5 For 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.
6 And 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.
7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
8 And, 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.
9 Take 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.
10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
14 Then 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.
15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.
16 Moreover 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:
17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.
5 For I have laid H5414 upon thee the years H8141 of their iniquity, H5771 according to the number H4557 of the days, H3117 three H7969 hundred H3967 and ninety H8673 days: H3117 so shalt thou bear H5375 the iniquity H5771 of the house H1004 of Israel. H3478
6 And when thou hast accomplished H3615 them, H428 lie H7901 again H8145 on thy right H3233 H3227 side, H6654 and thou shalt bear H5375 the iniquity H5771 of the house H1004 of Judah H3063 forty H705 days: H3117 I have appointed H5414 thee each day H3117 H3117 for a year. H8141 H8141
7 Therefore thou shalt set H3559 thy face H6440 toward the siege H4692 of Jerusalem, H3389 and thine arm H2220 shall be uncovered, H2834 and thou shalt prophesy H5012 against it.
8 And, behold, I will lay H5414 bands H5688 upon thee, and thou shalt not turn H2015 thee from one side H6654 to another, H6654 till thou hast ended H3615 the days H3117 of thy siege. H4692
9 Take H3947 thou also unto thee wheat, H2406 and barley, H8184 and beans, H6321 and lentiles, H5742 and millet, H1764 and fitches, H3698 and put H5414 them in one H259 vessel, H3627 and make H6213 thee bread H3899 thereof, according to the number H4557 of the days H3117 that thou shalt lie H7901 upon thy side, H6654 three H7969 hundred H3967 and ninety H8673 days H3117 shalt thou eat H398 thereof.
10 And thy meat H3978 which thou shalt eat H398 shall be by weight, H4946 twenty H6242 shekels H8255 a day: H3117 from time H6256 to time H6256 shalt thou eat H398 it.
11 Thou shalt drink H8354 also water H4325 by measure, H4884 the sixth part H8345 of an hin: H1969 from time H6256 to time H6256 shalt thou drink. H8354
12 And thou shalt eat H398 it as barley H8184 cakes, H5692 and thou shalt bake H5746 it with dung H1561 that cometh out H6627 of man, H120 in their sight. H5869
13 And the LORD H3068 said, H559 Even thus shall the children H1121 of Israel H3478 eat H398 their defiled H2931 bread H3899 among the Gentiles, H1471 whither I will drive H5080 them.
14 Then said H559 I, Ah H162 Lord H136 GOD! H3069 behold, my soul H5315 hath not been polluted: H2930 for from my youth H5271 up even till now have I not eaten H398 of that which dieth of itself, H5038 or is torn in pieces; H2966 neither came H935 there abominable H6292 flesh H1320 into my mouth. H6310
15 Then he said H559 unto me, Lo, H7200 I have given H5414 thee cow's H1241 dung H6832 H6832 for man's H120 dung, H1561 and thou shalt prepare H6213 thy bread H3899 therewith.
16 Moreover he said H559 unto me, Son H1121 of man, H120 behold, I will break H7665 the staff H4294 of bread H3899 in Jerusalem: H3389 and they shall eat H398 bread H3899 by weight, H4948 and with care; H1674 and they shall drink H8354 water H4325 by measure, H4884 and with astonishment: H8078
17 That they may want H2637 bread H3899 and water, H4325 and be astonied H8074 one H376 with another, H251 and consume away H4743 for their iniquity. H5771
5 For 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.
6 And 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.
7 And thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with thine arm uncovered; and thou shalt prophesy against it.
8 And, 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.
9 Take 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.
10 And thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
11 And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it in their sight with dung that cometh out of man.
13 And Jehovah said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations whither I will drive them.
14 Then 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.
15 Then he said unto me, See, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread thereon.
16 Moreover 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:
17 that they may want bread and water, and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.
5 And I -- I have laid on thee the years of their iniquity, the number of days, three hundred and ninety days; and thou hast borne the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6 And thou hast completed these, and hast lain on thy right side, a second time, and hast borne the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days -- a day for a year -- a day for a year I have appointed to thee.
7 `And unto the siege of Jerusalem thou dost prepare thy face, and thine arm `is' uncovered, and thou hast prophesied concerning it.
8 And lo, I have put on thee thick bands, and thou dost not turn from side to side till thy completing the days of thy siege.
9 `And thou, take to thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and spelt, and thou hast put them in one vessel, and made them to thee for bread; the number of the days that thou art lying on thy side -- three hundred and ninety days -- thou dost eat it.
10 And thy food that thou dost eat `is' by weight, twenty shekels daily; from time to time thou dost eat it.
11 `And water by measure thou dost drink, a sixth part of the hin; from time to time thou dost drink `it'.
12 A barley-cake thou dost eat it, and it with dung -- the filth of man -- thou dost bake before their eyes.
13 And Jehovah saith, `Thus do the sons of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations whither I drive them.'
14 And I say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah, lo, my soul is not defiled, and carcase, and torn thing, I have not eaten from my youth, even till now; nor come into my mouth hath abominable flesh.'
15 And He saith unto me, `See, I have given to thee bullock's dung instead of man's dung, and thou hast made thy bread by it.'
16 And He saith unto me, `Son of man, lo, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they have eaten bread by weight and with fear; and water by measure and with astonishment, they do drink;
17 so that they lack bread and water, and have been astonished one with another, and been consumed in their iniquity.
5 And I have appointed thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6 And when thou hast accomplished them, thou shalt 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.
7 And thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
8 And behold, I lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thyself from one side to the other, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
9 And thou, take 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 liest upon thy side: three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
11 And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12 And thou shalt eat it [as] barley-cake, and thou shalt bake it in their sight with dung that cometh out of man.
13 And Jehovah said, So shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean among the nations whither I will drive them.
14 Then said I, Ah, Lord Jehovah! behold, my soul hath not been defiled, and from my youth up even until now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or of that which is torn; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
15 And he said unto me, See, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.
16 And he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight, and with anxiety; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:
17 because bread and water shall fail them, and they shall be astonied one with another, and waste away in their iniquity.
5 For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be to you a number of days, even three hundred ninety days: so shall you bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6 Again, when you have accomplished these, you shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it to you.
7 You shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm uncovered; and you shall prophesy against it.
8 Behold, I lay bands on you, and you shall not turn you from one side to the other, until you have accomplished the days of your siege.
9 Take for yourself also wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make you bread of it; [according to] the number of the days that you shall lie on your side, even three hundred ninety days, shall you eat of it.
10 Your food which you shall eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shall you eat it.
11 You shall drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shall you drink.
12 You shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it in their sight with dung that comes out of man.
13 Yahweh said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.
14 Then said I, Ah Lord Yahweh! behold, my soul has not been polluted; for from my youth up even until now have I not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn of animals; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
15 Then he said to me, Behold, I have given you cow's dung for man's dung, and you shall prepare your bread thereon.
16 Moreover he said to 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:
17 that they may want bread and water, and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.
5 For I have had the years of their sin measured for you by a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days: and you will take on yourself the sin of the children of Israel.
6 And when these days are ended, turning on your right side, you are to take on yourself the sin of the children of Judah: forty days, a day for a year, I have had it fixed for you.
7 And let your face be turned to where Jerusalem is shut in, with your arm uncovered, and be a prophet against it.
8 And see, I will put bands on you; and you will be stretched out without turning from one side to the other till the days of your attack are ended.
9 And take for yourself wheat and barley and different sorts of grain, and put them in one vessel and make bread for yourself from them; all the days when you are stretched on your side it will be your food.
10 And you are to take your food by weight, twenty shekels a day: you are to take it at regular times.
11 And you are to take water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: you are to take it at regular times.
12 And let your food be barley cakes, cooking it before their eyes with the waste which comes out of a man.
13 And the Lord said, Even so the children of Israel will have unclean bread for their food among the nations where I am driving them.
