Ezekiel 4:4 Коментар

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.

Lie thou also upon thy left side,.... Some think this was not in reality, but in vision, as Kimchi observes; and so Maimonides (c); 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 opinion that all this was really done. The reasons given on both sides are not despicable. It is urged against the reality of the fact, that the prophet, without a miracle, could never have lain so long on one side; and besides, this seems to be contradicted by a later account, of his sitting in his house before the expiration of those days; since from the fifth day of the fourth month of the fifth year, in which he began to prophesy, Eze 1:1, (and this order was seven days after that at least, Eze 3:15), to the fifth day of the sixth month of the sixth year, when we find him sitting, Eze 8:1; were but four hundred and thirteen days; and if seven are taken out from thence, there are but four hundred and six; whereas the whole time of his lying for Israel and Judah were four hundred and thirty; and it is further observed, that it does not seem decent that the prophet should be obliged really to eat such bread as he was ordered to make. On the other hand it is observed, that the order of portraying the siege of Jerusalem on a the, and setting an iron pan for a wall, seem to direct to the doing of real facts, and to that this order is subjoined, without any mark of distinction; besides, the prophet was to have this portrait in view, while he was lying on his side, and uncover his arms, which seem to denote real facts: and was to prophesy, not by words, for he was to be dumb, Eze 3:26; but by facts; and he was to do all this in the sight of his people; and if the order to make a cake of bread was not to be really performed in the manner directed, there would have been no occasion of deprecating it. The learned Witsius (d), who has collected the arguments on both sides, is inclined to the latter; and observes from others, that some persons have lain longer on one side than the prophet, without a miracle: particularly a certain paralytic nobleman, who lay sixteen years in such a manner: and as for the computation of time, Cocceius is of opinion that the forty days for Judah are included in the three hundred and ninety for Israel; and which indeed seem to be the whole number, Eze 4:9; and which at once solves the difficulty; and besides, the force of the objection may be taken off by observing, that the fifth year might be intercalated, and consist of thirteen months, which was common with the Jews to have a "Veadar", or intercalated month: nor is it dishonourable nor unusual for the Lord to call his dear servants sometimes to hard and disagreeable service, as both these cases seem to be, when he has ends of his own glory, and the good of others, to be answered thereby. And the lying on the left side for the sins of the house of Israel was, as Jarchi thinks, because that Samaria, which was the head of the ten tribes, lay to the left of Jerusalem: see Eze 16:46; or rather, because the left hand is not so honourable as the right; it may show that the Lord had not such an esteem for Israel us for Judah; and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it; not to atone for it, but to show what was the cause of their captivity; far herein the prophet was no type of Christ, but represented the people of Israel; who had been grievously sinning against God, during the term of time hereafter mentioned, and now would be punished for it; for by "iniquity" is meant the punishment of it, which is often the sense of the word used; see Gen 4:13; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity: which are particularly declared in Eze 4:5. (c) Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 46. (d) Miscel. Sacr. tom. 1. l. 1. c. 12. sect. 14, 15, &c.

