Ezekiel 11:3

Which say [it is] not near, let us build houses,.... Meaning that the destruction of the city was not near, as the prophet had foretold, Ezekiel 7:3; and therefore encourage the people to build

Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh. It is not near - namely, the destruction of the city; therefore "let us build houses," as if there was no fear.

What counsel was by these men given appears by their words. It is not near; either the threatened danger and ruin by the Chaldeans; or else, build, but not in the suburbs, not near, but in the city, that your houses may not shelter the enemy. This city is the caldron: this is an impious scoff, yet mixed with some fear, of the prophets, . They deride the prophets, yet secretly dread the thing. Jerusalem is the pot, we the flesh that are to be boiled therein; but this will take up some time however, we were better be so destroyed than to fall by the hands of the Chaldeans, who perhaps may roast what is not boiled here.

Ezekiel 11:3 Which say, [It is] not near; let us build houses: this [city is] the caldron, and we [be] the flesh.Ver. 3. Which say, It is not near,] sc., The evil day is not. The vision that he seeth is for many days to come; and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. See Amos 6:3 Isaiah 29:1 2 Peter 3:4. And this was likely the evil counsel they gave the king and people, lulling them asleep in the cradle of carnal security. Let us build houses.] Though Jeremiah hath counselled us to the contrary, though he, with all the wit he hath, hath told us that this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh. Some such thing Jeremiah had indeed foretold, and these profane scoffers made a jeer at it. Captant argutias quibus elevant omnem fidem doctrinae coelestis. This made good Jeremiah complain heavily: Jeremiah 20:7-8, "I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me," &c. Our prophet Ezekiel, though he name him not, yet confirmeth his holy sayings, and threateneth his scurrilous adversaries. Ministers should stand by and for one another.

(3) It is not near; let us build houses. -Neither the text nor the marginal reading of the Authorised Version quite accurately represent the original. The expression is literally not near to build houses; and it is to be explained by the prophecy and narrative of Jeremiah 29. After the 10,000 (among whom was Ezekiel) had been carried captive—and apparently shortly after—Jeremiah had sent word to the captives to build houses and make themselves comfortable. because the captivity would be long (Ezekiel 11:5-10). This greatly offended the captives; and Shemaiah, a false prophet among them, had consequently sent letters to Jerusalem asking that Jeremiah might be punished for thus prophesying (Ezekiel 11:24-25). The princes of the people now appear in Ezekiel’s vision as taking up this prophecy of Jeremiah’s and contradicting it: “this need of building houses for a long captivity is not near!” In Ezekiel 7:2-3; Ezekiel 7:12; Ezekiel 12:23, Ezekiel expressly declares that it is very near. The princes further confirmed the people in their fancied security by comparing the city to a caldron, the strong walls of which should protect the flesh within it, i.e., the people, from the fire of all hostile attack. In the prophecy of Eze 24:6 this figure is taken up, and a very different application given to it; it is also turned against them immediately in Ezekiel 11:7. In consequence of this attitude and these sayings of the princes, the prophecy of Eze 11:5-12 is now directed against them.

Verse 3. It is not near] That is, the threatened invasion. This city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.] See the vision of the seething pot, Jeremiah 1:13. These infidels seem to say: "We will run all risks, we will abide in the city. Though it be the caldron, and we the flesh, yet we will share its fate: if it perish, we will perish with it." Or they may allude to the above prediction of Jeremiah, in order to ridicule it: "We were to have been boiled long ago: but the fulfilment of that prediction is not near yet."

3. It is not near; let us build] Rather as R.V. The time to build houses is not near, lit. the building of houses is not near. The phrase “to build houses” is to be taken as in ch. Ezekiel 28:26, “And they shall dwell with confidence therein, and shall build houses and plant vineyards and shall dwell with confidence.” To build houses is a sign and a consequence of a time of peace and security (Isaiah 65:21; Jeremiah 29:5; Jeremiah 29:28). These agitators desire to turn men’s minds away from peaceful occupations, and make them contemplate other measures, assuring them that when war comes the strong city will be their salvation—it is the pot which will protect the flesh from the fire around it. Others, e.g. Ew., take the phrase interrogatively: Is not the building of houses near? This, however, hardly corresponds to the situation, which is not one of war which it is hoped will speedily pass over, but one of contemplated rebellion. LXX. renders: Have not the houses been recently built? it is the pot &c.; so Corn. This gives a closer connexion to the two halves of the verse, but “houses” could hardly have the sense of fortifications, nor does the phrase naturally express the meaning that the damage done to the city when last captured (under Jehoiachin) had been fully repaired. this city is the caldron] lit. it is the caldron or pot. The phrase implies two things, the danger of fire around, and that the strong city will prove a protection to those within it. These revolutionary spirits are aware of the risks they run, but with a certain grimness of humour they make light of them. The figure here is somewhat different from that of the boiling pot for war common in the Arabic poets.

It is not near - In contradiction to Ezekiel 7:2. Let us build houses - “To build houses” implies a sense of security.

3. It is not near; let us build houses — Rather, the time to build houses is not near.