11:1-13 Where Satan cannot persuade men to look upon the judgment to come as uncertain, he gains his point by persuading them to look upon it as at a distance. These wretched rulers dare to say, We are as safe in this city as flesh in a boiling pot; the walls of the city shall be to us as walls of brass, we shall receive no more damage from the besiegers than the caldron does from the fire. When sinners flatter themselves to their own ruin, it is time to tell them they shall have no peace if they go on. None shall remain in possession of the city but those who are buried in it. Those are least safe who are most secure. God is often pleased to single out some sinners for warning to others. Whether Pelatiah died at that time in Jerusalem, or when the fulfilment of the prophecy drew near, is uncertain. Like Ezekiel, we ought to be much affected with the sudden death of others, and we should still plead with the Lord to have mercy on those who remain.
Then said he unto me, son of man,.... That is, the Lord, or, the Spirit of the Lord, that lifted him up:
these are the men that devise mischief; or "vanity" (d); this is to be understood not of the two only that are named, though it may of them chiefly; but of all the twenty five, who formed schemes for the holding out of the siege, and for the security of the city, and of themselves in it, which was all folly and vanity:
and give wicked counsel in this city; either in ecclesiastical affairs, to forsake the worship of God, and cleave to the idols of the nations; or in civil things, as follows:
these are the men that devise mischief; or "vanity" (d); this is to be understood not of the two only that are named, though it may of them chiefly; but of all the twenty five, who formed schemes for the holding out of the siege, and for the security of the city, and of themselves in it, which was all folly and vanity:
and give wicked counsel in this city; either in ecclesiastical affairs, to forsake the worship of God, and cleave to the idols of the nations; or in civil things, as follows:
(d) "vanitatem", Calvin, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius; "vanum", Cocceius, Starckius.