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From: Ezekiel 12:1-12

The exiles’ departure

[1] The word of the Lord came to me: [2”] Son of man, you dwell in the midst of
a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear,
but hear not [3] for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, son of man, prepare
for yourself an exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight; you shall
go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will
understand, though they are a rebellious house. [4] You shall bring out your bag-
gage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile; and you shall go forth yourself
at evening in their sight, as men do who must go into exile. [5] Dig through the
wall in their sight, and go out through it. [6] In their sight you shall lift the bag-
gage upon your shoulder, and carry it out in the dark; you shall cover your face,
that you may not see the land; for I have made you a sign for the house of Isra-
el.”

[7] And I did as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as bag-
gage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands; I
went forth in the dark, carrying my outfit upon my shoulder in their sight.

[8] In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: [9] Son of man, has not the
house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ [10] Say
to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem
and all the house of Israel who are in it.’ [11] Say, ‘I am a sign for you: as I have
done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.’ [12] And
the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage upon his shoulder in the dark,
and shall go forth; he shall dig through the wall and go out through it; he shall co-
ver his face, that he may not see the land with his eyes.”

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Commentary:

12:1-14:23. Up to this point, the warnings to Jerusalem have been given by way
of symbolic actions (chaps. 4-5) and chilling prophecies (chaps. 6-7), and the vi-
sion of the outrages committed in the temple (chaps. 8-11). However, neither the
people living in Jerusalem nor the exiles seem to accept that a catastrophe is
about to happen. In this section of the book Ezekiel speaks out against the peo-
ple and their refusal to believe by announcing that King Zedekiah is to be depor-
ted forthwith (chap. 12) and then by condemning the false prophets who deceive
the people by giving them false hopes (chap. 13); he also criticizes pagan beliefs
(chap. 14). These oracles are designed to move the listeners’ hearts and to get
them to put all their trust in the Lord: he can help them in their exile. That is the
import of the phrase that recurs in this passage: “You will know that I am the
Lord.”

12:1-28. The date of the last deportation, which happened in 587 BC (cf. 2 Kings
25:8-21), is announced by five oracles or symbolic gestures, each beginning with
the wording, “The word of the Lord came to me” (vv. 1, 8, 17, 21, 26). The first
two centre on the detention and deportation of King Zedekiah (vv. 1-16), the next
one on the poor circumstances of the exiles (vv. 17-20), and the last two focus
on how soon these two events will be brought about (vv. 21-28). The symbolic ac-
tions of the prophet are well designed to prove to his listeners the truth of what
he says.

12:1-16. The first symbolic action (leaving with an exile’s baggage) is calculated
to provoke feelings of depression; the deportation that they fear will indeed take
place. “Exile” is mentioned six times in five verses; “in their sight”, five times;
and “rebellious house” twice. The preparations are made in daylight; but the ac-
tual leaving is shameful: it takes place at night, the face veiled, without looking
back at the city.

Ezekiel’s symbolic action stands for what will happen to King Zedekiah (v. 10: cf.
2 Kings 25:2-7), who is not mentioned here by either name or title of king. He is
called “the prince in Jerusalem, not “prince of Judah”, to indicate that catastro-
phe will befall the city and its inhabitants.

“I will spread my net over him, and he shall be in my snare’ (’v. 13): the net meta-
phor indicates that deportation is a kind of enslavement. And the use of the first
person underlines once again the fact that it is the Lord himself who is the cause
of the deportation. Insistence on this helps to strike a very positive note: if God is
the cause of the punishment (exile), he too will deliver his people when their im-
prisonment comes to an end.

The importance of a remnant escaping (v.16) lies in the fact that they will bear
witness to their sins and punishment before pagan nations — so that the latter
too may acknowledge the Lord. This positive interpretation of the exile is a fea-
ture of the book of Ezekiel.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.