Deeper understanding of Ezekiel 11:3's "...The time is not near to build houses. This city is the pot and we are the flesh.."

It is helpful to read Ezekiel in the context of Jeremiah, but it is not necessary. We know from 2 Kings and other sources that people had flooded into Jerusalem from the north and from the countryside in the wake of Babylonian invasion. But it was not necessary for them to build houses, according to Jaazaniah and Pelatiah, because many houses were abandoned as city dwellers were taken to Babylon. The current "pot" (Jerusalem) could accommodate the "flesh" (those who needed houses to live in).

Ezekiel himself opposed this attitude. Indeed, he had already adopted the attitude that Jeremiah advised. He did not write from Jerusalem as Jeremiah did but prophesied from Babylonia, where he became a leader of the exile community.

Ezekiel 1

1 In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens opened, and I saw divine visions.— 2 On the fifth day of the month—this was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile— 3 the word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar. There the hand of the Lord came upon him.

Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel knew that the die had been cast against Jerusalem. Regrettably, it was now God's will for the people to submit to the Babylonians.

Ezekiel 9

“Alas, Lord God! Will you destroy all that is left of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?” 9 He answered me: The guilt of the house of Israel and the house of Judah is too great to measure; the land is filled with bloodshed, the city with lawlessness. They think that the Lord has abandoned the land, that he does not see them. 10 My eye, however, will not spare, nor shall I take pity, but I will bring their conduct down upon their heads.

Conclusion: Ezekiel was among those who left their homes in Jerusalem to settle in Babylon, as the Lord had directed them to do through Jeremiah. Like Jeremiah, he argued strongly against those who taught that people would be safe if they stayed in in Jerusalem. We do not know how directly he was influenced by his older contemporary, but it certainly helps us understand Ezekiel to know about Jeremiah and his prophecies regarding Jerusalem and its fate.

ADDENDUM - Note that while Jeremiah opposed building new houses in Jerusalem and urged people to settle in Babylonia, he also emphasized that they would eventually return. He even invested in land in his hometown, believing that this would be a good investment eventually. (Jeremiah 32)

First, some simple chronology.

Jeremiah 25 is a prophecy given in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar which was the fourth year of king Jehoiakim. Thus, it immediately followed the first captivity of Jerusalem in 605 BC.

There were three invasions and captivities that Babylon completed on Jerusalem as follows:

• First: 605 BC - this is when Daniel was taken captive. It is also the first year of King Nebuchadnezzar.
• Second: 597 BC - this appears to be the time when Ezekiel was taken captive and the year from which most of his prophecies are dated. King Jehoiachin is taken captive.
• Third: 587-586 BC - Zedekiah taken captive and the city is burned in the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar.

Now, Ezekiel chapters 8-11 are dated (Eze 8:1) in the 6th year, viz, 592/591, between the second and third invasions of Jerusalem. It is precisely because many thousands of Jews had been taken captive to Babylon, that many houses were left vacant in Jerusalem and had been partially filled by people from outlying regions who came to Jerusalem for safety.

Eze 11:3 is typical Hebrew and thus, very terse and tricky to translate. Literally, it reads:

who say not near build houses? That the caldron and we the meat.

The first sentence is the tricky part. Versions are divided as to what sense to give it. The various options appear to be:

• ESV: who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses.
• BSB: They are saying, ‘Is not the time near to build houses?
• NASB: who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses.

Before exploring the correct meaning, we must observe two important points:

• the people of Jerusalem were accused of great sin, specifically, killing many people in the city, V6
• such wicked people are providing bad advice, V2

Thus, we have two options:

1. Wicked men suggesting that the time is near to build houses, ie, become secure in the city, eg, BSB
2. Wicked men suggesting that the time is not near to build houses and feel secure, eg, NASB, ESV.

The choice depends on how the second sentence is understood, "The city is the pot, and we are the meat." Should this be understood - as an extension of the first sentence or a parenthetical comment by God?

The whole purpose of Ezekiel's prophecies and ministry was two-fold:

• to remind the Jews of their great sin, and
• to warn of the unavoidable approaching doom by Babylon on Jerusalem

Thus, safety in the city was not available. Further, building houses was not necessary because many were already available. Thus, I agree with Ellicott's summation in his comments in Eze 11:3 -

(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 Ezekiel 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 Ezekiel 11:5-12 is now directed against them.

who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. This city is the pot and we are the flesh

They realized God was about to kill them, and destroy the city of Jerusalem, and thought what Jeremiah had said about building houses in Babylon was really about building houses in Jerusalem so understandably said there is no point in doing that.

"The time is not near to build houses." (ESV)

This meant the judgment was still ongoing thus not yet time to rebuild.

"This city is the cauldron, and we are the meat." (ESV)

This is referring to how meat of a sacrifice is prepared. Thus, Jerusalem is to be sacrificed.

