Ezekiel 11:5

"And the Spirit of Jehovah fell upon me, and he said unto me, Speak. Thus saith Jehovah: Thus have ye said, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron; but ye shall be brought forth out of the midst of it. Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword upon you, saith the Lord Jehovah. And I will bring ye forth out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah; for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither have ye executed mine ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you."

"Speak, Thus saith Jehovah ..." (Ezekiel 11:5). We believe that Cooke is correct in his understanding that Ezekiel, "While still in his trance received the inspiration to prophesy the words of this paragraph in the very presence of the elders who were present in Ezekiel's house."[6] In view of the attitude of the Jerusalemites toward their brothers in captivity, the words must have provided great comfort and encouragement to the elders who had sought counsel from Ezekiel.

"Your slain ... they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron ..." (Ezekiel 11:7). "Their proverbial phrase about the flesh and the caldron undergoes a gruesome change in the usage of it here by Ezekiel. It is not the false leaders but their victims who are the real elite of the city and who deserve to be cherished within the holy city."[7] A moment later, the prophet added the words, "This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof" (Ezekiel 11:11). The brutal fact was that all of the citizens who would survive the vengeance of the Babylonians' campaign against Zedekiah would be deported. Their expectancy of a long residency in Jerusalem was a vain and hopeless fantasy.

Taylor interpreted this remark as being the equivalent of a declaration that, "The only good Jerusalemites are the dead Jerusalemites!"[8]

"Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel ... I will judge you in the border of Israel ..." (Ezekiel 11:10-11). The prophecy is doubled for emphasis. Those false leaders of the arrogant Jerusalemites will be slain by the sword, far away from their fancied security in Jerusalem. "Over seventy of those captured with the fall of Zedekiah were judged and executed by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah (in Hamath) on the far northern border of Israel, where Nebuchadnezzar had set up his headquarters (2 Kings 25:18-21; Jeremiah 52:24-27)."[9] What a remarkable fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy this proved to be!

Keil commented here that, "The wicked men who boasted of their security in Jerusalem would not find security, either in Jerusalem, or anywhere in Israel; but they would be led out of the land by their enemies and slaughtered in the border of Palestine."[10]; Jeremiah 52:9-10 records the judgment of those Jerusalem leaders by Nebuchadnezzar, and his slaughter of them at Riblah in Hamath.