Ezekiel 12:10

10, 11. The general meaning of these verses is clear enough—the prophet’s action is a representation of what shall happen in Jerusalem in the case of prince and people, but Eze_12:10 is very obscure, and probably not in its original form.

This burden concerneth the prince] lit. the prince (is) this burden in Jerusalem. The term “burden” has also the sense of “oracle,” but Ez. does not use it in this sense and there is no reason to find any play upon the word as Jer_23:33. The allusion can only be to the last words of Eze_12:7—I bare it upon my shoulder; and the meaning would be: this bearing or loading has reference to the prince (Eze_12:12). With this sense the following words must run: and all the house of Israel which are in the midst of it (Jerusalem—with a change of one letter). The objection to this that if the relative were subject the pronoun would not be expressed after it (Hitz., Keil) is worthless. But there are other objections more valid: “all the house of Israel” could hardly be used of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the phrase usually refers to the larger Israel, existing in all places. R.V. “this burden concerneth the prince … and all the house of Israel among whom they are;” but concerneth is said of the “prince” and of “all the house of Israel” in different senses. Notwithstanding the objections to it the easiest course is to read: in the midst of it (Jerusalem) as above. Corn. omits the verse as a gloss.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 12:10 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.

Ver. 10. This burden concerneth the princes in Jerusalem.] There is an elegance in the original. Princes who overburden their people shall one day have their back burden of miseries. Potentes potenter torquebuntur.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, prophecy.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

burden--that is, weighty oracle.

the prince--The very man Zedekiah, in whom they trust for safety, is to be the chief sufferer. 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. The prince, however, fancying a contradiction between Eze 12:13; "he shall not see Babylon," and Jer 24:8-9, declaring he should be carried to Babylon, believed neither. Seeming discrepancies in Scripture on deeper search prove to be hidden harmonies.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. This burden] This prediction concerning the prince. By this I point out the capture, misery, and ruin of Zedekiah.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(10) All the house of Israel.—The burden (or message of woe) was directed immediately to the king and his princes, but the people were also necessarily involved. Israel is here, as elsewhere, used. for the then existing nation, which was considered as representing the whole, although composed chiefly of the tribe of Judah.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the prince that is among them,.... Zedekiah their king that reigned over them, in whom they trusted, and under whose government they thought themselves safe and secure:

shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth; out of Jerusalem, where his palace and throne were, leaving the main of his riches behind him; only should carry away what he could on his shoulder, a bundle of his most valuable effects, or provisions for his flight: or, as Kimchi and Ben Melech think, his clothes, for lighter march, and more speedy haste:

they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby; it seems by this, that when the king, and his nobles and servants, made their escape, they not only went forth between two walls, but broke through one, in order to get away; which was done, not by the king himself, but by his servants; so the Targum,

"in a wall shall they dig to bring him out by it;''

and therefore the number is changed, not "he", but "they, shall dig", &c. though in the following words the singular is again used:

he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes; either through shame at leaving the city, his palace, and all his grandeur. The Targum is,

"he shall cover his face because he hath sinned:''

or that he might not be known and be discovered who he was; and so it was through fear of being betrayed by a false friend, or taken by the enemy: or else this may respect his having his eyes put out at Riblah, so that he could not see with them the land he was carried into; though it rather seems to refer to his first escape out of Jerusalem with a mask or vizor on him, which might hinder his seeing the ground he went upon; and which, in his fright, he could not attend to, looking out here and there, not being able to keep his eye long upon any place. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it, "that he may not be seen with the eye, and he shall not see the land".

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Jerusalem. The people regarded not Jeremias. This prediction would be sent to them to confirm what he said, while it would tend to keep up the spirits of those who were in captivity. (Theodoret) (Calmet) --- Israel. The people, or those of the ten tribes who had retired thither. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Though they regard not to inquire, yet give them to know what I mean hereby.

Thus saith the Lord God: this to add weight and authority to the word.

This burden; this dreadful prognostic; this prophecy is a burden which the kingdom shall groan under, and your king and the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him.

The prince; Zedekiah.

All the house; none may be excepted.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem — This is a very difficult phrase. Jeremiah had already used the word “burden” for a heavy and fear-inciting utterance of Jehovah (Jer_23:33), and this may be the meaning here. Or does it mean that this bearing, or leading, has reference to the prince (Eze_12:12), David’s son? This reference to the prince must have been very dangerous to the popularity of the prophet.

Reverence for the king, “the son of David,” the “anointed of Jehovah,” was highly developed in Israel. The religion and Messianic hope of everlasting dominion seemed bound up with the Davidic dynasty. But Ezekiel, except in one doubtful passage, never calls Zedekiah king. He considered the glory of the state as well as of the temple to have departed. This so-called king is but a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar, and deserves no kingly dignity or allegiance (Skinner). He, as well as the priests and the captains, is involved in the universal guilt and must meet the penalty.

And all the house of Israel that are among them — R.V., “all the house of Israel, among whom they are,” or, all the house of Israel which is in the midst of it (Kautzsch, Davidson).

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 10, 11. This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem; literally, the prince is this burden in Jerusalem. The word "burden," in the sense of "prophecy," so common in Isaiah and Jeremiah and other prophets, as Hosea (Hos_8:10) and Nahum, (Nah_1:1) is used by Ezekiel here only. Possibly he on the whole avoided it, as having fallen into discredit through its constant use by the false prophets, (Jer_23:33-38) and preferred the formula of "the word of Jehovah." As interpreted by Jer_39:4 and 2Ki_25:4, the "prince" is Zedekiah. Possibly Ezekiel avoided the title "king," as seeing in him one who was a ruler de facto, but not a king de jure. The facts related in Jer_39:4 exactly correspond with the symbolic act. Zedekiah and his men of war escape from the city by night, "by the way of the king"s garden, by the gate between the two walls," probably enough with faces covered, as David"s was in his flight, (2Sa_15:30) to avoid detection, or as a sign of mourning, and through some freshly made exit from the palace. The further significance of the covered face is found in the fact that Zedekiah was blinded at Riblah by Nebuchadnezzar"s orders, and from that time could not see the ground on which he trod. Those who see in every Old Testament prediction nothing but a prophecy ex eventu infer from this that this section of Ezekiel was written after the destruction of Jerusalem. I do not take that view, and place it in close connection with the preceding chapters. We note in ver. 11 the peculiar phrase," I am your sign." Ezekiel, in what he does in the presence of the exiles, is figuring that which, before long, will come to pass in Jerusalem. They were to go forth into captivity as he had gone. For they shall remove, the Revised. Version gives, they shall go into exile.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 prince - Zedekiah.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

burden

See note 1, (See Scofield "Isa 13:1").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

[Concerning] the prince is this burden Concerning King Zedekiah, I am showing this מַשָּׂא, burden, an expression denoting prophecy.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.