Ezekiel 12:8,9 - Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

Bible Comments

-10 ‘And in the morning the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, has not the house of Israel said to you, ‘What are you doing?' You say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh, This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel among whom they are.' ” '

Ezekiel carried out his instructions, and as expected the people came to him and asked him what he was doing, and why he was doing it. So God then revealed to him the full import of what his actions revealed. They revealed not only what would happen to some of the people, but also to ‘the prince' himself. (He possibly prefers this term for Zedekiah because all saw Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:15; 2 Kings 25:27-30) as still their real king, even though deposed. But we should recognise that ‘prince' is a regular term for the king in Ezekiel). All would be included in the situation.

‘This burden.' Prophecy is regularly described in this way, for it was a heavy burden to the prophet, who did not delight in what he had to prophesy, and to the people who heard it because of the nature of the prophecy.

Ezekiel 12:8-9

8 And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,

9 Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou?