Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 4

Introduction

Overview

Ezekiel 4:1, Under the type of a siege is shewn the time from the defection of Jeroboam to the captivity; Ezekiel 4:9, By the provision of the siege, is shewn the hardness of the famine.

Verse 1

take: Ezekiel 5:1-17, Ezekiel 12:3-16, 1 Samuel 15:27, 1 Samuel 15:28, 1 Kings 11:30, 1 Kings 11:31, Isaiah 20:2-4, Jeremiah 13:1-14, Jeremiah 18:2-12, Jeremiah 19:1-15, Jeremiah 25:15-38, Jeremiah 27:2-22, Hosea 1:2-9, Hosea 3:1-5, Hosea 12:10

a tile: לבנה [Strong's H3843], levainah generally denotes a brick, and Palladius informs us that the bricks in common use among the ancients were "two feet long, one foot broad, and four inches thick;" and on such a surface the whole siege might be easily pourtrayed. Perhaps, however, it may here denote a flat tile, like a Roman brick, which were commonly used for tablets, as we learn from Pliny, Hist. Nat. 1. vii. c. 57.

even: Jeremiah 6:6, Jeremiah 32:31, Amos 3:2

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 28:52 - General 2 Kings 13:18 - Smite 2 Kings 25:1 - pitched Jeremiah 43:9 - great Jeremiah 52:4 - pitched Ezekiel 2:1 - Son Ezekiel 3:24 - Go Ezekiel 5:2 - the city Ezekiel 5:5 - This Ezekiel 21:19 - General

Verse 2

lay: Jeremiah 39:1, Jeremiah 39:2, Jeremiah 52:4, Luke 19:42-44

battering rams: or, chief leaders, Ezekiel 21:22

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 33:4 - thrown Ezekiel 17:17 - by

Verse 3

an iron pan: or, a flat plate, or slice, Leviticus 2:5

This: Ezekiel 12:6, Ezekiel 12:11, Ezekiel 24:24-27, Isaiah 8:18, Isaiah 20:3, Luke 2:34, Hebrews 2:4

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 20:35 - Smite me Ezekiel 4:7 - set Ezekiel 13:17 - set thy Ezekiel 21:2 - set Daniel 11:17 - set

Verse 4

upon: Ezekiel 4:5, Ezekiel 4:8

and lay: 2 Kings 17:21-23

thou shalt bear: Leviticus 10:17, Leviticus 16:22, Numbers 14:34, Numbers 18:1, Isaiah 53:11, Isaiah 53:12, Matthew 8:17, Hebrews 9:28, 1 Peter 2:24

Reciprocal: Exodus 28:38 - bear the iniquity Ezekiel 18:20 - bear

Verse 5

I have: Isaiah 53:6

three: This number of years will take us back from the year in which Judea was finally desolated by Nebuzar-adan, bc 584, to the establishment of idolatry in Israel by Jeroboam, bc 975. "Beginning from 1 Kings 12:33. Ending Jeremiah 52:30.

Reciprocal: Isaiah 20:2 - Go Isaiah 20:3 - three Ezekiel 4:4 - upon Ezekiel 4:9 - three

Verse 6

forty days: This represented the forty years during which gross idolatry prevailed in Judah, from the reformation of Josiah, bc 624, to the same final desolation of the land. Some think that the period of 390 days also predicts the duration of the siege of the Babylonians - Ezekiel 4:9, deducting from it five months and twenty-nine days, when the besiegers went to meet the Egyptians - 2 Kings 25:1-4, Jeremiah 37:5, and that forty days may have been employed in desolating the temple and city. "Beginning from 2 Kings 23:3, 2 Kings 23:23. Ending Jeremiah 52:30."

each day for a year: Heb. a day for a year, a day for a year, Numbers 14:34, Daniel 9:24-26, Daniel 12:11, Daniel 12:12, Revelation 9:15, Revelation 11:2, Revelation 11:3, Revelation 12:14, Revelation 13:5

