Synopsis of the Chapter
Ezekiel, by packing up his belongings and migrating in the evening with veiled eyes, portends the flight of Zedekiah and the princes from the captured city, and his capture and blinding by the Chaldeans pursuing him. Second, in verse 17, he is commanded to eat and drink in disturbance and sorrow, to represent that the citizens will do the same when Jerusalem is besieged. Third, in verse 21, he teaches that these things are not to be delayed for long but are to be fulfilled shortly in reality.
Verse 2: A Rebellious House ¶
2. A REBELLIOUS HOUSE. — The Chaldean: Of a stubborn people, who provoke Me, as if to say: You dwell among the Jews in Babylon, who, seeing Jerusalem still standing, grieve that they surrendered to the Chaldeans on Jeremiah's advice, and wish to return against My oracle and command; therefore, predict quickly that they will see the destruction of Jerusalem.
WHO HAVE EYES TO SEE. — That is, they have an intellect by which they could clearly understand, but they do not wish to see, that is, to understand My precepts; and they have ears so that they could hear — and obey — but they do not wish to.
Prado notes that sight is taken for understanding, hearing for the will. He adds the reason: because these senses are the ministers of the intellect and the will, similar in all things to their masters (for sight and the intellect are delighted by and operate through clarity; the ear and the will are captivated by sweetness and goodness). Hence it is that for an intellect that is not blinded, the expression "seeing eye" is used, and "hearing ear" for a will not hardened by some immoderate affection, as in Matthew 13:9 and Apocalypse 13:9: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear," that is, let him have a compliant and obedient will. Hence also that verse of Psalm 18:45: "At the hearing of the ear he obeyed me." And Proverbs 20:12: "The seeing eye and the hearing ear, the Lord has made both," that is, for there to be a learned teacher and a docile hearer of the word is equally the great and marvelous work of God.
Verse 3: Make for Yourself the Baggage ¶
3. MAKE FOR YOURSELF THE BAGGAGE (that is, the equipment) OF EXILE — that is, of one going into exile: namely, a staff, sandals, a traveler's bag, a cloak. For those about to go on a journey usually make or procure these for themselves. Again, he calls "baggage," that is, instruments of "migration," the sacks, carts, vessels, and poles on which people load their bundles and transfer them from one place to another, as if to say: Pack up your things, gather your baggage. Hence there follows:
AND YOU SHALL MIGRATE. — That is, with the instruments just mentioned you shall transfer your household goods during the day, so that you may represent not with words but with deeds and reality the imminent captivity. "You shall migrate," therefore, does not mean you shall move, but you shall transfer your baggage.
4. AND YOU SHALL BRING OUT YOUR BAGGAGE. — Both the items already mentioned in verse 3, and "baggage," that is, your household goods, your bundles. For these are usually brought out, not made, as was said in verse 3. Therefore the word "baggage" is taken differently here than there. So Vatablus and Maldonatus.
BUT YOU YOURSELF SHALL GO OUT IN THE EVENING (so that by this very act you may portend that Zedekiah will take to flight in the evening, indeed at night, when the city is captured, as is clear from Jeremiah 39:4), AS ONE GOES OUT WHO MIGRATES — namely, fleeing, anxious and fearful; or, as Maldonatus says, as one goes out who migrates, that is, in the evening. For those who move from one house to another usually transfer their household goods during the day, but when everything has been moved, they themselves migrate in the evening or at night.
Verse 5: Dig Through the Wall for Yourself ¶
5. DIG THROUGH THE WALL FOR YOURSELF — so that indirectly through this you may portend and represent that the Chaldeans will dig through and break down the walls of Jerusalem, and thus capture it, as it is clear they did from 4 Kings 25:4; but directly, so that you may go out through it; hence He says: "You shall go out through it;" so that through this you may portend that Zedekiah will flee, not through the gate of the city, but through the door of the king's garden, as through a narrow hole in the wall, like a mouse — as he is shown to have done in Jeremiah 39:4. This is what He says in verse 11: "I am your sign; as I have done, so shall it be done to them." So St. Jerome.
Verse 6: You Shall Be Carried on Shoulders ¶
6. YOU SHALL BE CARRIED ON SHOULDERS. — The Hebrews, the Chaldean, and Jerome in his Commentary read portabis, you shall carry, namely your little bundles; the Septuagint and our Translator read portaberis, you shall be carried, and this is better; for explaining and applying this same thing to the king in verse 12, he says: "And the prince who is among them shall be carried on shoulders." There follows: "In the darkness you shall be brought out," in Hebrew תוצא totsi, that is, you shall bring out. But the active hiphil is often taken for the passive; totsi, therefore, that is, you shall bring out, means the same as you shall be brought out; or else instead of totsi, with different vowel points, it should be read passively in the hophal תוצא tutsa, that is, you shall be brought out: for so the Septuagint, our Translator, and others render it. And the context requires this; for God commands the Prophet here to transfer his things by day, but to migrate himself in the evening. The Prophet is therefore commanded to transfer his little bundles by day, to dig through the wall at night, and to let himself down through it before dawn, as if fleeing secretly; but outside he is received by those close to him whom he has appointed for this purpose, and is carried on shoulders with veiled eyes so that he cannot see the road by which he is carried — so that the people, wondering at this, may ask what it signifies; and he may answer them that in a similar way, when the city is captured, Zedekiah will flee secretly and be carried out on the shoulders of his men, but will be captured by the Chaldeans and blinded, and thus deported to Chaldea, as will be shown in verse 12. Furthermore, by this carrying out of the Prophet it is represented that the citizens will migrate from Jerusalem to Chaldea not willingly but by force.
