| Ezekiel 24:17
| Sigh in silence; make no mourning for the dead: let the tire of thy head be upon thee, and thy shoes on thy feet, and cover not thy face, nor eat the meat of mourners.
| Silence, for such manifold calamities, if thou canst screen thyself from the enemy, who will otherwise take offence, as he has brought them on. (Haydock) --- Dead. Priests were allowed to mourn only for father or mother, and their unmarried brothers and sisters, Leviticus 21:1. Ezechiel (xliv. 25.) adds, Son and daughter. Many think the wife must also be understood, as she is nearer than a brother. The reasons for these prohibitions did not then subsist, as no sacrifice could be offered in Chaldea; and therefore God here specifies what the prophet was not to do, (Calmet) though lawful on other occasions. (Sanctius) --- Tire. Literally, "crown," bandage, (Calmet) or parchment, on which parts of the law were written. Septuagint, "Let (Roman edition adds, not) the hair of thy head be curled (or ruffed; sumpeplegmenon) upon thee." (Haydock) --- It was usually cut in mourning. (St. Jerome) --- Feet. They were bare, at funerals, and in times of sorrow, 2 Kings 15:30. --- Face, like David. Hebrew, "the upper lip," which mourners and lepers covered, Leviticus 13:45. (Calmet) --- Mourners. Feasts were prepared by the relations, (Josephus, Jewish Wars 2:1.) and friends sent some food, but no delicacies, to those who mourned, Leviticus 5:9.
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