The Meaning of Ezekiel 24:8 Explained

Ezekiel 24:8

KJV: That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.

YLT: To cause fury to come up to take vengeance, I have put her blood on a clear place of a rock -- not to be covered.

Darby: That it might cause fury to come up to execute vengeance, I have set her blood upon the bare rock, that it should not be covered.

ASV: That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood upon the bare rock, that it should not be covered.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

That it might cause fury  to come up  to take  vengeance;  I have set  her blood  upon the top  of a rock,  that it should not be covered. 

What does Ezekiel 24:8 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Therefore Yahweh was draining the blood out of Jerusalem by allowing the Babylonians to slay the Jews in it. The innocent blood that the Jerusalemites had shed had cried out to God for Him to take vengeance and to execute wrath on the murderers, as Abel"s blood had done ( Genesis 4:10; cf. Isaiah 26:21). As the people of Jerusalem had shed blood openly, so the Lord would shed their blood openly, on the bare rock of Jerusalem.
"The severe judgment sent by God upon Judah should be ample warning to those today who share the same callous disregard for the value of human life, both the born and the unborn." [1]

Chapter Summary: Ezekiel 24

1  Under the parable of a boiling pot
6  is shown the irrevocable destruction of Jerusalem
15  By the sign of Ezekiel not mourning for the death of his wife
19  is shown the calamity of the Jews to be beyond all sorrow

What do the individual words in Ezekiel 24:8 mean?

that it may raise up fury and take vengeance I have set - her blood on top of a rock that not it may be covered -
לְהַעֲל֤וֹת חֵמָה֙ לִנְקֹ֣ם נָקָ֔ם נָתַ֥תִּי אֶת־ דָּמָ֖הּ עַל־ צְחִ֣יחַ סָ֑לַע לְבִלְתִּ֖י הִכָּסֽוֹת פ

לְהַעֲל֤וֹת  that  it  may  raise  up 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Hifil, Infinitive construct
Root: סָלַק 
Sense: to go up, ascend, climb.
חֵמָה֙  fury 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֵמָא 
Sense: heat, rage, hot displeasure, indignation, anger, wrath, poison, bottles.
לִנְקֹ֣ם  and  take 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: נָקַם  
Sense: to avenge, take vengeance, revenge, avenge oneself, be avenged, be punished.
נָקָ֔ם  vengeance 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: נָקָם  
Sense: vengeance.
נָתַ֥תִּי  I  have  set 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
דָּמָ֖הּ  her  blood 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: דָּם  
Sense: blood.
צְחִ֣יחַ  top 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: צָחִיחַ  
Sense: shining or glaring surface, glow.
סָ֑לַע  of  a  rock 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: סֶלַע  
Sense: crag, cliff, rock.
לְבִלְתִּ֖י  that  not 
Parse: Preposition-l
Root: בִּלְתִּי  
Sense: not, except adv.
הִכָּסֽוֹת  it  may  be  covered 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Infinitive construct
Root: כָּסָה  
Sense: to cover, conceal, hide.
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation