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Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ezekiel 4:9-17

The food 4:9-17This second dramatization took place while Ezekiel was acting out the first 390 days of the siege of Jerusalem with the brick and the plate (Ezekiel 4:1-8). Whereas the main drama pictured the siege as a judgment from God, this aspect of it stressed the severe conditions that would exist in the city during the siege. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ezekiel 4:12-15

Ezekiel was to bake his food over a fire made with human excrement, as the Jews under siege in Jerusalem would have to do. The uncleanness of their food did not represent the type of food they would have to eat but the fact that they would have to eat their food among defiled people (in captivity, Ezekiel 4:13). The prophet complained that he had never eaten unclean food (cf. Ezekiel 44:31; Leviticus 22:8; Deuteronomy 12:15-19; Deuteronomy 14:21; Deuteronomy 23:9-14), so the Lord graciously... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 4:1-17

Symbolic Actions Representing Jerusalem's Siege and CaptivityEzekiel 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 methods of this-kind were certainly used by various prophets, but some of those in Ezekiel 4:0 are so extraordinary that many suppose that they were not actually carried out, but only imagined and... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 4:1-27

§ 2. The Overthrow of the Jewish Kingdom Foretold (Ezekiel 4-7)The great theme of the first part of Ezekiel’s prophetic ministry was the certainty of the complete downfall of the Jewish state. Though Zedekiah had been set on the throne by Nebuchadrezzar after the first captivity, there was no hope for the kingdom. Zedekiah’s reign was viewed by Ezekiel, as well as by Jeremiah, only as a temporary respite, to be followed by a second captivity which would bring the state to an end. Ezekiel 4-7... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Ezekiel 4:15

(15) Cow’s dung.—In the scarcity of fuel in the East, cow’s dung and especially camel’s dung, is dried, and becomes the common fuel. read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 4:1-17

THE END FORETOLDEzekiel 4:1-17 - Ezekiel 7:1-27WITH the fourth chapter we enter on the exposition of the first great division of Ezekiel’s prophecies. The chaps, 4-24, cover a period of about four and a half years, extending from the time of the prophet’s call to the commencement of the siege of Jerusalem. During this time Ezekiel’s thoughts revolved round one great theme-the approaching judgment on the city and the nation. Through contemplation of this fact there was disclosed to him the... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Ezekiel 4:1-17

Ezekiel 4:1-3 . The word tile means “brick.” They were used by the Babylonians to preserve their records, and many have been found marked with building plans, etc. The sign of the tile foretells the siege of Jerusalem and Jehovah’s opposition against the city. Ezekiel 4:4-8 . While in the preceding sign Jehovah’s action against Jerusalem was pictured, in this new sign a portrayal is given of the punishment which should come upon the inhabitants of the city. In his own person Ezekiel had to... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Ezekiel 4:15

4:15 Then he said to me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s {m} dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread with them.(m) To be as fire to bake your bread with. read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 4:1-17

SECOND VISION OF GLORY Remember that in the first part of this book, chapters 1-24, we are dealing with prophecies before the siege of Jerusalem and foretelling its overthrow. The present lesson begins at Ezekiel 3:22 . (Compare v. 23 with Ezekiel 1:1 ; Ezekiel 1:24 with Ezekiel 2:2 ; and Acts 2:4 ; Acts 4:31 .) Verse 25 is to be taken figuratively. (Compare 2 Corinthians 6:11-12 .) The same is true of verse 26, which means that as Israel had rejected the words of the prophets hitherto, the... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Ezekiel 4:1-17

The Ministry of Symbolism Ezekiel 4:0 , Ezekiel 5:0 In the fourth chapter there begins a series of symbols utterly impossible of modern interpretation. The prophet is commanded to take a tile, and portray upon it the city of Jerusalem, and to conduct certain military operations against that city; then he is commanded to take an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between himself and the city; having done so he is to lay siege against Jerusalem. Afterwards he is commanded to lie upon his... read more

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