Allegorically, St. Jerome says: "Ezekiel here is a type of Christ, who took upon Himself our sins. The baggage of captivity is the human body: He dug through the wall, that is, hell, and rising again He was seen only by believers. He is carried on shoulders because, when He ascended to heaven victorious with the angelic powers, He veils His face, lest the divine Majesty be seen in mortal flesh; and He does not see the earth, lest it be illuminated by His eyes, which does not merit His gaze; thus He is a sign, to convert the hard hearts of the Jews to Himself." But this allegory, being joyful and happy, does not adequately correspond to the misery and blinding of Zedekiah, which Ezekiel here represents in the literal sense.
YOU SHALL COVER YOUR FACE — like a man who, affected by shame, does not wish to be seen or recognized; to represent the confusion and blinding of Zedekiah, when he will be led to Babylon. So St. Jerome.
Verse 9: Did They Not Say? ¶
9. DID THEY NOT SAY? — That is, will they not say? As if to say: They certainly will say.
10. UPON THE PRINCE IS THIS BURDEN. — In Hebrew there is a paronomasia, הנשא משא על ul nasi mussa, as if to say: Upon the prince, who, like a porter, ought to bear the burdens of the commonwealth, and who through tyranny has imposed heavy burdens and taxes upon it — impose this burdensome sentence that he has deserved by unjustly burdening the commonwealth, as if to say: This is the song that is sung for Zedekiah. For it is just that princes should in turn experience and undergo the heavy burden they have imposed on their subjects. If God threatens this to a prince, what will He do to prelates, whose proper role is to be shepherds not masters, fathers not kings, chariots rather than charioteers, indeed porters, nurses, mothers, if they lord it over the clergy and crush the people with an iron rod, and like a loaded creaking wagon cry out to those they meet: Bow down that we may pass over? — says Prado.
UPON THE WHOLE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. — He calls all Jews "Israel," not only those who were from Samaria or from the ten tribes.
Verse 11: I Am Your Sign ¶
11. I AM YOUR SIGN — as if to say: My migration seems to you unusual and portentous, and indeed it portends your miserable captivity, namely the plundering of the city, the migration of the citizens, the blinding and disgrace of your king. The Hebrew מפת mophet, from the root יפה iopha, that is, was beautiful, handsome, elegant, signifies a beautiful, elegant, handsome sign. Again, it alludes to מנה pana, that is, he looked, he beheld: hence it signifies a visible sign concerning a future event, either good or bad, giving warning according to whether it is pleasant or sad and dreadful to behold — what the Latins call a prodigy or portent. Thus this migration of Ezekiel was outwardly a matter pleasant to behold, wonderful, novel, mimetic, and comic; but its meaning was sad and horrible, for it signified a similar migration and captivity of the Jews. Hence he adds: "As I have done, so shall it be done to them," that is, to you. The change of person is frequent among the Hebrews.
Verse 12: The Prince ¶
12. THE PRINCE (Zedekiah) WHO IS IN THE MIDST OF THEM (who lives securely among his own, fearing nothing) SHALL BE CARRIED ON SHOULDERS. — For Zedekiah, when Jerusalem was captured, breaking through the wall of the king's garden, fled through the desert, not on foot but carried in a sedan on the shoulders of bearers, either because of his fear and the weakness of his panic, or because of his softness and effeminacy, Isaiah chapter 3, verse 4. Others translate: he shall carry on his shoulders, namely, gems and more precious things.
HIS FACE SHALL BE COVERED — by himself and his attendants, so that he may not be recognized by those he meets; and out of shame and grief, so that he may not see the captured city and grieve the more. But this portended that he, as one condemned to death, was to be veiled and blinded by Nebuchadnezzar. About this veiling, as also the carrying on shoulders, Scripture says nothing at the end of the book of 4 Kings; yet from this passage it is established that these things happened.
Verse 13: My Net ¶
13. MY NET — as if to say: He will be caught by the skill, speed, and industry of the pursuing Chaldeans. The Chaldeans are called here either fishermen, because they lived by the Euphrates river (for fishermen usually live near rivers), or certainly hunters, who in the desert caught the fleeing Zedekiah like a wild animal in a net.
