Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 24:11

"Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that it may be hot, and the brass thereof may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the rust of it may be consumed." — Ezekiel 24:11 (ASV)

Set it empty upon the coals. Keeping up the strong figure of the parable, after all the inhabitants have passed under judgment the city itself is to be purged by fire. It is unnecessary here to think of heat as removing the rust (scum) from the cauldron; the prophet’s mind is not upon any physical effect, but upon the methods of purifying defiled metallic vessels under the law . It was a symbolical rather than a material purification, and in the present case involved the actual destruction of the city itself.

In Ezekiel 24:11-14, the obduracy of the people is set forth in strong language, together with the completeness of the coming judgment in contrast to the ineffectiveness of all former efforts for their reformation (Ezekiel 24:13); and, finally, the adaptation of the punishment to the sin (Ezekiel 24:14). The word translated “lies” in Ezekiel 24:12 means pains or labour. Translate, The labour is in vain; her rust does not go out of her, even her rust with fire. In Ezekiel 24:13 “lewdness” would be better rendered abomination.