Ezekiel
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Ezekiel 4
Ezekiel 4
1Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it a city, even Jerusalem:
1Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
Commentary · verse 1
2and lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it round about.
3And take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
2And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
3Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
Commentary · verses 2-3
Ezekiel was told to use an iron pan as a wall between him and the tile (which represented Jerusalem). Then Ezekiel was to "lay siege against" the tile. The destruction of this tile represented the coming destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.
4Moreover lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it, thou shalt bear their iniquity.
5For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be unto thee a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
4Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
5For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
Commentary · verses 4-5
Ezekiel then had to lie on his left side on the ground for 390 days. Each day represented a year of iniquity of the Israelites. The 390 years were from the division of the kingdom under Jeroboam and Rehoboam to the eleventh year of Zedekiah, when Jerusalem fell.
6And again, when thou hast accomplished these, thou shalt lie on thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it unto thee.
6And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
Commentary · verse 6
Next, Ezekiel had to lie on his right side for forty days. Again, each day represented a year but this time of the iniquity of Judah. However, this iniquity of Judah did represent all of Israel since during this time the ten tribes of Israel had already been destroyed.
7And thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with thine arm uncovered; and thou shalt prophesy against it.
7Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
Commentary · verse 7
Ezekiel had to prophesy against Jerusalem.
8And, behold, I lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to the other, till thou hast accomplished the days of thy siege.
9Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, even three hundred and ninety days, shalt thou eat thereof.
8And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
9Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
Commentary · verses 8-9
Ezekiel had to prepare enough food for himself to eat during the days he would be lying on the ground. The ingredients were unusual and signified the lack of food that would be available, especially wheat and barley.
10And thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
11And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it in their sight with dung that cometh out of man.
10And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
11Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
Commentary · verses 10-12
Again, food and water would be scarce. The food was cooked over a fire made of human dung. This would make the food unclean…
13And Jehovah said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations whither I will drive them.
13And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
Commentary · verse 13
…it symbolized and would teach Israel that they would be eating defiled bread among the Gentiles.
14Then said I, Ah Lord Jehovah! behold, my soul hath not been polluted; for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn of beasts; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
14Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Commentary · verse 14
Ezekiel had never eaten defiled food and he was torn up by the idea.
15Then he said unto me, See, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread thereon.
15Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.
Commentary · verse 15
God told him the fire could be made with cow's dung instead of man's.
16Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay: 17that they may want bread and water, and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.
16Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:
17That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.
Commentary · verses 16-17
Eating this unclean food by measure indicated famine for Jerusalem.
Ezekiel was told to lay a tile before him and portray Jerusalem upon it. The "tile" mentioned would have been a sun-dried brick. These bricks were often used for inscriptions.