Ezekiel 4:9

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 4:9-17

The best exposition of this part of Ezekiel's prediction of Jerusalem's desolation is Jeremiah's lamentation of it, Lam. 4:3, 4; 5:10; where he pathetically describes the terrible famine that was in Jerusalem during the siege and the sad effects of it. I. The prophet here, to affect the people with the foresight of it, must confine himself for 390 days to coarse fare and short commons, and that ill-dressed, for they should want both food and fuel. 1. His meat, for the quality of it, was to be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 4:9

Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches ,.... The first of these was commonly used to make bread of; in case of want and poverty, barley was used; but, for the rest, they were for cattle, and never used for the food of men but in a time of great scarcity; wherefore this was designed to denote the famine that should attend the siege of Jerusalem; see 2 Kings 25:3 ; and put them in one vessel ; that is, the flour of them, when ground,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 4:9

Take thou also unto thee wheat - In times of scarcity, it is customary in all countries to mix several kinds of coarser grain with the finer, to make it last the longer. This mashlin, which the prophet is commanded to take, of wheat, barley, beans, lentiles, millet, and fitches, was intended to show how scarce the necessaries of life should be during the siege. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 4:9

Verse 9 It is by no means doubtful, that this verse applies to the siege, because God signifies that the city would then suffer famine, but a little afterwards he adds another vision, from which we gather, that the subject is not only the siege of Jerusalem, but the general vengeance of God against all the tribes, which had fallen on the Jews through their alliance with them, and which ended at length in the siege. But here God shows the future condition of the city Jerusalem. For this various... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 4:1-17

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 4:1-17

The siege of Jerusalem and the sufferings of the people symbolized. "Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem," etc. This chapter presents difficulties to the student. There is the question whether it is to be understood literally or metaphorically; or, more correctly, whether the things here set forth were really done or were only visional. The commands given in Ezekiel 4:1-3 might have been literally executed; but the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 4:9

Take thou also unto thee, etc. The act implies, as I have said, that there were exceptions to the generally immovable attitude. The symbolism seems to have a twofold meaning. We can scarcely exclude a reference to the famine which accompanied the siege. On the other hand, one special feature of it is distinctly referred, not to the siege, but to the exile ( Ezekiel 4:13 ). Starting with the former, the prophet is told to make bread, not of wheat , the common food of the wealthier class (... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 4:9-17

A symbolic famine. The moral intention for which God imposed this series of painful privations on his prophet was this, viz. to convince the people that their expectation of a speedy return to Jerusalem was vain and futile. Their honoured city, around which God had so long thrown the shield of his protection, could not (so they thought) long remain in the power of the heathen. To explode this bubble delusion, God represented before their eyes the rigours of a military siege, the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 4:9

Two things are prefigured in the remainder of this chapter,(1) the hardships of exile,(2) the straitness of a siege.To the people of Israel, separated from the rest of the nations as holy, it was a leading feature in the calamities of their exile that they must be mixed up with other nations, and eat of their food, which to the Jews was a defilement (compare Ezekiel 4:13; Amos 7:17; Daniel 1:8.)Fitches - A species of wheat with shorn ears.In one vessel - To mix all these varied seeds was an... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ezekiel 4:9

Ezekiel 4:9. 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 inhabitants should have in the siege of the city. Three hundred and ninety days thou shalt eat thereof During which time the siege lasted: see Ezekiel 4:8. The forty days, mentioned... read more

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