Ezekiel 4:13

And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them. EVEN THUS SHALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL EAT THEIR DEFILED BREAD AMONG THE GENTILES - implying that Israel's special distinction was to be abolished, and that they were to be outwardly blended with the idolatrous pagan (; )....

9-17 The bread which was Ezekiel's support, was to be made of coarse grain and pulse mixed together, seldom used except in times of urgent scarcity, and of this he was only to take a small quantity. Thus was figured the extremity to which the Jews were to be reduced during the siege and captivity. Ezekiel does not plead, Lord, from my youth I have been brought up delicately, and never used to any thing like this; but that he had been brought up conscientiously, and never had eaten any thing forbidden by the law. It will be comfortable when we are brought to suffer hardships, if our hearts can witness that we have always been careful to keep even from the appearance of evil. See what woful work sin makes, and acknowledge the righteousness of God herein. Their plenty having been abused to luxury and excess, they were justly punished by famine. When men serve not God with cheerfulness in t...

The ceremonial ordinances in relation to food were intended to keep the nation free from idolatrous usages; everywhere among the pagan idol feasts formed a leading part in their religious services, and idol meats were partaken of in common life. Dispersion among the Gentiles must have exposed the Jews to much which they regarded as common and unclean. In Ezekiel’s case there was a mitigation Ezekiel 4:15 of the defilement, but still legal defilement remained, and the chosen people in exile were subjected to it as to a degradation....

EXPOSITION Prior to any detailed examination of the strange series of acts recorded in this and the following chapter, we are met with the question whether they were indeed visible and outward acts, or only imagined by the prophet in a state of ecstasy and afterwards reported by him to the people. Each view has been maintained by commentators of repute. I adopt, with scarcely any hesitation, the former, and for the following reasons. (1) On the other interpretation the acts recorded were not signs to the people (Ezekiel 4:3) till the prophet reported them; but the whole context shows that they were to be substitutes for spoken teaching. They belong to the period of the prophet's silence. (2) This mode of teaching, though not carried to the same extent, was part of the normal method of a prophet's work. Zedekiah's horns of iron ...

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....

Ezekiel 4:1. The word tile means “brick.” They were used by the Babylonians to preserve their records, and many have been found marked with building plans, etc. The sign of the tile foretells the siege of Jerusalem and Jehovah's opposition against the city. Ezekiel 4:4. While in the preceding sign Jehovah's action against Jerusalem was pictured, in this new sign a portrayal is given of the punishment which should come upon the inhabitants of the city. In his own person Ezekiel had to experience the great degradation and judgment which was to fall upon all the people. The critical school has invented all kinds of theories to explain, or rather to explain away, the divine command given to the prophet. They say that probably Ezekiel suffered from some form of epilepsy or catalepsy; they also point out the physical

(C) THE HARDSHIPS OF THE EXILES AND THE BESIEGED. The horrors of famine, consequent upon the siege, are suggested by the symbolical action of this section, in which the prophet's food and drink are to be carefully measured out about half a pound of food a day and a little over a pint of water. But blended with the thought of the scarcity of food during the siege is the thought of the uncleanness of the food eaten during the exile. According to Hebrew ideas, any food eaten in any land outside of Canaan was necessarily unclean: partly because such a land, not being Yahweh's land, was itself unclean, and partly because no first-fruits would be offered to Him, as He could have no sanctuary there (Hosea 9:3 f.). The uncleanness of exile is suggested by the mongrel combinations (_cf._ Ezekiel 4:9) which in food, as in d

THE LORD. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ App-4. CHILDREN. sons. GENTILES. nations....

Second Section. Ch. Ezekiel 3:22 to Ezekiel 7:27 The second section of the Book contains these parts: (1) Ch. Ezekiel 3:22-27. A preface in which the prophet is commanded to confine himself to his own house, and abandon for a time his public ministry. (2) Ch. Ezekiel 4:1-4. A series of symbols representing the siege of Jerusalem, the scarcity during it, the pollution of the people in exile among the nations, and the terrible fate of the inhabitants on the capture of the city. (3) Ch. Ezekiel 5:5-17. Exposition of these s

EAT THEIR DEFILED BREAD, &C.— The prophet, speaking above of eating and drinking by weight and measure, foretels the famine in Jerusalem; now, in the bread baked with dung is pre-signified the unclean bread which the children of Israel were to eat among the Gentiles; as also the three hundred and ninety days in the different actions of the prophet adumbrated, as we have observed, both how many years the children of Israel should be punished, and how many days the famine should continue in Jerusalem. It is remarkable, that the prophet foretels that the children of Israel should eat defiled bread among the Gentiles, but not those of Judah, who were to preserve themselves more pure. Hosea threatens the Israelites in the same manner, ch. Ezekiel 9:3. See Calmet and Houbigant....