Ezekiel 4:9-17

III. THE PARABLE OF JERUSALEM'S FAMINE
4:9-17

TRANSLATION

(9) NOW as for You, take to you wheat and barley, and beans and lentils and millet and fitches, and put them in a vessel, and prepare them for food for yourself, according to the number of days in which you are lying upon your side, three hundred ninety days and you shall eat it. (10) And your food which you shall eat shall be twenty shekels in weight for a day. Once each day[151] you shall eat it. (11) And as for water, you shall drink the sixth of a hin by measure. Once each day you shall drink it. (12) And as a barley cake you shall eat it, and with human dung you shall bake it in their presence. (13) And the LORD said, In this way the children of Israel shall eat their unclean food among the nations where I will drive them. (14) Then I said, Ah, O Lord GOD! Behold mv soul has not been polluted, and a corpse or that which was torn in pieces I have never eaten from my youth until now, nor has abominable meat come into my mouth. (15) Then He said unto me, See, I have appointed for you cattle dung instead of human dung, and you shall prepare your food with it. (16) And he said unto me, Son of man, behold I am about to shatter the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat food by weight and with concern, and water by measure and in dismay they shall drink, (17) because bread and water will be scarce. And they shall be dismayed one with another, and shall waste away under their punishment.

[151] Literally, from time to time. A similar phrase is found in 1 Chronicles 9:25 which makes it clear that it refers to a recurring action which was to take place at the same time each day. See Taylor, TOTC, pp. 82-83,

COMMENTS

How could Ezekiel be commanded to make bread while lying bound upon his side? Several commentators think that this inconsistency is proof positive that all of these symbolic actions transpired in vision where such a thing would be possible.[152] However, if the prophet's immobilization occupied only a part of each day as suggested above, no inconsistency is apparent. Once Ezekiel had performed his daily demonstration lying facing the model of the besieged city he apparently would arise and perform the other symbolic acts which related to the siege.

[152] E.g., Blackwood, EPH, p. 60; Fisch, .SBB, p. 21.

Ezekiel's symbolic diet during the days of his siege was designed to set forth two basic thoughts: (1) the scarcity of food which would exist in Jerusalem during the final siege; and (2) the impure food which those exiled from Judah would be forced to eat. Six instructions were given to the prophet about his diet.
1. The nature of his food was restricted. His bread was to be made of an odd mixture of grains and seeds. Instead of the normal wheat flour, various kinds of cereals would have to be mixed so as to obtain sufficient quantity to make a cake of bread. Those besieged in Jerusalem would have to eat what they could get. Six different kinds of cereal grains are specified: (1) wheat and (2) barley are quite commonly mentioned as foods in the Old Testament; (3) beans (pol) mentioned elsewhere only in 2 Samuel 17:28; (4) lentils, (5) millet, and (6) fitches (spelt, RSV), a species of wheat.

2. These various grains were to be placed in one vessel. In the Law of Moses it was forbidden to sow the ground with mingled seeds (Leviticus 19:19; Deuteronomy 22:9). Though not specifically condemned, the mixing of these grains and seeds in flour would seem to be banned under the same principle.[153] In a city under siege and in foreign exile the Jews would not be able to be so scrupulous about their diet.

[153] Taylor, (TOTC, p. 82), does not feel that any ritual defilement was involved in mixing these grains.

3. The dietary restrictions are to be in force during the 390 days of bearing the iniquity of the people of God (Ezekiel 4:9). Here again the question of the duration of Ezekiel's symbolic siege of Jerusalem is raised. Ezekiel 4:9 seems to suggest that the prophet would lie upon his side only 390 days. What happened to the 40 days he was to lie upon his right side? Many modern scholars assume that the 390 days are inclusive of the 40 days. However, this interpretation runs counter to the explicit statement in Ezekiel 4:6 that Ezekiel was to lie on his right side after he had finished the 390 days on his left side. one must conclude either (1) that the dietary regulations of this paragraph were to be observed only during the time when Ezekiel was on his left side; or (2) that the dietary restrictions were observed during the 40 days on the right side as well even though the text does not explicitly so state. Any other interpretations would put Ezekiel 4:9 at variance with Ezekiel 4:6. God's people were to be exiled from the sacred temple precincts for 390 years, the Northern Kingdom from 931 to 539 B.C., and the Southern Kingdom for the last 40 years of that period. The point that Ezekiel is trying to establish is that God's people would eat unclean food as exiles in foreign lands. This point he established during the 390 days on his left side. Continuing this phase of the demonstration during the period he lay on his right side would have been superfluous.

