This chapter contains a prophecy of the siege of Jerusalem, and of the famine that attended it. The siege is described by a portrait of the city of Jerusalem on a tile, laid before the prophet, Ezek.

Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile Or “brick” [[24]]. The Targum renders it, a “stone”; but a tile or brick, especially one that is not dried and burned, but green, is more fit to cut in it the figure of a city.

And lay siege against it In his own person, as in ; or draw the form of a siege, or figure of an army besieging a city; or rather of the instruments and means used in a siege, as follows: and build a fort against it: Kimchi interprets it a wooden tower, built over against the city, to subdue it;…

Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan Which Kimchi thinks, for its metal, represented the hardness of the hearts of the people of Israel; and, for its colour, the blackness of their sins: though others are of opinion, this being a pan in which things are fried, it may signify the miseries of the…

Lie thou also upon thy left side Some think this was not in reality, but in vision, as Kimchi observes; and so Maimonides [[2]]; and in like manner they understand his eating and drinking by measures and preparing food, as he is directed in a following part of this chapter: but others are of…

For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity Or the iniquity which for so many years they have been guilty of; that is, the punishment of it: according to the number of the days; a day for a year; three hundred and ninety days; which signify three hundred and ninety years; and so many…

And when thou hast accomplished them The three hundred and ninety days, by lying so long on the left side, bearing the sins of the house of Israel in this way; or, as Cocceius renders the words, “and thou shall accomplish them, and thou shalt lie” [[6]], that is, thou shalt so accomplish these…

Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege at Jerusalem All the while he was lying either on the left side or the right, his face was to be directed to the siege of Jerusalem, portrayed upon the tile, and to all the preparations made for that purpose, to show that all had reference to that…

And, behold, I will lay hands upon thee Representing either the besieged, signifying that they should be taken and bound as he was; or rather the besiegers, the Chaldean army, which should be so held by the power and providence of God, that they should not break up the siege until they had taken…

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…

And thy meat which thou shall eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day To eat bread by weight was a sign of a grievous famine; see ; a shekel, according to Josephus [[8]], weighed four Attic drachms, or half an ounce, wherefore twenty shekels weighed ten ounces; so that the bread the prophet…

Thou shall drink also water by measure Not wine, but water; and this not as much as he would, but a certain measure; which shows great want of it, and expresses a very distressed condition see ; the sixth part of an hin; a hin held twelve logs, or seventy two egg shells, or about three quarts of…

And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes That is, the bread made of wheat, barley, beans, lentiles, millet, and fitches, was to be made in the form of barley cakes, and to be baked as they; not in an oven, but under ashes; and these ashes not of wood, or straw, or turf, but as follows: and thou shalt…

And the Lord said, even thus shall the children of Israel, &c.] Not the ten tribes only, or those who were among the other two, but all the Jews in captivity: eat the defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them; so called, not because mixed, but baked in the above manner; which was…

Then said I, ah, Lord God! &c.] The interjection “ah” is expressive of sighing and groaning, as Jarchi; or of deprecation, as the Targum, which paraphrases it, “”and I said”, receive my prayer, O Lord God:” behold, my soul hath not been polluted; not meaning that his soul had not been polluted with…

Then he said to me The Lord hearkened to the prophet’s prayer and argument, and makes some abatement and alteration in the charge he gave him: lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung: that is, allowed him to make use of the one instead of the other, in baking his mingled bread: thou shalt…

Moreover he said unto me, son of man What follows opens the design, and shows what was intended by the symbol of the miscellany bread, baked with cow dung, the prophet was to eat by measure, as, well as drink water by measure: namely, the sore famine that should be in Jerusalem at the time of the…

That they may want bread and water Or, “because they shall want” [[10]] &c. therefore they shall eat the one, and drink the other, by weight; or they shall do this till there shall be none to eat and drink: and be astonished one with another; when they shall find they cannot relieve one another;…