Ezekiel 4:3 Kommentar

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.

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 Jews in captivity; the roasting of Ahab and Zedekiah in the fire, and particularly the burning of the city: others, the wrath of God against them, and his resolution to destroy them: but rather, since the use of it was as follows, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city, it seems to represent all such things as are made use of by besiegers to screen them from the besieged; such as are now used are trenches, parapets, bastions, &c. for the prophet in this type is the besieger, representing the Chaldean army secure from the annoyance of those within the walls of the city: and set thy face against it; with a firm resolution to besiege and take the city; which denotes both the settled wrath of God against this people, and the determined purpose of the king of Babylon not to move from it until he had taken it: and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it; as an emblem of the army of the Chaldeans besieging it, which is confirmed by the next clause: this shall be a sign to the house of Israel; of the city of Jerusalem being besieged by the Babylonians; this was a sign representing it, and giving them assurance of it.

An iron plate, which is meant to be the image of the wall between the prophet and the city, represents the anger of God in all its fullness, which does not diminish as a result of any prayers, nor does it bend toward mercy in any way.

(Ver. 3.) And you shall take for yourself an iron pan: and you shall place it as an iron wall between you and the city, and you shall set your face against it, and it shall be for a siege, and you shall surround it. This is a sign for the house of Israel. What we previously said, both the prophet himself and the description of the side, the fortifications, the rampart, and the battering rams surrounding (or surrounding), as a sign before the siege of Jerusalem, is now stated more clearly, after many things that are in the middle: The sign for the house of Israel is an iron pan, which is placed as a wall between the prophet and the city, demonstrating the great wrath of God, which shall not be tired by any prayers, nor be inclined to mercy. For just as iron tames all metals and there is nothing harder than it, so the incredible crimes of Jerusalem, by their own fault, made the gentle nature of God to be the harshest. The frying pan is also said to be a wall placed in the middle between the people and God, so as to show that the whole multitude is to be broken in a short time and reduced to nothing. However, the sternness of the face towards the city is an indication of severity, according to what we read elsewhere: The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth (Psalm 34:16).

