_Take a tile, &c., and lay it before thee_ The prophets often foreshowed impending judgments by significant emblems, which usually strike more powerfully than words. So Jeremiah was commanded to go down to the potter's house, and observe how frequently vessels were marred in his hands, (chap. 18.,)... [ Continue Reading ]
_And lay siege against it_ Make a portraiture of a siege, and of such warlike instruments as are used in sieges, figuring every thing just as when an army lies before a place with an intention of taking it. _Moreover, take thou an iron pan_ Or rather, _an iron plate_, probably such as cakes were bak... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lie thou also_, &c. “In his own house, Ezekiel 3:24. This was to be his posture, not without intermission, but in the exercise of his prophetical office, during that part of each day, when the people were likely to observe his conduct.” Bishop Newcome. _Upon thy left side_ The left side, as being t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem_ Thou shalt look toward Jerusalem, or toward the portraiture of it upon the tile, with a threatening countenance, as men do toward the city which they are besieging. _And thine arm shall be uncovered_ Or, _stretched out_, as the Vulgate reads it... [ Continue Reading ]
_Take thou also wheat and barley_, &c. In times of scarcity it is usual for people to mix a great deal of the coarse kinds of grain with a little of the better sort, to make their provisions last the longer. This Ezekiel was commanded to do, to signify the scarcity, and the coarse fare the inhabitan... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said I, Ah, Lord God_, &c. He deprecates this, and entreats it may not be enjoined him. _Behold, my soul hath not been polluted_ I have always carefully observed the distinction between meats clean and unclean: I beseech thee, command me not now to eat any thing so contrary to my former practi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem_ I will cause a scarcity of bread in Jerusalem, 2 Kings 25:3; and deprive it of the chief support of man's life. _And they shall eat their bread by weight and with care_ Here we have a declaration of the meaning of what the prophet was ordered to... [ Continue Reading ]