“All of them
Deserted Jesus.
They fled.”
καὶ ἀφέντες αὐτὸν ἔφυγον πάντες.
This is similar to Matthew, chapter 26:56. Luke, chapter 22, and John, chapter 18, did not say anything about all the apostles fleeing, but it might be presumed. Mark said that all the disciples went away or deserted Jesus (καὶ ἀφέντες αὐτὸν). They all escaped or fled from Jesus (ἔφυγον πάντες). Jesus had told them all earlier that night that this was going to happen.
“At that hour,
Jesus said
To the crowds.
‘Have you come out
With swords
And clubs
To arrest me
As though
I was a bandit?
Day after day,
I sat in the Temple
Teaching.
You did not arrest me.
But all this has taken place
That the scriptures
Of the prophets
Might be fulfilled.’
Then all the disciples
Deserted him.
They fled.”
Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ εἶπεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοῖς ὄχλοις Ὡς ἐπὶ λῃστὴν ἐξήλθατε μετὰ μαχαιρῶν καὶ ξύλων συλλαβεῖν με; καθ’ ἡμέραν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ἐκαθεζόμην διδάσκων, καὶ οὐκ ἐκρατήσατέ με.
Τοῦτο δὲ ὅλον γέγονεν ἵνα πληρωθῶσιν αἱ γραφαὶ τῶν προφητῶν. Τότε οἱ μαθηταὶ πάντες ἀφέντες αὐτὸν ἔφυγον.
This is almost word for word in Mark, chapter 14:48-50. In Luke, chapter 22:52-53, there is something similar, while John, chapter 18, does not have anything like this. Matthew recounted that at that hour (Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ), Jesus spoke to the crowds (εἶπεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοῖς ὄχλοις), as he normally did. Why had they come out with swords and clubs to capture or arrest him (ἐξήλθατε μετὰ μαχαιρῶν καὶ ξύλων συλλαβεῖν με), as though he was a bandit or robber (Ὡς ἐπὶ λῃστὴν)? Day after day or every day, he had sat in the Temple teaching (καθ’ ἡμέραν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ἐκαθεζόμην διδάσκων), but they did not seize or arrest him (καὶ οὐκ ἐκρατήσατέ με). All this took place or happened (Τοῦτο δὲ ὅλον γέγονεν) so that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled (ἵνα πληρωθῶσιν αἱ γραφαὶ τῶν προφητῶν). Once again, there was no indication of which scriptural prophets he was referring to. Then all the disciples deserted him as they escaped or fled from Jesus (Τότε οἱ μαθηταὶ πάντες ἀφέντες αὐτὸν ἔφυγον).
“You have said.
‘It is vain
To serve God.
What do we profit
By keeping his commands?
What do we profit
By walking
As mourning
Before Yahweh of hosts?
Now we count the arrogant
Happy.
Evildoers not only prosper,
But when they put God
To the test,
They escape.’”
The people of Israel were saying that it was useless to worship God. What did they gain by keeping his commandments? How did it help them by walking around mourning before Yahweh? The arrogant ones were the happy ones. The evildoers not only prospered, but when they defied God, they escaped. What was the value of their Yahweh worship?
“Fire devours
In front of them.
Behind them,
A flame burns.
Before them,
The land is
Like the garden of Eden.
But after them,
It is
Like a desolate wilderness.
Nothing escapes them.”
This fire or swarming grasshoppers was coming to devour everything. It was all around them. In front of them, it looked like the Garden of Eden, but after the locusts had hit them, it was like a desolate wilderness. Nothing escaped these swarming locusts.
“In the twelfth year
Of our exile,
In the tenth month,
On the fifth day
Of the month,
Someone
Who had escaped
From Jerusalem
Came to me.
He said.
‘The city has fallen.’”
Once again, there is an exact date, the 5th day of the 10th month in the 12th year of his captivity, probably January, 586 BCE. On that day, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to him, perhaps a month or two after the fall of Jerusalem. This time it was not Yahweh who came to Ezekiel, but this straggler. However, the news was not good, since he said that the city of Jerusalem had fallen.
“You!
Son of man!
On the day
When I take
From them
Their stronghold,
Their joy,
Their glory,
The delight of their eyes,
Their heart’s affection,
Someone will come
To you.
