Ezekiel 4:6

And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year. EACH DAY FOR A YEAR - literally, a day for a year, a day for a year. Twice repeated, to mark more distinctly the reference to . The picturing of the future under the image of the past, wherein the meaning was far from lying on the surface, was intended to arouse to a less superficial mode of thinking, just as the partial vailing of truth in Jesus' parables was designed to, stimulate inquiry; also, to remind men that God's dealings in the past are a key to the future, because He moves on the same everlasting principles, the forms alone being transitory....

1-8 The prophet was to represent the siege of Jerusalem by signs. He was to lie on his left side for a number of days, supposed to be equal to the years from the establishment of idolatry. All that the prophet sets before the children of his people, about the destruction of Jerusalem, is to show that sin is the provoking cause of the ruin of that once flourishing city....

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_ years in that of Zedekiah; and there arises a period of _forty_ years, during which gross idolatry was practiced in the kingdom of Judah. _Forty days_ may have been employed in spoiling and desolating the city and the temple....

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 WHEN THOU HAST ACCOMPLISHED THEM,.... The three hundred and ninety days, by lying so long on the left side, bearing the sins of the house of Israel in this way; or, as Cocceius renders the words, "and thou shall accomplish them, and thou shalt lie", c. g, that is, thou shalt so accomplish these days, that thou mayest lie through forty days on the right hand, and then make bare thine arm, and prophesy against Jerusalem for he thinks the forty days are part of the three hundred and ninety, as before observed: and so Piscator's note is, "when thou shalt accomplish", c. namely, when there shall remain yet forty days, as appears by comparing Ezekiel 4:9 with this verse and Ezekiel 4:5 so Polanus interprets the passage: then LIE AGAIN ON THY RIGHT SIDE; that is, for Judah; which tribe, as Jarchi o

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

(B) THE EXILE: ITS DURATION. The next action is more curious. Ezekiel is represented as lying upon his side for 190 days (as LXX correctly reads in Ezekiel 4:5) to symbolise the years of punishment in exile a year for a day undergone by Israel and Judah for their sins. As the restoration of these two kingdoms is expected to occur simultaneously (Ezekiel 37:16 ff.) we must assume that, as he lies for forty days upon his _right_ side to represent Judah (_i.e._ the _southern_ kingdom), so he lies 150 days on his _left_ to represent Israel (_i.e._ the _northern_ kingdom), though the _whole_ period of her exile covers, of course, 190 years. Forty is a round number: in point of fact, the exile of Judah (reckoning from the fall of Jerusalem) lasted almost fifty years (586- 538 B.C.

AGAIN. a second time, showing that they are not necessarily consecutive or continuous, but are conterminous, though not commencing at the same time. FORTY DAYS. See note on Ezekiel 4:4. _ _ _ A_ PPOINTED. given. Some word as "lay", verses: Ezekiel 4:1; Ezekiel 4:2; Ezekiel 4:5; Ezekiel 4:8....

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

FORTY DAYS— Reckon 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 years in that of Zedekiah; and there arises a period of forty years, during which gross idolatry was practised in the kingdom of Judah. Manasseh's reformation, 2 Chronicles 33:13 is supposed to have lasted during the remainder of his reign; and Josiah was uniformly a good king. Ib. Ezekiel 34:2. Forty days may have been employed in spoiling and desolating the city and temple....