14 Then I said, Ah, Lord! see, my soul has never been unclean, and I have never taken as my food anything which has come to a natural death or has been broken by beasts, from the time when I was young even till now; no disgusting flesh has ever come into my mouth.
15 Then he said to me, See, I have given you cow's waste in place of man's waste, and you will make your bread ready on it.
16 And he said to me, Son of man, see, I will take away from Jerusalem her necessary bread: they will take their bread by weight and with care, measuring out their drinking-water with fear and wonder:
17 So that they may be in need of bread and water and be wondering at one another, wasting away in their sin.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 4
Commentary on Ezekiel 4 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 4
Eze 4:1-17. Symbolical Vision of the Siege and the Iniquity-bearing.
1. tile—a sun-dried brick, such as are found in Babylon, covered with cuneiform inscriptions, often two feet long and one foot broad.
2. fort—rather, "watch-tower" (Jer 52:4) wherein the besiegers could watch the movements of the besieged [Gesenius]. A wall of circumvallation [Septuagint and Rosenmuller]. A kind of battering-ram [Maurer]. The first view is best.
a mount—wherewith the Chaldeans could be defended from missiles.
battering-rams—literally, "through-borers." In Eze 21:22 the same Hebrew is translated "captains."
3. iron pan—the divine decree as to the Chaldean army investing the city.
set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city—Ezekiel, in the person of God, represents the wall of separation between him and the people as one of iron: and the Chaldean investing army. His instrument of separating them from him, as one impossible to burst through.
set … face against it—inexorably (Ps 34:16). The exiles envied their brethren remaining in Jerusalem, but exile is better than the straitness of a siege.
4. Another symbolical act performed at the same time as the former, in vision, not in external action, wherein it would have been only puerile: narrated as a thing ideally done, it would make a vivid impression. The second action is supplementary to the first, to bring out more fully the same prophetic idea.
left side—referring to the position of the ten tribes, the northern kingdom, as Judah, the southern, answers to "the right side" (Eze 4:6). The Orientals facing the east in their mode, had the north on their left, and the south on their right (Eze 16:46). Also the right was more honorable than the left: so Judah as being the seat of the temple, was more so than Israel.
bear the iniquity—iniquity being regarded as a burden; so it means, "bear the punishment of their iniquity" (Nu 14:34). A type of Him who was the great sin-bearer, not in mimic show as Ezekiel, but in reality (Isa 53:4, 6, 12).
5. three hundred and ninety days—The three hundred ninety years of punishment appointed for Israel, and forty for Judah, cannot refer to the siege of Jerusalem. That siege is referred to in Eze 4:1-3, and in a sense restricted to the literal siege, but comprehending the whole train of punishment to be inflicted for their sin; therefore we read here merely of its sore pressure, not of its result. The sum of three hundred ninety and forty years is four hundred thirty, a period famous in the history of the covenant-people, being that of their sojourn in Egypt (Ex 12:40, 41; Ga 3:17). The forty alludes to the forty years in the wilderness. Elsewhere (De 28:68; Ho 9:3), God threatened to bring them back to Egypt, which must mean, not Egypt literally, but a bondage as bad as that one in Egypt. So now God will reduce them to a kind of new Egyptian bondage to the world: Israel, the greater transgressor, for a longer period than Judah (compare Eze 20:35-38). Not the whole of the four hundred thirty years of the Egypt state is appointed to Israel; but this shortened by the forty years of the wilderness sojourn, to imply, that a way is open to their return to life by their having the Egypt state merged into that of the wilderness; that is, by ceasing from idolatry and seeking in their sifting and sore troubles, through God's covenant, a restoration to righteousness and peace [Fairbairn]. The three hundred ninety, in reference to the sin of Israel, was also literally true, being the years from the setting up of the calves by Jeroboam (1Ki 12:20-33), that is, from 975 to 583 B.C.: about the year of the Babylonians captivity; and perhaps the forty of Judah refers to that part of Manasseh's fifty-five years' reign in which he had not repented, and which, we are expressly told, was the cause of God's removal of Judah, notwithstanding Josiah's reformation (1Ki 21:10-16; 2Ki 23:26, 27).