I will take their sons.
I will take their daughters.
On that day,
One who has escaped
Will come
To you
To report
To you
The news.
On that day,
Your mouth
Shall be opened
To the one
Who has escaped.
You shall speak.
You will no longer
Be silent.
So you shall be a sign
To them.
They shall know
That I am Yahweh.”
Yahweh spoke directly to Ezekiel, the son of man. On a future day, Yahweh was going to bring down Jerusalem. The Israelites would lose their stronghold, their joy, their glory, the delight of their eyes, and their heart’s affection. They would also lose their sons and daughters. Someone, who had escaped from Jerusalem, would come to Ezekiel on that day with the report of the news about the fall of Jerusalem. On that day, Ezekiel would open his mouth to speak. He would not be silent anymore. Thus the actions of Ezekiel would a sign, so that everyone would know that Yahweh was in charge.
“Therefore thus says Yahweh God.
‘Like the wood
Of the vine
Among the trees
Of the forest,
That I have given
To the fire
For fuel,
So I will give up
The inhabitants
Of Jerusalem.
I will set my face
Against them.
Although they escape
From the fire,
The fire shall still
Consume them.
You shall know
That I am Yahweh,
When I set
My face
Against them.
I will make
The land desolate,
Because they have acted
Faithlessly.’
Says Yahweh God.”
Yahweh then explained this allegory or parable. Just as Yahweh had given the wood of the vine as fuel to the fire, so he has done the same to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Even if they escaped from this fire, the fire would still consume them. They would know that he was Yahweh, their God. He was going to make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly. The people of Jerusalem were strong special wood, like the vine wood. However, they were useless before the fire, and they are now even more useless after the fire. They had lost faith in Yahweh. What good were they?
“If any survivors escape,
They will be found
On the mountains,
Like doves
Of the valleys.
All of them
Will be moaning
Over their iniquity.
All hands
Shall grow feeble.
All knees
Shall turn to water.
They shall put on
Sackcloth.
Horror
Shall cover them.
Shame shall be
On all faces.
Baldness shall be
On all their heads.”
Instead of being taken captive, these survivors escaped and headed to the hills. They could be found in the mountains, like droves of valley doves. They would all be moaning over their iniquity. However, their hands would grow feeble, while their knees would turn to jelly or water. They would put on sackcloth, as if in mourning. Horror would cover them. Shame would be all over their faces. They would have shaved bald heads. These survivors would not be a happy lot, even if they were alive.
Taw
“You invited
My enemies
From all around
As if for a festival day.
On the day
Of the anger
Of Yahweh,
No one escaped.
No one survived.
Those whom I bore,
Those whom I reared,
My enemy destroyed.”
Jerusalem blamed Yahweh for inviting its enemies from all over to come and have a great feast. On the day of Yahweh’s anger, no one escaped or survived from Jerusalem. Now the enemies of Jerusalem have destroyed all the people who were born and raised in Jerusalem. Thus Yahweh’s anger was to blame for all the havoc and death that happened in Jerusalem. This final verse starts with the Hebrew consonant letter Taw. This acrostic poem ends with the personification of Jerusalem speaking about Yahweh’s day of anger.
“When King Zedekiah
Of Judah,
With all the soldiers
Saw the Babylonians,
They fled.
They went out of the city
At night
By way of the king’s garden
Through the gate
Between the two walls.
They went toward the Arabah.
But the army of the Chaldeans
Pursued them.
They overtook King Zedekiah
In the plains of Jericho.
When they had taken him,
They brought him up
To King Nebuchadnezzar
Of Babylon,
At Riblah,
In the land of Hamath.
He passed sentence on him.”
This is pretty much the same as in 2 Kings, chapter 25. The king and his army escaped through a hole in the wall via the king’s garden. They were headed for Arabah, the Jordan River valley, but the Chaldeans caught them in the plains of Jericho, about 5 miles from Jerusalem. In 2 Kings, chapter 24, the Judean troops scattered and deserted the king, but there is no mention of that here. They then brought the king and his army officials to King Nebuchadnezzar, who was at Riblah in Hamath, north of Jerusalem, almost on the Syrian border.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 