A SHARP KNIFE.. A BARBER'S RAZOR] RV 'a sharp sword, as a barber's razor.' _For_ THEREOF] RY 'therefrom.' The clause thus introduced is obscure. The meaning seems to be that the punishment of Jerusalem will extend to the whole nation. _(e) Explanation of the First and Fourth Symbols (Ezekiel 5:5)_... [ Continue Reading ]
SYMBOLIC ACTIONS REPRESENTING JERUSALEM'S SIEGE AND CAPTIVITY Ezekiel is commanded to perform four remarkable actions setting forth the coming siege withits hardships, and the approaching captivity with its evils. It is uncertain whether these actions were literally performed or not. Symbolic metho... [ Continue Reading ]
A MOUNT] an embankment raised in ancient warfare by besiegers to enable them to approach the top of a city wall.... [ Continue Reading ]
PAN] RM 'flat plate,' such as was used for baking (Leviticus 6:21; Leviticus 7:9). This may be taken as a symbol either of the stubbornness of the defence or of the rigour of the siege. Or it may represent the hopeless barrier which now separated God from His people. A SIGN TO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL] T... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL] used here and in Ezekiel 4:5 in the limited sense of the northern kingdom of the Ten Tribes.... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS] the city depicted on the tile (Ezekiel 4:1). IN THE MIDST OF THE NATIONS] God gave Jerusalem a great opportunity of displaying His righteousness and truth to the world. Her position, near the highway between Asia and Africa, was peculiarly central and conspicuous. THREE HUNDRED AND NINETY DAYS... [ Continue Reading ]
FORTY DAYS] the years of Judah's captivity and of Babylon's supremacy (Ezekiel 29:11). The return of the exiles took place about 538 b.c., fifty-nine years after the first and forty-eight years after the second captivity. If the number 40 is not taken from Numbers 14:34 (see the note above), it is a... [ Continue Reading ]
MULTIPLIED] RV 'are turbulent.' NEITHER.. MY JUDGMENTS.. THE JUDGMENTS (RV 'ordinances') OF THE NATIONS] Israel had been worse than the heathen, who had at least been faithful to their own gods: see Jeremiah 2:10; Jeremiah 2:11. THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM] the mimic siege described in Ezekiel 4:1. The... [ Continue Reading ]
BANDS] By some divine restraint Ezekiel would be prevented from turning. THE DAYS OF THY SIEGE] The number 430 represented the days of the siege of Jerusalem as well as the sum of the years of the two captivities. The actual siege lasted almost exactly a year and a half (2 Kings 25:1; Jeremiah 39:1)... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEAT, etc.] a mixture of all sorts of grain, fine and coarse, symbolising the poor fare which would be used in Jerusalem during the siege.... [ Continue Reading ]
TWENTY SHEKELS] eight or nine ounces.... [ Continue Reading ]
DEFILED MY SANCTUARY] This charge is substantiated at length in Ezekiel 8. THE SIXTH PART OF AN HIN] less than a quart.... [ Continue Reading ]
Bread thus baked would be unclean (Leviticus 5:3; Leviticus 7:21).... [ Continue Reading ]
CAUSE MY FURY TO REST] RV 'satisfy my fury.' EAT THEIR DEFILED BREAD] RV 'eat their bread unclean.' Foreign lands were regarded as unclean in themselves (Amos 7:17), and, besides, all food eaten in them would be unclean, because it could not be consecrated by offering a portion to God in the Temple... [ Continue Reading ]
Ezekiel, as a priest, was peculiarly sensitive about ceremonial defilement.... [ Continue Reading ]
A partial mitigation of the symbol for the prophet's sake. The dung of domestic animals was often used as fuel, and does not seem to have defiled the food cooked upon it. Though the symbol was modified, it was not implied that the defilement of captivity, signified by the fuel first prescribed, woul... [ Continue Reading ]