CHAPTER IV _Ezekiel delineates Jerusalem, and lays siege to it, as a type_ _of the manner in which the Chaldean army should surround that_ _city_, 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_, 4... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 4:2. _BATTERING RAMS_] כרים _carim_. This is the earliest account we have of this military engine. It was a long beam with a head of brass, like the head and horns of a _ram_, whence its name. It was hung by chains or ropes, between two beams, or _three_ legs, so that it could admit o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 4:3. _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 purpo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 4:4. _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_, Ezekiel 4:6, for _three hundred and ninety days_; and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 4:6. _FORTY DAYS_] Reckon, says Archbishop Newcome, near _fifteen_ years and _six_ months in the reign of Manasseh, _two_ years in that of Amon, _three_ months in that of Jehoahaz, _eleven_ years in that of Jehoiakim, _three_ months and _ten_ days in that of Jehoiachin, and _eleven_ ye... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 4:9. _TAKE THOU ALSO UNTO THEE WHEAT_] In times of _scarcity_, it is customary in all countries to mix several kinds of coarser grain with the finer, to make it last the longer. This _mashlin_, which the prophet is commanded to take, of wheat, barley, beans, lentiles, millet, and fitch... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 4:10. _TWENTY SHEKELS A DAY_] The whole of the above grain, being ground, was to be formed into one _mass_, out of which he was to make _three hundred and ninety loaves; one loaf_ for _each day_; and this loaf was to be of _twenty shekels_ in weight. Now a _shekel_, being in weight ab... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 4:12. _THOU SHALT BAKE IT WITH DUNG_] Dried ox and cow dung is a common fuel in the east; and with this, for want of wood and coals, they are obliged to prepare their food. Indeed, dried excrement of every kind is gathered. Here, the prophet is to prepare his bread with _dry human exc... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 4:14. _MY SOUL HATH NOT BEEN POLLUTED_] There is a remarkable similarity between this expostulation of the prophet and that of St. Peter, Acts 10:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 4:16. _I WILL BREAK THE STAFF OF BREAD_] They shall be besieged till all the bread is consumed, till the famine becomes _absolute_; see 2 Kings 25:3: "And on the ninth of the _fourth_ month, the famine prevailed in the city; and THERE WAS NO BREAD for the people of the land." All this... [ Continue Reading ]