Ezekiel 24:27

In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(27) Shall thy mouth be opened.—The close of the chapter (Ezekiel 24:25-27) tells the prophet that he shall be informed of the fall of Jerusalem by an escaped fugitive. After that his mouth shall again be opened to utter his prophecies to the captives. Meantime, for almost two years (comp. Ezekiel 24:1 with Ezekiel 33:21), from the investment of the city until he heard of its fall, Ezekiel gave no prophecy to the Israelites. He had abundantly foretold the result, and now awaited the issue in silence. He has, however, recorded a considerable number of prophecies against foreign nations (Ezekiel 25-32).

Here one great division of the prophecies of Ezekiel closes. They have been hitherto occupied almost exclusively with reproofs for sin and with warnings of impending judgment upon his people. The following prophecies, as far as Ezekiel 32, are indeed of the same character, but are directed entirely against foreign nations. This collection, as noticed in the Introduction, § 4, is not arranged chronologically like the rest of the book, but on the plan of putting together the prophecies against each nation. Ezekiel 29:17-21 is dated more than sixteen years after the fall of Jerusalem, and Ezekiel 32 about two months after the tidings of that event; all the others which are dated are before, but only a little before, the capture of Jerusalem. Most of those undated seem to be in their chronological place, except that the first of them (Ezekiel 25) was evidently after the fall of Jerusalem.

After that great judgment was made known to the prophet, there is a marked change in his utterances, and from that time his general tone is far more cheering and consolatory.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:15-27 Though mourning for the dead is a duty, yet it must be kept under by religion and right reason: we must not sorrow as men that have no hope. Believers must not copy the language and expressions of those who know not God. The people asked the meaning of the sign. God takes from them all that was dearest to them. And as Ezekiel wept not for his affliction, so neither should they weep for theirs. Blessed be God, we need not pine away under our afflictions; for should all comforts fail, and all sorrows be united, yet the broken heart and the mourner's prayer are always acceptable before God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ezekiel had been employed four years in foretelling the calamities about to come to pass. He had been utterly disregarded by the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and received with apparent respect but with real incredulity by those in exile. Now until the city had been actually taken, the voice of prophecy should cease, so far as God's people were concerned. Hence the intervening series of predictions relating to neighboring and foreign nations Ezekiel 25-32. After which the prophet's voice was again heard addressing his countrymen in their exile. This accounts for the apparently parenthetical character of the next eight chapters.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

25, 26. "The day" referred to in these verses is the day of the overthrow of the temple, when the fugitive "escapes." But "that day," in Eze 24:27, is the day on which the fugitive brings the sad news to Ezekiel, at the Chebar. In the interval the prophet suspended his prophecies as to the Jews, as was foretold. Afterwards his mouth was "opened," and no more "dumb" (Eze 3:26, 27; compare Eze 24:27; 33:21, 22).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Shall thy mouth be opened, to speak freely to him that brings the news, and to the Jews afterward.

And thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb; from this prophecy for eighteen months during the siege he doth not prophesy of Israel, but of other nations.

Thou shalt be a sign; until the event, confirmed by eye-witness, shall convince the Jews, thou shalt by sign signify to them what is coming; and when it is come to pass according to thy word, they shall confess thou wert a true prophet sent of me, and they shall see that I am the Lord.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped,.... And shall freely converse with him about the several facts and circumstances of taking and burning the city and temple, and of the usage of the inhabitants:

and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb; for from this time to the taking of Jerusalem, which was about eighteen months, the prophet had nothing to say to the people of the Jews, and so was dumb with respect to them; but was employed in prophesying against other nations, as the following chapters show, unto chapter thirty three, in which we have an account of the messenger that escaped to him; but after that his mouth was opened, and he prophesied to them again:

and thou shalt be a sign unto them; as they will then own and acknowledge:

and they shall own that I am the Lord; who have foretold these things, and accomplished them.

Geneva Study Bible

In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

27. opened to him] Or, with him, i.e. when he comes. Cf. Ezekiel 3:26-27, Ezekiel 33:22. The last words of this verse recur to the prophet’s demeanour Ezekiel 24:16-18.