(Ver. 4 seqq.) And you shall lie on your left side, and you shall bear the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity. For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when you have completed these, you shall lie again on your right side, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have given you one day for a year, I say, one day for a year. Let us consider the 390 years that are counted as the same number of days, during which the prophet lay bound and constrained on his left side; so that he did not turn to his other side, showing the captivity and miseries of the ten tribes, that is, the Israelites. And as for the other forty years, in which he lay on his right side for the sins of Judah, or as the holy Scripture narrates, slept, it must be said about Israel that under King Pekah, the son of Remaliah, who reigned in Israel for twenty years, Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria (2 Kings 15), came and captured Aijon, Abel, the house of Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and took them into Assyria. After whom, Osee, the son of Ela, reigned for nine years in Israel, and he was captured with all of Samaria by Salmanassar, king of the Assyrians, and he was transported to Elam and the rivers of Abor and Gozam in the cities of the Medes. But in the sixth year of the reign of Ezechias, as the holy history of the Kings relates, Osee was captured. From this, if we calculate in order, how many years Israel was in distress and oppressed by the yoke of captivity, we can find out. From the sixth year to the twenty-ninth year (for Hezekiah reigned for twenty-four years) a total of twenty-four years are counted: after him came Manasseh, and he reigned for fifty-five years. After him, Amon reigned for two years. After him, Josiah reigned for thirty-two years. After him, Joakim, also called Eliakim, reigned for eleven years. After him, Jeconiah, also known as Jehoiachin, who was immediately led into captivity, reigned for eleven years, and for him, Zedekiah reigned for eleven years, during whose reign Jerusalem was captured and the temple destroyed. Therefore, from the first captivity of Israel, which occurred under King Pekah until the eleventh year of Zedekiah, when the Temple was desolated, there were 164 (or 174 according to some) years. From the second captivity, when Hoshea was captured and all of Samaria was destroyed, there were 135 (or 80 according to some) years. And the years of the desolation of the Temple were 70, added to the first captivity, making a total of 234 years. For in the second year of the reign of Darius, king of the Persians, the temple was built by Zerubbabel, the son of Salathiel, and by Jesus, the son of Josedech, while Haggai and Zechariah were prophesying. Darius reigned for thirty-six years, and after his death, thirty-five years were added. After him, Xerxes, the son of Darius, reigned for twenty years. After him, Artabanus reigned for seven months. And Xerxes, who was also known as Macrobiochus, reigned for forty years. After him, Xerxes reigned for two months, and Sogdianus reigned for seven months (or four, according to some). After him, Darius, nicknamed Νόθος, reigned for nineteen years. After him, Artaxerxes, nicknamed Μνήμων (also known as Memnon), son of Darius and Parisatis, reigned for forty years. He is called Assuerus by the Hebrews. During his reign, the story of Mordecai and Esther is told (Esther VIII), when the entire Jewish people were saved from the danger of death and regained their freedom. From the second year of Darius to the final year of Assuerus, there are a hundred and fifty-five years and four months. In the last 234 years that have been added to the previous ones, they make 389 years and 4 months. However, the death on the right side, that is, the 40 years, can be easily calculated. For after Eliakim, who was also called Joachim, his son Joachin, also known as Jechonias, reigned for three months. During his reign, the servants of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and it was surrounded by fortifications. Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. And Joachin, the king of Judah, went out to the king of Babylon, along with his mother, his servants, his princes, his eunuchs. And the king of Babylon received him in the eighth year of his reign and brought out all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the royal house. And after a little while, he carried away all of Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand into captivity, and every craftsman and smith. And nothing was left except for the poor of the land (Ibid.) . After capturing it with an infinite multitude of people, and with all the resources of Jerusalem, Zedekiah ruled for eleven years: under him the city was captured and the temple was destroyed. Its desolation lasted until the second year of Darius, seventy years in total. In the thirtieth year of the desolation of the temple, Cyrus ruled in Persia, after overthrowing King Astyages of the Medes. In accordance with the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 45), he sent back almost fifty thousand men from the tribe of Judah to Jerusalem, along with the temple vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken away, and other things that are narrated in the history of Ezra (3 Ezra 1). So just as in Israel, that is, the ten tribes under King Phacee of Israel, under whom Salmanasar devastated the Israelite people greatly, we count three hundred and ninety years until the fortieth year of Assuerus, when the persecution of all the Jewish people was mitigated; so from the first year of Jechoniah, when a large part of Jerusalem was transferred to Babylon, until the first year of Cyrus, king of the Persians, which was the thirtieth year of the desolation of the temple, forty years are counted, under which the captivity of the Jews was loosened and freedom was restored to the people. Around 390 years after the Israelites and 40 years after the joining of the Jews, making a total of 430 years, they wish to be fulfilled by the baptism of the Savior until the end of the world. However, others, especially the Jews, want to be reckoned in tribulation, distress, and the yoke of captivity of the people from the second year of Vespasian when Jerusalem was captured by the Romans and the temple was destroyed, for a total of 430 years. And thus, the people will return to their former state, just as the children of Israel were in Egypt for 430 years. And it is written in Exodus: Now the time that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And again: It came to pass after four hundred and thirty years, all the armies of the Lord went out by night. And I am quite amazed why the Vulgate manuscripts have ninety hundred years, and in some it is written one hundred and fifty, when clearly the Hebrew, Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotian versions hold three hundred and ninety years; and among them the Septuagint, which, however, is not corrupted by the fault of the scribes, has the same number. We believe that the most difficult question, and dare I say arrogantly, not explained by anyone, has been made known not so much by our knowledge but by the grace of the Lord, fulfilling what He Himself promised: Seek, and ye shall find; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7). But whoever wishes to calculate from the first captivity, which took place under Manahen the son of Gaddi, king of Israel, who reigned in Samaria for ten years (2 Kings 15); when Phul, the king of the Assyrians, came into the land of Israel and took a thousand talents of silver; and after him, two years later, Phacce, who reigned in Israel, will find that three hundred and ninety years were completed in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of King Assuerus, when the history of Esther is said to have taken place, which is also more credible. For Israel, not after the reign of Assuerus had ended, but while he still reigned, cast off the yoke of a most grievous servitude.

