Ezekiel 12:6

In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) Bear it . . . carry it.—The pronouns are not in the original, and are better omitted. Otherwise, the “it” might seem to refer to the stuff already carried out during the day. Read, “Thou shalt bear upon thy shoulders, and carry forth in the dark.” The word rendered “twilight” is used only here and in Ezekiel 12:12, and in Genesis 15:17, and means dark.

That thou see not the ground.—This covering of the face might primarily be a token of grief; but as the whole action is distinctly prophetic (and is so interpreted; see Ezekiel 12:11-14), so especially was this sign. (See the account of the capture of Zedekiah in 2Kings 25:4-7; Jeremiah 39:4-7; Jeremiah 52:7-11.) The king, with his men of war, escaped from the city secretly by night, was pursued and captured, and carried to Riblah, where his eyes were put out, and he was then taken in chains to Babylon.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:1-16 By the preparation for removal, and his breaking through the wall of his house at evening, as one desirous to escape from the enemy, the prophet signified the conduct and fate of Zedekiah. When God has delivered us, we must glorify him and edify others, by acknowledging our sins. Those who by afflictions are brought to this, are made to know that God is the Lord, and may help to bring others to know him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thou shalt cover thy face - A sign of mourning (see Ezekiel 24:17); also of Zedekiah's blindness Ezekiel 12:12.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. in … twilight—rather, "in the dark." So in Ge 15:17, "it" refers to "thy stuff."

cover thy face—as one who muffles his face, afraid of being recognized by anyone meeting him. So the Jews and Zedekiah should make their exit stealthily and afraid to look around, so hurried should be their fight [Calvin].

sign—rather, "a portent," namely, for evil.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Upon thy shoulders; in testimony of the servitude they shall be reduced to, who then must do what servants or beasts were wont to be employed in.

Carry it forth; either the stuff or thyself; thou shalt go forth in the twilight, when there is a little light to guide thy way, but more darkness to conceal thy person and thy flight.

Cover thy face; as full of shame, and exceeding unwilling to be seen or known.

For I have set thee: there is good reason why thou shouldst do this, how strange, unmanly, or ridiculous soever this may seem; the moral concerns the house of Israel and its king; I have set thee for a sign to them, and thou shalt tell them the meaning of these hieroglyphics in due time.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

In their sight shall thou bear it upon thy shoulders,.... The bundle, packed up for his use and service, carried out through the wall dug by him. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it, as if he himself was to be carried out upon the shoulders of another, thus: "in their sight, upon the shoulders, thou shall be carried"; but the former sense is best:

and carry it forth in the twilight; signifying the same as before:

thou shall cover thy face, that thou see not the ground; or "land"; not the land of Israel, but the land of Chaldea, where the prophet was: this shows that great shame and confusion which should attend the king of Judah when he fled, and great fear and terror also; and likewise his regard to his eyes being put out by the king of Babylon; so that he saw not the land into which he was carried captive, Jeremiah 52:11;

for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel; to show unto them by deeds, as well as by words, what should befall them; see Isaiah 8:18.

Geneva Study Bible

In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou mayest not see the ground: for I have set thee for a {b} sign to the house of Israel.

(b) That as you do, so shall they do, and therefore in you they will see their own plague and punishment.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. The verse refers to the prophet’s going out through the city wall, bearing on his shoulder the bundle of articles he carried with him in his flight.

in the twilight] in the darkness. So Ezekiel 12:7. The word again only Genesis 15:17.

cover thy face] This might be to disguise himself, but the next words “thou shalt not see the land” (ground) seem to require a different sense. Cf. Ezekiel 12:12-13.

a sign unto … Israel] A typical sign, as explained Ezekiel 12:11, “As I have done so shall it be done unto them.” Comp. ch. Ezekiel 24:24; Ezekiel 24:27; Isaiah 8:18; Isaiah 20:3; Zechariah 3:8.

Ezekiel 12:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Symbol of the Emigration

Ezekiel 12:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Ezekiel 12:2. Son of man, thou dwellest amidst the refractory generation, who have eyes to see, and see not; and have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a refractory generation. Ezekiel 12:3. And thou, son of man, make thyself an outfit for exile, and depart by day before their eyes; and depart from thy place to another place before their eyes: perhaps they might see, for they are a refractory generation. Ezekiel 12:4. And carry out thy things like an outfit for exile by day before their eyes; but do thou go out in the evening before their eyes, as when going out to exile. Ezekiel 12:5. Before their eyes break through the wall, and carry it out there. Ezekiel 12:6. Before their eyes take it upon thy shoulder, carry it out in the darkness; cover thy face, and look not upon the land; for I have set thee as a sign to the house of Israel. Ezekiel 12:7. And I did so as I was commanded: I carried out my things like an outfit for exile by day, and in the evening I broke through the wall with my hand; I carried it out in the darkness; I took it upon my shoulder before their eyes. - In Ezekiel 12:2 the reason is assigned for the command to perform the symbolical action, namely, the hard-heartedness of the people. Because the generation in the midst of which Ezekiel dwelt was blind, with seeing eyes, and deaf, with hearing ears, the prophet was to depict before its eyes, by means of the sign that followed, the judgment which was approaching; in the hope, as is added in Ezekiel 12:3, that they might possibly observe and lay the sign to heart. The refractoriness (בּית מרי, as in Ezekiel 2:5-6; Ezekiel 3:26, etc.) is described as obduracy, viz., having eyes, and not seeing; having ears, and not hearing, after Deuteronomy 29:3 (cf. Jeremiah 5:21; Isaiah 6:9; Matthew 13:14-15). The root of this mental blindness and deafness was to be found in obstinacy, i.e., in not willing; "in that presumptuous insolence," as Michaelis says, "through which divine light can obtain no admission." כּלי גולה, the goods (or outfit) of exile, were a pilgrim's staff and traveller's wallet, with the provisions and utensils necessary for a journey. Ezekiel was to carry these out of the house into the street in the day-time, that the people might see them and have their attention called to them. Then in the evening, after dark, he was to go out himself, not by the door of the house, but through a hole which he had broken in the wall. He was also to take the travelling outfit upon his shoulder and carry it through the hole and out of the place, covering his face all the while, that he might not see the land to which he was going. "Thy place" is thy dwelling-place. כּמוצאי : as the departures of exiles generally take place, i.e., as exiles are accustomed to depart, not "at the usual time of departure into exile," as Hהvernick proposes. For מוחא, see the comm. on Micah 5:1. בּעלטה differs from בּערב, and signifies the darkness of the depth of night (cf. Genesis 15:17); not, however, "darkness artificially produced, equivalent to, with the eyes shut, or the face covered; so that the words which follow are simply explanatory of בּעלטה," as Schmieder imagines. Such an assumption would be at variance not only with Ezekiel 12:7, but also with Ezekiel 12:12, where the covering or concealing of the face is expressly distinguished from the carrying out "in the dark." The order was to be as follows: In the day-time Ezekiel was to take the travelling outfit and carry it out into the road; then in the evening he was to go out himself, having first of all broken a hole through the wall as evening was coming on; and in the darkness of night he was to place upon his shoulders whatever he was about to carry with him, and take his departure. This he was to do, because God had made him a mōphēth for Israel: in other words, by doing this he was to show himself to be a marvellous sign to Israel. For mōphēth, see the comm. on Exodus 4:21. In Ezekiel 12:7, the execution of the command, which evidently took place in the strictness of the letter, is fully described. There was nothing impracticable in the action, for breaking through the wall did not preclude the use of a hammer or some other tool.