Ezekiel 24:9-11 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Thus saith the Lord, &c. In this and the two following verses is still more fully explained the meaning of the symbol of the boiling pot, and what the fire is that made it boil. By making the pile for the fire great, is signified the destruction being very great and general. And spice it well Or, season it well, so as to make it desirable. The expression imports, that the Babylonians should be as much set on destroying the city and inhabitants, as hungry people are greedy of devouring meat well spiced and dressed. This was a very proper expression, considering that Jerusalem, in the foregoing part of this chapter, is represented as a boiling pot, and the inhabitants of it as pieces of flesh boiled in it. All the other expressions of this verse signify an entire destruction. Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, &c. This expresses, that after a riddance was made of the inhabitants, either by slaughtering them with the sword, or carrying them away into captivity, the city itself, represented by the pot, should be burned with fire, that its impurity might be consumed, or purged away by the flames; that is to say, that their wickedness might be taken away with their persons and city; or that the remains of the inhabitants, who were made captives, should be reformed by this terrible destruction of Jerusalem. If we understand it as spoken of the place of the city, the expression may allude to what was commanded in the ceremonial law, namely, that metal vessels, which water could not cleanse, should be purified by fire. Thus nothing short of burning Jerusalem down to the ground could purge it from its abominations: afterward it should be rebuilt, and become a holy city, free from the idolatries which had formerly defiled it.