Ezekiel was to lie down on his right side for 40 days and 150 on his left, to dig through a wall and flee, portraying in himself the captivity. Another time Ezekiel is to sharpen a sword to a point, shave his head with it and divide the hair four ways and assign a part here, a part there, without listing it all. The ruler of the universe ordered each of these things to be done so that by the strangeness of this spectacle he might gather those who would not be persuaded by speech or give an ear to prophecy and so dispose them to hear the divine oracles.… So, just as the God of the universe providentially ordered each one of these things to be done for the good of those who live carelessly, so he arranged this extraordinary novelty to draw everyone by its strangeness to the spectacle and make his counsel persuasive to those who come. For the novelty of the spectacle is a reliable guarantee of the instruction it can give, and whoever comes to the spectacle leaves instructed in divine matters.

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.

Lie thou also upon thy left side - It appears that all that is mentioned here and in the following verses was done, not in idea, but in fact. The prophet lay down on his left side upon a couch to which he was chained, Eze 4:6, for three hundred and ninety days; and afterwards he lay in the same manner, upon his right side, for forty days. And thus was signified the state of the Jews, and the punishment that was coming upon them. 1. The prophet himself represents the Jews. 2. His lying, their state of depression. 3. His being bound, their helplessness and captivity. 4. The days signify years, a day for a year; during which they were to bear their iniquity, or the temporal punishment due to their sins. 5. The three hundred and ninety days, during which he was to lie on his left side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Israel, point out two things: the first, The duration of the siege of Jerusalem. Secondly, The duration of the captivity off the ten tribes, and that of Judah. 6. The prophet lay three hundred and ninety days upon his left side, and forty days upon his right side, in all four hundred and thirty days. Now Jerusalem was besieged the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah, Kg2 25:1, Kg2 25:2, and was not taken till the eleventh year of the same prince, Kg2 25:2. But properly speaking, the siege did not continue the whole of that time; it was interrupted; for Nebuchadnezzar was obliged to raise it, and go and meet the Egyptians, who were coming to its succor. This consumed a considerable portion of time. After he had defeated the Egyptians, he returned and recommenced the siege, and did not leave it till the city was taken. We may, therefore, conclude that the four hundred and thirty days only comprise the time in which the city was actually besieged, when the city was encompassed with walls of circumvallation, so that the besieged were reduced to a state of the utmost distress. The siege commenced the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah; and it was taken on the ninth day of the fourth month of the eleventh year of the same king. Thus the siege had lasted, in the whole, eighteen months, or five hundred and ten days. Subtract for the time that Nebuchadnezzar was obliged to interrupt the siege, in order to go against the Egyptians, four months and twenty days, or one hundred and forty days, and there will remain four hundred and thirty days, composed of 390+40=430. See Calmet on this place. See also at the end of this chapter, Eze 4:16 (note).

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.

Another symbolical act performed at the same time as the former, in vision, not in external action, wherein it would have been only puerile: narrated as a thing ideally done, it would make a vivid impression. The second action is supplementary to the first, to bring out more fully the same prophetic idea. left side--referring to the position of the ten tribes, the northern kingdom, as Judah, the southern, answers to "the right side" (Eze 4:6). The Orientals facing the east in their mode, had the north on their left, and the south on their right (Eze 16:46). Also the right was more honorable than the left: so Judah as being the seat of the temple, was more so than Israel. bear the iniquity--iniquity being regarded as a burden; so it means, "bear the punishment of their iniquity" (Num 14:34). A type of Him who was the great sin-bearer, not in mimic show as Ezekiel, but in reality (Isa 53:4, Isa 53:6, Isa 53:12).