4. The quantity of his food was limited. Ezekiel's diet during the 390 days was to consist of twenty shekels of food (Ezekiel 4:10) and the sixth of a hin of water (Ezekiel 4:11). This amounts to about ten ounces of food and a quart of water daily. In a hot climate this limitation on water would be very oppressive. This probably corresponds to the water of affliction mentioned in 1 Kings 22:27; and Isaiah 30:20. The fact that food was weighed rather than measured indicates the most extreme scarcity (cf. Leviticus 26:26; Revelation 6:6).

5. The prophet was to partake of his unpalatable meals literally, from time to time (Ezekiel 4:10). The Rabbis interpreted this phrase to mean once in a twenty-four hour period. Currey concurs, feeling that the instruction is to partake of the food at the appointed interval of a day and at no other time.[154]

[154] Currey, BC, p. 35.

6. This meager food was to be eaten as barley cake (Ezekiel 4:12). He would eat his meal with all the relish that one would customarily give to barley cakes.

7. The food was to be eaten in their sight (Ezekiel 4:12). Thus would they come to understand it as a sign of what had befallen them already, and of what would yet befall their brethren in Jerusalem.

8. One of the usual calamities of a siege is lack of fuel. To further dramatize siege conditions Ezekiel was to prepare his food with unclean fuel. The prophet was first told to use human dung (Ezekiel 4:12) as cooking fuel, that which was revolting as well as ceremonially impure and defiling (cf. Deuteronomy 23:12 ff.). Barley bread was prepared on hot stones (1 Kings 19:6), which were to be heated by human excrement. For the moment the ceremonial law was to be overridden so as to make a moral point.

The significance of the disgusting instruction regarding the use of human dung for fuel is given in Ezekiel 4:13. Those Israelites who yet lingered in Jerusalem would be forced to eat unclean food among the nations where God would drive them (cf. Hosea 9:3). Foreign lands were regarded by the Israelites as unclean.[155] Even those who attempted to maintain the dietary code would be eating unclean bread because the ritual firstfruits of the harvest would not be able to be offered in the Temple of the Lord.[156] In addition to the specific prediction being set forth in this action parable, Ezekiel is making a significant point: Israel's position as a separate, sanctified people would be destroyed during the Babylonian exile.[157]

[155] Fisch, SBB, p. 23.

[156] Cf. Amos 7:17; Daniel 1:8.

[157] Feinberg, PE, pp. 34-35.

This command to prepare his food with human dung as fuel shocked the conscientious young priest who obliquely requested relief from this phase of the object lesson. Even in exile where it would be most difficult to obtain kosher food Ezekiel had faithfully observed the dietary law. He had practiced his faith. The first words that Ezekiel speaks in this book are an emotional outburst, Ah Lord God! The godly prophet was not so much concerned with that which displeased his taste as that which offended his conscience.

From exasperation Ezekiel moved to narrative prayer which is introduced in Ezekiel 4:14 with behold. My soul (i.e., I) has nor been polluted. He had meticulously sought to abide by the dietary laws from my youth until now. Even in the deprivations of captivity and the spiritual confusion of that episode he had conscientiously attempted to follow the law of God.

Ezekiel cites three examples of how he had faithfully observed the Old Testament law. (1) He had not eaten of a corpse, i.e., an animal which had not been properly slaughtered. Such meat was forbidden (Leviticus 17:15; Deuteronomy 14:21). (2) He had not eaten that which was torn in pieces, i.e., an animal which had been killed by a wild beast. Such were forbidden to the Israelite because the blood had not been properly drained. (3) Abominable meat (piggul) had never come into his mouth. In its more restricted sense the Hebrew term refers to sacrificial flesh rendered unfit by disregard for the laws of sacrifice.[158] In a broader sense, the term is used of any forbidden food.[159]

[158] More precisely, meat of an offering, if kept to the third day was forbidden to be eaten by the priests as abominable (Leviticus 19:7).

[159] Cf. Leviticus 7:18; Isaiah 65:4.

The gracious Lord acquiesced in the request of His prophet. He permitted Ezekiel to substitute animal dung for the prescribed human dung (Ezekiel 4:15). Cow dung was a common fuel in Palestine, much as buffalo chips was on the American plains. Dried cow dung was not as physically disgusting as human dung. So in the case of Ezekiel there was a mitigation of the defilement; but still defilement remained, and in exile the people of God were subjected to it.

The second application of the food parable is set forth in Ezekiel 4:16-17. Shortly God would shatter the staff of bread in Jerusalem. Bread was then and is still known as the staff of life because man is so dependent upon it (cf. Leviticus 26:26; Psalms 105:16). The inhabitants of that doomed city would be forced to eat food by weight and drink water by measure. The food and water would be so scarce as to give rise to grave concern and even dismay (Ezekiel 4:16). Faced with this lack of food the populace would gradually waste away. This they would experience because they were under the punishment[160] of the Lord (Ezekiel 4:17).

[160] Could also be translated, in their iniquity.