24:4 Gather its {d} pieces into it, [even] every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill [it] with the choice bones.
(d) That is the citizens and the chief men of it.
24:4 Every good piece - All the chief of the inhabitants of the land, the wealthiest, who will fly from their country - houses to live in safety in Jerusalem: the most war - like, who will betake themselves to Jerusalem for its defence. Fill it - With those pieces that are biggest, fullest of marrow, and which are divided according to the bones; these are the principal members of the state, the king, princes, priests, magistrates, and the most wealthy citizens.
24:1-14 The pot on the fire represented Jerusalem besieged by the Chaldeans: all orders and ranks were within the walls, prepared as a prey for the enemy. They ought to have put away their transgressions, as the scum, which rises by the heat of the fire, is taken from the top of the pot. But they grew worse, and their miseries increased. Jerusalem was to be levelled with the ground. The time appointed for the punishment of wicked men may seem to come slowly, but it will come surely. It is sad to think how many there are, on whom ordinances and providences are all lost.
