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
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