"And take to yourself an iron frying pan, and you shall place it as an iron wall between yourself and the city, and you shall set your face firmly against it, and it shall be under siege, and you shall surround it. It is a sign for the house of Israel." Because iron is a strong metal, and food is fried in a frying pan, what is signified by the iron frying pan except the strong frying of spiritual zeal? For all spiritual zeal fries the soul of a teacher, because he is greatly tormented when he sees any weak persons abandoning eternal things and taking delight in temporal things. How well Paul had taken up the iron frying pan, when, tormented by zeal for souls, he said: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not burned?" His own heart, which he had set on fire with zeal for souls—what else had he made it but a frying pan, in which he burned with love of virtues against vices? For the fact that he was burned was the frying pan. For he was inflamed and he cooked, because he was set on fire with bitterness, yet from his afflicted thought he prepared the nourishment of virtues. But what does it mean that the prophet places the same frying pan as an iron wall between himself and the city, except that the same strong zeal which is now exercised in the mind of the teacher will be a witness between him and the soul for which he is zealous against vices on the day of the final judgment? So that even if the one being taught refuses to listen, the teacher nevertheless, because of the zeal he displays, will not be held guilty for the negligence of his hearer. Therefore he places an iron wall between himself and the city, because at the time of vengeance the teacher is fortified from the danger of damnation by that very thing through which he now suffers the frying of his heart through zealous watchfulness. For there is no sacrifice to almighty God such as zeal for souls. Hence the Psalmist says: "Zeal for your house has consumed me." How much the frying of the heart that is driven by spiritual zeal pleases the almighty Lord God is clearly shown when fine flour is commanded to be offered in sacrifice through the law. Concerning which it is written: "It shall be fried in a pan with oil sprinkled on it, and the priest who has succeeded his father by right shall offer it hot as a most sweet odor to the Lord, and it shall be wholly burned upon the altar." For then fine flour is fried in a pan when the pure mind of the righteous person is burned through the ardor of holy zeal. It is commanded to be sprinkled with oil, that is, to be mixed with the brightness of mercy, which burns and shines in the sight of the almighty Lord. Therefore let the mind that is fried in a pan be sprinkled with oil, because the strictness of holy zeal must both burn and shine forth from the virtue of mercy. For it loves the very one whom it seems to pursue. Hence it is also commanded to be offered hot as a most sweet odor to the Lord, because if zeal does not have love, the fine flour that is offered from the frying pan has lost its heat. And it should be noted who is commanded to offer it, namely the priest who has succeeded his father by right. For that priest succeeds his father by right who demonstrates by his conduct that he is a son of the almighty Lord, and does not depart from his inner nobility by the ignobility of his works. It is commanded to be wholly burned upon the altar, so that it may become a holocaust. For we call a holocaust that which is entirely burned. Hence also in another translation in this place this same fine flour which is fried in the pan is commanded to become a holocaust. Moreover, this is the difference between a holocaust and a sacrifice: every holocaust is indeed a sacrifice, but not every sacrifice is a holocaust. For there are many good works that are done as sacrifices, but they are not holocausts, because they do not completely set the mind ablaze in spiritual love. For those who do the things that are of God in such a way that they nevertheless do not abandon certain things that are of the world, assuredly offer a sacrifice and not a holocaust. But those who abandon all things that are of the world and set their entire mind ablaze with the fire of divine love, these assuredly become both sacrifice and holocaust to the almighty Lord. Therefore the fine flour in the frying pan is the pure mind of the righteous person in the affliction of spiritual zeal; it is fried through concern for souls, and is reckoned to be not only a sacrifice but also a holocaust to the Lord. Let us therefore take up the iron frying pan, and let us place it as an iron wall between us and the city, that is, let us assume strong zeal, so that we may afterward find this strong fortification between us and the soul of our hearer. For we will find this iron wall then, if we now hold it firmly, namely by teaching, guarding, persuading, rebuking, soothing, terrifying, sometimes acting gently, but sometimes also more severely. "And you shall set your face firmly against it, and it shall be under siege." What does it mean to set one's face firmly against Jerusalem depicted on the brick, except that the teacher who announces to a soul the vision of heavenly peace should by no means show himself more lenient and merciful if he still sees that soul weakened in its actions? Hence it is written: "Do you have daughters? Guard their bodies, and do not show a cheerful face to them." For weak souls given over to worldly desire are sometimes better preserved through severity, so that a hardened face—that is, one guarded through severity and withdrawn from all hope of frivolous leniency—may terrify the inconstant soul and restrain it from the delight of vices through the force of strictness. When this is done by a teacher, it is always necessary that sweetness and humility be held in the heart, so that he may both love greatly and never rise up against the one whom he nevertheless refuses to reveal his love and humility to, for that person's own benefit. "And you shall surround it." The teacher surrounds the soul of his hearer when he proclaims that snares of temptations can be set against everything that is done in this life, so that while the mind becomes fearful everywhere, watchful everywhere, the more timid it is, the more vigilantly it may live. "It is a sign for the house of Israel." If we look to the history of the siege that took place according to the letter, what the prophet did is a sign for the house of Israel; if we look to the mystery that is daily enacted by a teacher concerning each individual soul, both what he did and what he announced by doing it is a sign for the house of Israel, because just as the house of Israel endured a siege bodily, so every soul that now begins to serve almighty God feels the besieging snares of malign spirits attacking it. If it truly desires to be rescued from them, it ought to know that it cannot be rescued by its own strength; but it must hope for the help of him who, even while we live in corruptible flesh, is able through the mystery of his redemption to strengthen us even over spirits that are without flesh—Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, through all ages of ages. Amen.

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.

Take thou unto thee an iron pan - מחבת machabath, a flat plate or slice, as the margin properly renders it: such as are used in some countries to bake bread on, called a griddle or girdle, being suspended above the fire, and kept in a proper degree of heat for the purpose. A plate like this, stuck perpendicularly in the earth, would show the nature of a wall much better than any pan could do. The Chaldeans threw such a wall round Jerusalem, to prevent the besieged from receiving any succours, and from escaping from the city. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel - This shall be an emblematical representation of what shall actually take place.

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.

iron pan--the divine decree as to the Chaldean army investing the city. set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city--Ezekiel, in the person of God, represents the wall of separation between him and the people as one of iron: and the Chaldean investing army. His instrument of separating them from him, as one impossible to burst through. set . . . face against it--inexorably (Psa 34:16). The exiles envied their brethren remaining in Jerusalem, but exile is better than the straitness of a siege.