Ezekiel 24:2

Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) Write thee the name.—It is evident that especial attention was to be called to the exact date, and a note made of it at the time. The words “has set himself against” would be more accurately rendered has fallen upon. The supposition that the reference is to some point on his march from which Nebuchadnezzar advanced to the attack upon Jerusalem, and that tidings of this were brought to the prophet in the ordinary way, is quite inconsistent with the whole verse. It is plain that the prophet means to say, with especial emphasis and distinctness, that he was informed of what was taking place at Jerusalem on the same day in which it happened.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:1-14 The pot on the fire represented Jerusalem besieged by the Chaldeans: all orders and ranks were within the walls, prepared as a prey for the enemy. They ought to have put away their transgressions, as the scum, which rises by the heat of the fire, is taken from the top of the pot. But they grew worse, and their miseries increased. Jerusalem was to be levelled with the ground. The time appointed for the punishment of wicked men may seem to come slowly, but it will come surely. It is sad to think how many there are, on whom ordinances and providences are all lost.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The prophecies in this chapter were delivered two years and five months after those of the previous section Ezekiel 20:1. The day mentioned here was the very day on which Nebuchadnezzar completed his arrangements for the siege, and closed in the city (marginal references). After the captivity this day was regularly observed as a fast day Zechariah 8:19.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. set himself—laid siege; "lay against."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Write; set it down, and in such manner, with such witness, that it may be proved. The name of the day, most punctually, set it down.

The king of Babylon; Nebuchadnezzar, who in person it is like was there at first to encourage, direct, and settle the siege, though he withdrew from it for his delights when he perceived it would be a long siege, as on Ezekiel 11:11, the issue whereof he expected at Antioch on the banks of Orontes.

Set himself against; sat down to besiege.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Son of man, write thee the name of the day,.... That is, what day of the week it was, as well as what day of the month; as whether the first, or second, or third, &c.: for the Jews had no other names for their days, as we have:

even of this same day; according to Bishop Usher (r), it was the 30th of January, and the fifth day of the week (Thursday); A.M. 3414, or 590 before Christ. Mr. Whiston (s) places it at 3413 A.M. or 591 before Christ. The prophet is bid to observe it punctually, and write it exactly, that there might be no mistake; to set it down in his pocket book; or it may be in some public register, that it might not only be remembered by him, but known by the people; that so when they should hear the fact afterwards related, and exactly agreeing with this prediction, they would acknowledge him to be a true prophet; since this would be a confirmation of the word of the Lord coming to him:

the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day; or "drew nigh" (t); brought up his army to it, and laid siege against it, and prepared everything to carry it on; which he very probably did in person, though he afterwards retired, and left the command of his army with his generals; and this was exactly the day before mentioned; see 2 Kings 25:1. The Prophet Ezekiel was now in Chaldea, many miles from Judea, and yet had this account the very selfsame day, even from the Lord himself, who is omniscient and omnipresent.

(r) Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3414. (s) Chronological Tables, cent. 10. (t) "appropinquavit", Pagninus, Vatablus; so R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 84. 2. "adjunxit se", Montanus.

Geneva Study Bible

Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Ezekiel 24:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

On the day on which the king of Babylon commenced the siege and blockade of Jerusalem, this event was revealed by God to Ezekiel on the Chaboras (Ezekiel 24:1 and Ezekiel 24:2); and he was commanded to predict to the people through the medium of a parable the fate of the city and its inhabitants (Ezekiel 24:3-14). God then foretold to him the death of his own wife, and commanded him to show no sign of mourning on account of it. His wife died the following evening, and he did as he was commanded. When he was asked by the people the reason of this, he explained to them, that what he was doing was symbolical of the way in which they were to act when Jerusalem fell (Ezekiel 24:15-24). The fall would be announced to the prophet by a fugitive, and then he would no longer remain mute, but would speak to the people again (Ezekiel 24:25-27). - Apart, therefore, from the last three verses, this chapter contains two words of God, the first of which unfolds in a parable the approaching calamities, and the result of the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Ezekiel 24:1-14); whilst the second typifies by means of a sign the pain and mourning of Israel, namely, of the exiles at the destruction of the city with its sanctuary and its inhabitants. These two words of God, being connected together by their contents, were addressed to the prophet on the same day, and that, as the introduction (Ezekiel 24:1 and Ezekiel 24:2) expressly observes, the day on which the siege of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon began.

And the word of Jehovah came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, saying, Ezekiel 24:2. Son of man, write for thyself the name of the day, this same day! The king of Babylon has fallen upon Jerusalem this same day. - The date given, namely, the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year after the carrying away of Jehoiachin (Ezekiel 1:2), or what is the same thing, of the reign of Zedekiah, who was appointed king in his stead, is mentioned in Jeremiah 52:4; Jeremiah 39:1, and 2 Kings 25:1, as the day on which Nebuchadnezzar blockaded the city of Jerusalem by throwing up a rampart; and after the captivity this day was still kept as a fast-day in consequence (Zechariah 8:19). What was thus taking place at Jerusalem was revealed to Ezekiel on the Chaboras the very same day; and he was instructed to announce it to the exiles, "that they and the besieged might learn both from the time and the result, that the destruction of the city was not to be ascribed to chance or to the power of the Babylonians, but to the will of Him who had long ago foretold that, on account of the wickedness of the inhabitants, the city would be burned with fire; and that Ezekiel was a true prophet, because even when in Babylon, which was at so great a distance, he had known and had publicly announced the state of Jerusalem." The definite character of this prediction cannot be changed into a vaticinium post eventum, either by arbitrary explanations of the words, or by the unfounded hypothesis proposed by Hitzig, that the day was not set down in this definite form till after the event. - Writing the name of the day is equivalent to making a note of the day. The reason for this is given in Ezekiel 24:2, namely, because Nebuchadnezzar had fallen upon Jerusalem on that very day. סמך signifies to support, hold up (his hand); and hence both here and in Psalm 88:8 the meaning to press violently upon anything. The rendering "to draw near," which has been forced upon the word from the Syriac (Ges., Winer, and others), cannot be sustained.