HE SHALL NOT SEE IT — because before he was led there, he was blinded at Reblatha, 4 Kings 25. Since Zedekiah did not understand these words and thought them contradictory to the words of Jeremiah, he believed the oracles of neither, as Josephus testifies, Antiquities 10, chapter 10.
Symbolically, Zedekiah is the figure of the sinner, who is deprived of eyes, that is, of consideration and understanding, by Nebuchadnezzar, that is, by the devil, and is led to Babylon, that is, to hell. Therefore just as a fowler covers the eyes of a hawk so that it will remain in his hand, so the devil veils the eyes of the sinner, lest he see the vanity of his pleasures and the eternity of the punishments that await him, so that he may rest in the devil's hand and power.
Second, just as Zedekiah was led to Babylon but did not see it, so heretics and sinners see neither their own blindness nor their own condition. Do not heretics fail to see their own Babylon, that is, the confusion of their doctrine, who call it the Jerusalem of God, who call the assemblies of the devil the Church of Christ? Seneca writes, in epistle 50, about the blind Harpaste, who did not know of her own blindness: "Harpaste, he says, does not know that she is blind; she constantly asks her attendant to move, saying the house is dark. Let it be clear to you that what we see in her happens to all of us. No one understands himself to be avaricious, no one greedy." In Aristophanes' Plutus, a servant rightly complains about his master, because he himself, though seeing, follows blind Plutus, and gives the reason:
For we who see lead the blind; but this one Follows, and at the same time forces me to do the same.
How many today are those with sight who blindly follow blind Plutus!
Plutarch in his Life of Lycurgus praises him because by his laws he brought it about that Plutus (Wealth) among the Spartans was asylos, that is, safe from thieves, and as it were placed in an asylum; atimos, that is, neglected, whom no one envied; and aporos, that is, poor. For he had taught the Spartans through frugality to despise riches and to hold wealth in low esteem as weak and powerless; and therefore, says Plutarch, Plutus in all the cities under the sun was kept in one Sparta alone as typhlos, that is, blind and stored away, no differently than a lifeless board or a base metal. But now Plutus is blind, because the rich hide their wealth away so that it never sees the light; and because he blinds the eyes and minds of men, so that through right and wrong, through a thousand labors and dangers, they pursue him with insane zeal. For he is not anoeos (unwanted), but erastos, that is, desired by all, the object of everyone's envy and desire, and therefore he is not asylos (safe in asylum), but lacking asylum, everywhere syle, that is, exposed to plunder and robbery. For there is no place so sacred that the accursed hunger for gold does not violate it. Would that in these our times a new Elisha were given, who to the Syrian soldiers struck with blindness, when they had entered Samaria, said: "Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were in the midst of Samaria." Would, I say, that there were some Prophet who would obtain light from God for these blind ones, so that they might see what they refuse to see — that they are in the midst of Samaria, that is, in the midst of most cruel enemies whose hunger can only be satisfied by their eternal torments!
Verse 16: That They May Recount All Their Abominations ¶
16. THAT THEY MAY RECOUNT ALL THEIR ABOMINATIONS (as if to say: That they may tell the nations that I delivered them to the Chaldeans not from weakness or cruelty but because of their crimes; and thus the nations) SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD — namely, that I am a just judge and an avenger of evils.
18. EAT YOUR BREAD WITH TREMBLING. — The Chaldean renders: with shaking; the Septuagint: with pain; St. Jerome: with anguish. So that by this act you may portend
that the Jews in the siege will eat bread with anxiety and dread of the approaching enemy. Up to now he has dealt with the future captivity of the king and the city; now he returns to its siege and the famine and terror therein.
DRINK YOUR WATER WITH HASTE AND SORROW. — The Septuagint renders: with torment and anxiety; the Chaldean: with desolation and stupor; the Hebrew: with trembling, that is, drink water in shaking and anxiety.
19. WITH ANXIETY. — The Chaldean: with trembling; the Septuagint: with want.
WITH DESOLATION. — The Chaldean: with stupor; the Septuagint: with destruction, that is, with despair.
THAT THE LAND MAY BE STRIPPED (because it will be stripped, that is, emptied) OF ITS ABUNDANCE — both of citizens and of crops and wealth.
Verse 22: The Days Grow Long ¶
22. THE DAYS GROW LONG — namely, of the calamity and devastation predicted by the Prophets. It is a meiosis: "grow long," that is, forever. For they mean to say that the prophecy of destruction will be in vain and will never come to pass, and that Jerusalem will always stand, and they in it.
24. NOR FLATTERING DIVINATION. — The Septuagint renders: for favor, that is, flattering, lying; in Hebrew חלק chalac, that is, slippery, as is characteristic of flatterers; or rather slippery, that is, ambiguous, of slippery meaning, so that it can be twisted this way and that, as if to say: I will speak not ambiguously, but with deeds and rods — that is, with swords and manifest blows — openly and distinctly chastising the Jews. I will express My wrath and threats against them, which the Prophets direct at them and which they ridicule.