Ezekiel 4:13 Komentář

Ezekiel was now among the captives in Babylon, but they there had Jerusalem still upon their hearts; the pious captives looked towards it with an eye of faith (as Dan 6:10), the presumptuous ones looked towards it with an eye of pride, and flattered themselves with a conceit that they should shortly return thither again; those that remained corresponded with the captives, and, it is likely, bouyed them up with hopes that all would be well yet, as long as Jerusalem was standing in its strength, and perhaps upbraided those with their folly who had surrendered at first; therefore, to take down this presumption, God gives the prophet, in this chapter, a very clear and affecting foresight of the besieging of Jerusalem by the Chaldean army and the calamities which would attend that siege. Two things are here represented to him in vision: - I. The fortifications that should be raised against the city; this is signified by the prophet's laying siege to the portraiture of Jerusalem (Eze 4:1-3) and laying first on one side and then on the other side before it (Eze 4:4-8). II. The famine that should rage within the city; this is signified by his eating very coarse fare, and confining himself to a little of it, so long as this typical representation lasted (Eze 4:9-17).

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 4 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, Eze 4:1; by each of the actions, representing a siege of it, as building a fort, casting a mount, and setting a camp and battering rams against it, and an iron pan for a wall, between the prophet, the besieger, and the city, Eze 4:2; by his gesture, lying first on his left side for the space of three hundred ninety days, and then on his right side for the space of forty days, pointing at the time when the city should be taken, Eze 4:4; and by setting his face to the siege, and uncovering his arm, and prophesying, Eze 4:7; and by bands being laid on him, so that he could not turn from one side to the other, till the siege was ended, Eze 4:8; the famine is signified by bread the prophet was to make of various sorts of grain and seeds, baked with men's dung, and eaten by weight, with water drank by measure, which is applied unto the people; it is suggested that this would be fulfilled by the children of Israel's eating defiled bread among the Gentiles, Eze 4:9; but upon the prophet's concern about eating anything forbidden by the law, which he had never done, cow's dung is allowed instead of men's, to prepare the bread with, Eze 4:14; and the chapter is concluded with a resolution to bring a severe famine on them, to their great astonishment, and with which they should be consumed for their iniquity, Eze 4:16.

And the Lord said, even thus shall the children of Israel,.... 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 a symbol of the defilements which they should contract upon various accounts, by dwelling among the Gentiles; so that this foretells their captivity; their pollution among the nations of the world; and that they should not be the holy people to the Lord they had been, and had boasted of. The Jews (k) cite this passage to prove that he that eats bread without drying his hands is as if he ate defiled bread. (k) T. Bab. Sota, fol, 4. 2.

(Verse 13 and following) And the Lord said: Thus will the sons of Israel eat their polluted bread among the nations to which I will drive them out. And I said, ah, ah, ah, O Lord God: Behold, my soul is not polluted, and I have not eaten carrion or torn flesh from beasts from my youth until now, and all unclean flesh has not entered into my mouth. And he said to me: Behold, I have given you cow dung instead of human dung, and you shall make your bread with it. According to the book of Zachariah (Zech. III), prophets are seen as portentous men who foretell the future through their works and are spoken of by God. We frequently read throughout the Bible that prophets are compared to God's hands (Hosea XII, 10). As we see in many instances, just as Ezekiel ate bread in dung, the children of Israel, or the entire population of Judah, or as some believe, the ten tribes, will eat polluted bread among the nations. This is not a threat to those who have already been expelled but to those who will be expelled from the promised land. When the Prophet learned this, he strongly condemned it according to Aquila, ah, ah, ah. But according to Symmachus and the Septuagint, he responded by saying 'μηδαμῶς', which means ' by no means' in Latin. For which Theodotion translated: 'O Lord God'. We should not think that he contradicts the command of the Lord, but rather that he gives reasons and even begs why he cannot do this. Finally, he obtained what he asked for, and the severity of the sentence was tempered by a milder command. It is asked why Ezekiel refused easier things: and why Hosea was immediately joined to a prostitute without objection or response, saying that he keeps his body chaste and should not be defiled by the touch of a harlot, as the Apostle says: 'Whoever is joined to a harlot becomes one body with her' (I Cor. VI, 16). From which it is shown that the figure of the Synagogue or Church was not truly accomplished according to the letter: which we have explained more fully in our exposition of the prophet. Morticinium is said to be the taking of life without the shedding of blood, and in which the soul dies, torn by beasts, which is called θηριάλωτον in Greek. But as for the filth granted to human excrement, which is called dung, lighter evils are signified: for indeed they are commanded to eat bread cooked in ox dung; but it is far from uncleanness of human excrement: and even today among the Jewish people this opinion is preserved, that they do not eat their bread in human excrement. For they do not serve idols, nor do they worship the various wonders of demons; but they work for the flesh and stomach, and the goods of this earth, as it is said: 'He who does these things shall live by them' (Leviticus 18:5; Deuteronomy 4). But we disdain earthly things, and not only do we trample on the food of human waste, and consider earthly pleasures to be worthless, but we eat the bread that descends from heaven (John 6), and we enjoy that food of which the Psalmist sings: 'Man ate the bread of angels' (Psalm 78:25); living not on the flesh of the Egyptians, but on the thinness of manna.

Ezekiel delineates Jerusalem, and lays siege to it, as a type of the manner in which the Chaldean army should surround that city, Eze 4:1-3. The prophet commanded to lie on his left side three hundred and ninety days, and on his right side forty days, with the signification, Eze 4:4-8. The scanty and coarse provision allowed the prophet during his symbolical siege, consisting chiefly of the worst kinds of grain, and likewise ill-prepared, as he had only cow's dung for fuel, tended all to denote the scarcity of provision, fuel, and every necessary of life, which the Jews should experience during the siege of Jerusalem, Eze 4:9-17.

SYMBOLICAL VISION OF THE SIEGE AND THE INIQUITY-BEARING. (Eze. 4:1-17) tile--a sun-dried brick, such as are found in Babylon, covered with cuneiform inscriptions, often two feet long and one foot broad.

Implying that Israel's peculiar distinction was to be abolished and that they were to be outwardly blended with the idolatrous heathen (Deu 28:68; Hos 9:3).