Ezekiel4
New International Version
1“Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.
2Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.
3Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the people of Israel.
4“Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side.
5I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.
6“After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.
7Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her.
8I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.
9“Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side.
10Weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day and eat it at set times.
11Also measure out a sixth of a hin of water and drink it at set times.
12Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel.”
13The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”
14Then I said, “Not so, Sovereign Lord! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.”
15“Very well,” he said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.”
16He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair,
17for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 4.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The siege of Jerusalem. (1-8). The famine the inhabitants would suffer. (9-17).
vv1-8
The prophet was to represent the siege of Jerusalem by signs. He was to lie on his left side for a number of days, supposed to be equal to the years from the establishment of idolatry. All that the prophet sets before the children of his people, about the destruction of Jerusalem, is to show that sin is the provoking cause of the ruin of that once flourishing city.
vv9-17
The bread which was Ezekiel's support, was to be made of coarse grain and pulse mixed together, seldom used except in times of urgent scarcity, and of this he was only to take a small quantity. Thus was figured the extremity to which the Jews were to be reduced during the siege and captivity. Ezekiel does not plead, Lord, from my youth I have been brought up delicately, and never used to any thing like this; but that he had been brought up conscientiously, and never had eaten any thing forbidden by the law. It will be comfortable when we are brought to suffer hardships, if our hearts can witness that we have always been careful to keep even from the appearance of evil. See what woful work sin makes, and acknowledge the righteousness of God herein. Their plenty having been abused to luxury and excess, they were justly punished by famine. When men serve not God with cheerfulness in the abundance of all things, God will make them serve their enemies in the want of all things.
Key Words
אַתָּה: thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
לָקַח: to take (in the widest variety of applications)
לְבֵנָה: a brick (from the whiteness of the clay)
נָתַן: to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.)
פָּנִים: the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
חָקַק: properly, to hack, i.e. engrave (Judges 5:14, to be a scribe simply); by implication, to enact (laws being cut in stone or metal tablets in primitive times) or (gen.) prescribe
עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
עִיר: a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)
Cross References
Ezekiel 4Explicit biblical precedent for the 'each day for a year' prophetic principle.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Ezekiel's symbolic 'bearing of iniquity' prefigures the ultimate sin-bearer, Jesus Christ.
Supported by JFB
Peter's protest against unclean food mirrors Ezekiel's conscientious plea using almost identical language.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Fulfills the Levitical covenant curse of breaking the 'staff of bread' and eating by weight.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The 'uncovered arm' signifies God baring His holy arm, ready for active judgment.
Supported by JFB
Connects to the earlier divine restriction where 'bands' were figuratively laid on the prophet.
Supported by JFB
Hosea's matching prediction that Israel would eat unclean, defiled food in exile among Gentiles.
Supported by JFB
Calvin highlights that man lives by God's word, not by bread alone, when the staff is broken.
Supported by John Calvin
The actual historical fulfillment of Nebuchadnezzar's building watch-towers and forts against Jerusalem.
Supported by JFB
Law forbidding eating meat torn by beasts, which Ezekiel appeals to as kept from youth.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The legal prohibition against eating anything that dieth of itself, guarding priestly purity.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Levitical law designating stale sacrificial meat as an abomination, which Ezekiel avoided.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The covenant curse of 'consuming away in their iniquity' due to their persistent unfaithfulness.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Demonstrates God's pattern of using prophets to act out symbolic visions and physical parables.
Priestly duty to 'bear the iniquity' of the congregation, aligning with Ezekiel's priestly background.
Poole links Israel's 390 years of apostasy to Jeroboam's establishment of the calf cult.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Repeats the judgment that Jerusalem will eat bread and drink water with astonishment and care.
Parallels the use of 'battering rams' or captains directed against Jerusalem's gates.
Supported by JFB