6. each day for a year—literally, "a day for a year, a day for a year." Twice repeated, to mark more distinctly the reference to Nu 14:34. The picturing of the future under the image of the past, wherein the meaning was far from lying on the surface, was intended to arouse to a less superficial mode of thinking, just as the partial veiling of truth in Jesus' parables was designed to stimulate inquiry; also to remind men that God's dealings in the past are a key to the future, for He moves on the same everlasting principles, the forms alone being transitory.
7. arm … uncovered—to be ready for action, which the long Oriental garment usually covering it would prevent (Isa 52:10).
thou shalt prophesy against it—This gesture of thine will be a tacit prophecy against it.
8. bands—(Eze 3:25).
not turn from … side—to imply the impossibility of their being able to shake off the punishment.
9. wheat … barley, &c.—Instead of simple flour used for delicate cakes (Ge 18:6), the Jews should have a coarse mixture of six different kinds of grain, such as the poorest alone would eat.
fitches—spelt or dhourra.
three hundred and ninety—The forty days are omitted, since these latter typify the wilderness period when Israel stood separate from the Gentiles and their pollution, though partially chastened by stint of bread and water (Eze 4:16), whereas the eating of the polluted bread in the three hundred ninety days implies a forced residence "among the Gentiles" who were polluted with idolatry (Eze 4:13). This last is said of "Israel" primarily, as being the most debased (Eze 4:9-15); they had spiritually sunk to a level with the heathen, therefore God will make their condition outwardly to correspond. Judah and Jerusalem fare less severely, being less guilty: they are to "eat bread by weight and with care," that is, have a stinted supply and be chastened with the milder discipline of the wilderness period. But Judah also is secondarily referred to in the three hundred ninety days, as having fallen, like Israel, into Gentile defilements; if, then, the Jews are to escape from the exile among Gentiles, which is their just punishment, they must submit again to the wilderness probation (Eze 4:16).
10. twenty shekels—that is, little more than ten ounces; a scant measure to sustain life (Jer 52:6). But it applies not only to the siege, but to their whole subsequent state.
11. sixth … of … hin—about a pint and a half.
12. dung—as fuel; so the Arabs use beasts' dung, wood fuel being scarce. But to use human dung so implies the most cruel necessity. It was in violation of the law (De 14:3; 23:12-14); it must therefore have been done only in vision.
13. Implying that Israel's peculiar distinction was to be abolished and that they were to be outwardly blended with the idolatrous heathen (De 28:68; Ho 9:3).
14. Ezekiel, as a priest, had been accustomed to the strictest abstinence from everything legally impure. Peter felt the same scruple at a similar command (Ac 10:14; compare Isa 65:4). Positive precepts, being dependent on a particular command can be set aside at the will of the divine ruler; but moral precepts are everlasting in their obligation because God cannot be inconsistent with His unchanging moral nature.
abominable flesh—literally, "flesh that stank from putridity." Flesh of animals three days killed was prohibited (Le 7:17, 18; 19:6, 7).
15. cow's dung—a mitigation of the former order (Eze 4:12); no longer "the dung of man"; still the bread so baked is "defiled," to imply that, whatever partial abatement there might be for the prophet's sake, the main decree of God, as to the pollution of Israel by exile among Gentiles, is unalterable.
16. staff of bread—bread by which life is supported, as a man's weight is by the staff he leans on (Le 26:26; Ps 105:16; Isa 3:1).
by weight, and with care—in scant measure (Eze 4:10).
17. astonied one with another—mutually regard one another with astonishment: the stupefied look of despairing want.