Ezekiel 24:27

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Sequel of the Destruction of Jerusalem to the Prophet Himself

Ezekiel 24:25. And thou, son of man, behold, in the day when I take from them their might, their glorious joy, the delight of their eyes and the desire of their soul, their sons and their daughters, Ezekiel 24:26. In that day will a fugitive come to thee, to tell it to thine ears. Ezekiel 24:27. In that day will thy mouth be opened with the fugitive, and thou wilt speak, and no longer be mute; and thus shalt thou be a sign to them that they may know that I am Jehovah. - As the destruction of Jerusalem would exert a powerful influence upon the future history of the exiles on the Chaboras, and be followed by most important results, so was it also to be a turning-point for the prophet himself in the execution of his calling. Hvernick has thus correctly explained the connection between these closing verses and what precedes, as indicated by ואתּה in Ezekiel 24:25. As Ezekiel up to this time was to speak to the people only when the Lord gave him a word for them, and at other times was to remain silent and dumb (Ezekiel 3:26 and Ezekiel 3:27); from the day on which a messenger should come to bring him the tidings of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, he was to open his mouth, and not continue dumb any longer. The execution of this word of God is related in Ezekiel 33:21-22. The words, "when I take from them their strength," etc., are to be understood in accordance with Ezekiel 24:21. Consequently מעזּם is the sanctuary, which was taken from the Israelites through the destruction of Jerusalem. The predicates which follow down to משּׂא refer to the temple (cf. Ezekiel 24:21). משּׂא נפשׁ, an object toward which the soul lifts itself up (נשׂא), i.e., for which it cherishes a desire or longing; hence synonymous with מחמל נפשׁ htiw suomynon in Ezekiel 24:21. The sons and daughters are attached ἀσυνδετῶς. בּיּום (in that day), in Ezekiel 24:26, which resumes the words 'בּיום ק (in the day when I take, etc.) in Ezekiel 24:25, is not the day of the destruction of the temple, but generally the time of this event, or more precisely, the day on which the tidings would reach the prophet. הפּליט, with the generic article, a fugitive (vid., Genesis 14:13). להשׁמעוּת אזנים, to cause the ears to hear (it), i.e., to relate it, namely to the bodily ears of the prophet, whereas he had already heard it in spirit from God. השׁמעוּת, a verbal noun, used instead of the infinitive Hiphil. את־הפּליט, with the escaped one, i.e., at the same time "with the mouth of the fugitive" (Hitzig). את expresses association, or so far as the fact is concerned, simultaneousness. The words,"then wilt thou speak, and no longer be dumb," do not imply that it was only from that time forward that Ezekiel was to keep silence, but point back to Ezekiel 3:26 and Ezekiel 3:27, where silence is imposed upon him, with the exceptions mentioned there, from the very commencement of his ministry; and in comparison with that passage, simply involve implicite the thought that the silence imposed upon him then was to be observed in the strictest manner from the present time until the reception of the intelligence of the fall of Jerusalem, when his mouth would be opened once more. Through the "words of God" that were given to His prophet (Ezekiel 4-24), the Lord had now said to the people of Israel all that He had to say concerning the approaching catastrophe for them to consider and lay to heart, that they might be brought to acknowledge their sin, and turn with sorrow and repentance to their God. Therefore was Ezekiel from this time forward to keep perfect silence toward Israel, and to let God the Lord speak by His acts and the execution of His threatening words. It was not till after the judgment had commenced that his mouth was to be opened again for still further announcements (vid., Ezekiel 33:22). - Ezekiel was thereby to become a sign to the Israelites. These words have a somewhat different meaning in Ezekiel 24:27 from that which they have in Ezekiel 24:24. There, Ezekiel, by the way in which he behaved at the death of his wife, was to be a sign to the people of the manner in which they were to act when the judgment should fall upon Jerusalem; whereas here (Ezekiel 24:27), למופת refers to the whole of the ministry of the prophet, his silence hitherto, and that which he was still to observe, as well as his future words. Through both of these he was to exhibit himself to his countrymen as a man whose silence, speech, and action were alike marvellous and full of meaning to them, and all designed to lead them to the knowledge of the Lord, the God of their salvation.