The details are in the commentaries below:

Commentaries

[Ezekiel 11:]3: Their statement, there is no need now to build houses, rejects Jeremiah’s call to build and to plant (Jer. 1:10; 31:28). Their statement, this [city] is the pot, and we are the meat, indicates their belief that Jerusalem is to be sacrificed since sacrificial meat was cooked in pots (24:1–14; Jer. 1:13–19; 1 Sam. 2:12–17). Because they conclude that judgment is final, they have rejected God to worship the sun.

Berlin, A., Brettler, M. Z., & Fishbane, M., eds. (2004). The Jewish Study Bible (p. 1060). Oxford University Press.

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. 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 (Is. 65:21; Jer. 29:5, 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.

Davidson, A. B. (1893). The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, with Notes and Introduction (pp. 71–72). Cambridge University Press.

Their manner of speaking in [Ezekiel 11:]Ver. 3 is the popular-rhetorical, which makes an impression on the sensuous mass by its striking, figurative character, and is easily remembered. How they think, and what corresponding counsel they give, is shown first of all by the statement: It is not near, building of houses,—their reply, namely, to the prophets of this period, who supplement one another, Ezekiel and Jeremiah. The distinctive expression in the case of the former—comp. ch. 7, especially vers. 7, 8 (עָתַּה מִקָּרוֹב)—is met by the bold denial לֹא בְקָרוֹב, and at the same time, בְּנוֹ בָּתִּים (building of houses) ridicules the letter of Jeremiah to the exiles (ch. 29:5), beginning with בְּנוּ בָתִּים (“build ye houses”), which threatened those at Jerusalem with sword, famine, and pestilence, etc. [Other explanations of these words are either hardly justifiable linguistically,—such as Luther’s, those of the Sept. and Vulg. (Ewald takes לֹא as a question, Gram. 324a),—or give a far-fetched sense, such as Hitzig’s.] Positively their meaning is expressed to this effect, that Jerusalem will keep its inhabitants, as the caldron keeps the flesh; and therefore their counsel is, to remain and to trust to the secure walls, instead of trusting the word of the prophets. [According to Hävernick, with allusion to Jer. 1:13; according to Kliefoth, alluding to Jer. 19?] BUNSEN: “We sit here in Jerusalem warm and protected, like the flesh in the caldron.”

Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Schröder, W. J., Fairbairn, P., Findlay, W., Crerar, T., & Manson, S. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Ezekiel (p. 126). Logos Bible Software.

[Ezekiel 11:]3. It is not near—viz., the destruction of the city; therefore “let us build houses,” as if there was no fear. But the Hebrew [בּוֹת בָּתְים] opposes the English version, which would require the infinitive absolute. Rather, ‘Not at hand is the building of houses.’ They sneer at Jeremiah’s letter to the captives, among whom Ezekiel lived (Jer. 29:5), wherein he said, “Build ye houses, and dwell in them,”—i.e., do not fancy, as many persuade you, that your sojourn in Babylon is to be short; it will be for seventy years (Jer. 25:11, 12; 29:10); therefore build houses and settle quietly there. The scorners in Jerusalem reply, Those far off in exile may build if they please, but it is too remote a concern for us to trouble ourselves about (Fairbairn). (Cf. ch. 12:22, 27; 2 Pet. 3:4.) this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh—sneering at Jer. 1:13 (“I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north”), where he compared the city to a caldron with its mouth towards the north: ‘Let Jerusalem be so if you will, and we the flesh, exposed to the raging foe from the North; still its fortifications will secure us from the flame of war outside; the city must stand for our sakes, just as the pot exists for the safety of the flesh in it.’ In opposition to this God saith (v. 11), “This city shall not be your caldron,” to defend you in it from the foe outside: nay, ye shall be driven out of your imaginary sanctuary, and slain in the border of the land. “But,” saith God in v. 7, “your slain (whose death ye have been the cause of) are the flesh, and this city the caldron; but (not as you fancy shall ye be kept safe inside) I will bring you forth out of the midst of it;” and again, in ch. 24:3, ‘Though not a caldron in your sense, Jerusalem shall be so in the sense of its being exposed to a consuming foe, and yourselves in it and with it’

Fausset, A. R. (n.d.). A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Jeremiah–Malachi: Vol. IV (p. 235). William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited.

[Ezekiel 11:]3. It is not near] In contradiction to 7:2. let us build houses] To build houses implies a sense of security. Jeremiah bade the exiles build houses in a foreign land because they would not soon quit it (Jer. 29:5; 35:7). These false counsellors promised to their countrymen a sure and permanent abode in the city which God had doomed to destruction. No need, they said, to go far for safety; you are perfectly safe at home. The Hebrew, however, is, difficult: lit. it means, It is not near to build houses, which may be explained as spoken in mockery of such counsel as that of Jeremiah: matters have not gone so far as to necessitate house-building in a foreign land. The same idea is expressed by the image of the caldron: whatever devastation may rage around the city, we are safe within its walls, as flesh within a caldron is unburnt by the surrounding fire (cp. 24:6).

Barnes, A. (1879). Notes on the Old Testament: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Jeremiah, Lamentations & Ezekiel (F. C. Cook & J. M. Fuller, Eds.; p. 328). John Murray.