Reciprocal: Isaiah 20:3 - three

Verse 7

set: Ezekiel 4:3, Ezekiel 6:2

and thine: Isaiah 52:10

Reciprocal: Ezekiel 20:46 - set Ezekiel 21:2 - set Daniel 11:17 - set

Verse 8

I will: Ezekiel 3:25

from one side to another: Heb. from thy side to thy side

Reciprocal: Ezekiel 4:4 - upon

Verse 9

wheat: Ezekiel 4:13, Ezekiel 4:16

millet: Dochan in Arabic, dokhn the holcus dochna of Forskal, is a kind of millet, of considerable use as a food; the cultivation of which is described by Browne.

fitches: or, spelt, Kussemim is doubtless זוב, or spelt, as Aquila and Symmachus render here; and so LXX and Theodotion, ןכץסב. In times of scarcity it is customary to mix several kinds of coarser grains with the finer, to make it last the longer.

three: Ezekiel 4:5

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 25:3 - the famine Isaiah 28:25 - in the principal Jeremiah 52:6 - the famine Lamentations 5:4 - have Ezekiel 4:6 - forty days

Verse 10

Ezekiel 4:16, Ezekiel 14:13, Leviticus 26:26, Deuteronomy 28:51-68, Isaiah 3:1

Reciprocal: Revelation 6:5 - had

Verse 11

shalt drink: Ezekiel 4:16, Isaiah 5:13, John 3:34

Reciprocal: Exodus 29:40 - hin Leviticus 23:13 - the fourth

Verse 12

cakes: a "round" thing, Genesis 18:6

Reciprocal: Ezekiel 21:6 - before

Verse 13

Daniel 1:8, Hosea 9:3, Hosea 9:4

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 6:25 - an ass's head 2 Kings 18:27 - eat Isaiah 30:20 - the bread Ezekiel 4:9 - wheat Amos 7:17 - die

Verse 14

Ah: Ezekiel 9:8, Ezekiel 20:49, Jeremiah 1:6

my soul: Acts 10:14

have I: Exodus 22:31, Leviticus 11:39, Leviticus 11:40, Leviticus 17:15

abominable: Leviticus 19:7, Deuteronomy 14:3, Isaiah 65:4, Isaiah 66:17

Reciprocal: Exodus 22:13 - torn in pieces Leviticus 7:21 - abominable Leviticus 7:24 - beast Leviticus 11:2 - General Deuteronomy 14:21 - any thing Job 6:7 - as my sorrowful meat Daniel 1:8 - defile Malachi 1:13 - torn Matthew 14:20 - were Acts 15:20 - things Colossians 2:16 - in meat Hebrews 9:10 - in meats

Verse 15

cow's dung: Dried cow-dung is a common fuel in the East, as it is in many parts of England, to the present day; but the prophet was ordered to prepare his bread with human ordure, to shew the extreme degree of wretchedness to which the besieged should be exposed, as they would be obliged literally to use it, from not being able to leave the city to collect other fuel. Ezekiel 4:15

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 18:27 - eat Lamentations 1:11 - seek

Verse 16

I will: Ezekiel 5:16, Ezekiel 14:13, Leviticus 26:26, Psalms 105:16, Isaiah 3:1

eat: The prophet was allowed each day only twenty shekels weight, or about ten ounces, of the coarse food he had prepared, and the sixth part of a hin, scarcely a pint and a half, of water; all of which was intended to shew that they should be obliged to eat the meanest and coarsest food, and that by weight, and their water by measure. Ezekiel 4:10, Ezekiel 4:11, Ezekiel 12:18, Ezekiel 12:19, Psalms 60:3, Lamentations 1:11, Lamentations 4:9, Lamentations 4:10, Lamentations 5:9

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 28:48 - in hunger Job 6:7 - as my sorrowful meat Job 21:25 - never Psalms 80:5 - General Psalms 104:15 - bread Ecclesiastes 5:17 - he eateth Isaiah 36:12 - that they may Ezekiel 4:9 - wheat Amos 4:8 - but Micah 6:14 - eat Haggai 1:6 - eat Revelation 6:5 - had

Verse 17

and consume: Ezekiel 24:23, Leviticus 26:39

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 28:28 - General Deuteronomy 28:48 - in hunger Job 21:25 - never Psalms 80:5 - General Ecclesiastes 5:17 - he eateth Isaiah 3:1 - the stay Lamentations 5:9 - General Ezekiel 12:18 - General Micah 6:14 - eat Haggai 1:6 - eat