Ezekiel 4:1 to Ezekiel 5:4. Symbolical actions representing the siege and capture of Jerusalem, and the fate of the inhabitants their slaughter around the city and dispersion among the nations (1) Ch. Ezekiel 4:1-3. Symbol of the siege of Jerusalem. (2) Ch. Ezekiel 4:4-8. Symbol of the people's be... [ Continue Reading ]
_take thee a tile_ or, brick. The brick would be such as those found in the ruins of the cities of Mesopotamia, covered with figures and inscriptions, engraved on them when still moist. Libraries of such bricks have been found by explorers in this region, and deciphered. For _the_city read A CITY.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ezekiel 4:1-3. Symbolical siege of Jerusalem The prophet is commanded to take a brick (it is to be supposed still soft) and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem. Around the city he is to draw representations of siege operations, towers, a mound, camps and battering-rams. Between him and the city he... [ Continue Reading ]
Second Section. Ch. Ezekiel 3:22 to Ezekiel 7:27 The second section of the Book contains these parts: (1) Ch. Ezekiel 3:22-27. A preface in which the prophet is commanded to confine himself to his own house, and abandon for a time his public ministry. (2) Ch. Ezekiel 4:1-4. A series of symbols re... [ Continue Reading ]
_a fort against it_ The word is always used in the sing., though sometimes rightly rendered _forts_(2 Kings 25:1), as the term is the name of a _class_of offensive siege works. The work was probably a species of tower, of which a number might be erected "round about" the walls (2 Kings 25:1), and wa... [ Continue Reading ]
_an iron pan_ As marg. _plate_, i.e. griddle on which cakes were fired (Leviticus 2:5). This common article the prophet is to set up between him and the city to represent an iron wall. As the plate is said to be an iron wall between him and the city it is most natural to interpret it of the powerful... [ Continue Reading ]
_lay the iniquity … upon it_ The meaning seems to be that as when one lies on his side it bears his weight, so this laying of the prophet's weight upon his side is a symbol of the weight of punishment which shall be laid on Israel for its iniquity. Others propose to alter the pointing and read: _and... [ Continue Reading ]
Symbol of the people's bearing their iniquity In the former symbol the prophet carried on the siege, representing the besiegers; here he changes his part and represents the besieged. This symbol is shewn contemporaneously with the former, of which it is but the inner side. He is commanded to lie fi... [ Continue Reading ]
Read with R.V., FOR I HAVE APPOINTED THE YEARS OF THEIR INIQUITY TO BE UNTO THEE A NUMBER OF DAYS, even 390 days. The number of years during which the people shall bear their iniquity is symbolized by the number of days during which Ezekiel lies on his side, as is said explicitly in Ezekiel 4:6 "a d... [ Continue Reading ]
In Ezekiel 4:5 the number of days for Israel is stated to be 390, and in Ezekiel 4:6 the number for Judah 40. The number 390 creates a difficulty. Several things have to be borne in mind. 1. To bear iniquity means to bear the penalty of it. The period of bearing iniquity, therefore, does not refer t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore thou shalt set_ With R.V., AND THOU SHALT SET … WITH THINE ARM UNCOVERED. In this verse the prophet resumes Ezekiel 4:1, representing the besiegers; he sets his face towards the siege, presses it steadily and with determination; his arm is bare the instrument with which he works unentangl... [ Continue Reading ]
_from one side to another_ lit. _from thy side to thy side_. Here the prophet represents those pressed by the rigours of the siege, as in Ezekiel 4:4. The "days of thy siege" most naturally means the days of thy suffering siege (ch. Ezekiel 5:2).... [ Continue Reading ]
_and fitches_ So Vulg. _viciam_, vetches. Others _spelt_, as marg. and R.V. Bread was usually made of wheat, the addition of the other coarser materials and their mixture indicate the straits to which men will be reduced in the siege and perhaps after the fall of the city; cf. Lamentations 5:6; Lame... [ Continue Reading ]
Symbol of scarcity during the siege and pollution in the dispersion from having to eat unclean things among the Gentiles The passage continues Ezekiel 4:8. The prophet is commanded (while lying immovably on his side in siege) to take of all kinds of grain, coarse as well as fine, of everything that... [ Continue Reading ]
_twenty shekels a day_ Twenty shekels might be eight or nine ounces. In this country two pounds of bread is held an ordinary allowance.... [ Continue Reading ]
_sixth_part _of a hin_ The hin was rather less than a gallon, and the sixth part under a quart. Both the bread and water were to be consumed from time to time, always in unsatisfying quantities.... [ Continue Reading ]
It was customary in the East to use the dung of animals when perfectly dried as fuel. The hot ashes remaining from it are perfectly clean, and retaining their glow for a considerable time were used for firing cakes upon or under. See Wetzstein in Del. _Job_, p. 261 (Trans. i. p. 377). Whether the He... [ Continue Reading ]
_eat their defiled bread_ Rather: EAT THEIR BREAD UNCLEAN. This is the meaning of the symbol: the food which the people shall eat among the nations will be unclean. In a pathetic passage of Hosea it is said: "they shall not dwell in the Lord's land; but Ephraim shall eat unclean food in Assyria. The... [ Continue Reading ]
_abominable flesh_ This word "abomination" is applied to the sacrificial flesh kept over till the third day (Leviticus 7:18; Leviticus 19:7), and in Isaiah 65:4 broth of "abominations" is coupled with swine's flesh. The meaning seems to be "carrion." The word occurs only these four times.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the staff of bread_ i.e. the staff which bread is; a common figure, ch. Ezekiel 5:16; Leviticus 26:26; Isaiah 3:1; Psalms 105:16. It is scarcely necessary to say that the symbolical actions of this chapter were not actually performed. They naturally passed through the mind of the prophet as descri... [ Continue Reading ]
Explanation of the symbol of eating bread by measure (Ezekiel 4:10).... [ Continue Reading ]