apparent respect but with real incredulity by those in exile. Now until the city had been actually taken, the voice of prophecy should cease, so far as God’s people were concerned. Hence the intervening series of predictions relating to neighboring and foreign nations Ezek. 25–32. After which the prophet’s voice was again heard addressing his countrymen in their exile. This accounts for the apparently parenthetical character of the next eight chapters.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בֶּן־ | ben- | O son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אָדָ֕ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| הִנְנִ֨י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| לֹקֵ֧חַ | lokeach | [am] about to take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| מִמְּךָ֛ | mimekha | from you | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מַחְמַ֥ד | machmad | [the] desire of | H4261 → | 13 times |
| עֵינֶ֖יךָ | ʾeineikha | eyes your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| בְּמַגֵּפָ֑ה | bemagefah | with a blow | H4046 → | |
| וְלֹ֤א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִסְפֹּד֙ | tispod | you must lament | H5594 → | |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִבְכֶּ֔ה | tivkeh | you must weep | H1058 → | 114 times |
| וְל֥וֹא | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תָב֖וֹא | tavo' | it will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| דִּמְעָתֶֽךָ׃ | dimatekha | tear[s] your | H1832 → |
בֶּן־O son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אָדָ֕םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
הִנְנִ֨יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
לֹקֵ֧חַ[am] about to take
lokeachH3947 →966 times
מִמְּךָ֛from you
mimekhaH4480 →1188 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מַחְמַ֥ד[the] desire of
machmadH4261 →13 times
עֵינֶ֖יךָeyes your
ʾeineikhaH5869 →887 times
בְּמַגֵּפָ֑הwith a blow
bemagefahH4046 →
וְלֹ֤אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תִסְפֹּד֙you must lament
tispodH5594 →
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תִבְכֶּ֔הyou must weep
tivkehH1058 →114 times
וְל֥וֹאand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תָב֖וֹאit will come
tavo'H935 →2568 times
דִּמְעָתֶֽךָ׃tear[s] your
dimatekhaH1832 →
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
1 Thessalonians 4:13Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.
it leads to
- Daniel 12:2
And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:15
By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:10
He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
- 1 Corinthians 15:18–19
Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
- 2 Peter 3:4
“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”
- Daniel 12:2
Through
Song of Solomon 7:10I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.
it leads to
- Psalms 45:11
and the king will desire your beauty; bow to him, for he is your lord.
- Psalms 45:11
Through
Jeremiah 22:10Do not weep for the dead king; do not mourn his loss. Weep bitterly for the one who is exiled, for he will never return to see his native land.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 4:2
So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.
- Jeremiah 22:11
For this is what the LORD says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah but has gone forth from this place: “He will never return,
- Ecclesiastes 4:2
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.