Ezekiel 24:18

Eze 24:18 So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

Ver. 18. And at even my wife died.] Though a good woman probably, and to the prophet a great comfort, the sweet companion of his life and miseries, yet she died suddenly, and by some extraordinary disease; all things come alike to all.

And I did in the morning as I was commanded.] Grievous though it were, and went much against the hair with me, yet I did it. Uxorem posthabuit praecepto Dei. Obedience must be yielded to God even in the most difficult duties, and conjugal love must give place to our love to him.

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.

Meaning, the morning following.

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

Verse 18. At even my wife died] The prophet's wife was a type of the city, which was to him exceedingly dear. The death of his wife represented the destruction of the city by the Chaldeans; see Eze 24:21, where the temple is represented to be the desire of his eyes, as his wife was, Eze 24:16.

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

(18) In the morning: and at even.—What the prophet “spake unto the people in the morning” was what he has recorded (Eze_24:3-14). Shortly after this the warning of Eze_24:15-17 must have come to him, and then his Wife died in the evening of the same day. Accordingly, on the following morning the strange conduct which had been commanded him was observed by the people; their curiosity is awakened, and, rightly surmising that there must be some especial significance in the strange doings of their prophet, they come to inquire the meaning of his actions. In reply (Eze_24:20-24), he announces again the destruction of the Temple, and that in the depth of sorrow and trouble at its fall there shall be no outward show of mourning.

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

18. The death of the prophet’s wife was no doubt an actual occurrence. And there is nothing improbable in his demeanour after it, with the view of attracting the attention of his fellow-captives. At the same time his tendency to idealize occurrences precludes absolute certainty.

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.

And the people said unto me,.... Either seriously, as being desirous of knowing what was meant by all this; since they had reason to believe that it was not out of want of affection in Ezekiel to his wife that he so behaved; and therefore there must be some hidden meaning in it, which they should be glad to be informed of: or in a ludicrous manner, deriding the prophet for his conduct, and despising what he meant to instruct them in hereby:

wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so? for they suspected it vas not on his own account, but to signify something to them, that these things were done; and laughing at him, they say, to what purpose are these things done? if you do not tell us for what reason they are done, instruct us by words, and not by actions; these were his fellow captives in Babylon.

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

I spake unto the people; told them what God had told me, and which I expected would be.

In the morning; it is likely he had this revelation in the night, or evening before, and he tells them betimes in the morning, what God would do in taking away his wife, and what he must not do when she is dead, and to be buried. The next morning after her death he observed God’s command, and without any sign of sorrow or mourning for his great loss.

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

18. In the morning — “The next morning.”

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

So I spake unto the people in the morning, etc. In yet another way the calling of the prophet superseded the natural impulses of the man. He knew that his wife"s hours were numbered, yet the day was spent, not in ministering at her deathbed, but in one last effort to impress the teachings of the time upon the seared consciences and hardened hearts of his countrymen and neighbors. I cannot help referring to the poem "Ezekiel," by B.M., published in 1871, as expressing the meaning of the history better than any commentary.

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

I spake - Told them what I expected would be.

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

In the morning

"The next morning"

translationWords

die

command

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

as I had been commanded not to observe mourning.

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.