Ezekiel 4

REVIEW QUESTIONS

What was the purpose of the action parables performed by the prophets of old? What would be the modern-day re action to such antics?

Identify and describe the various kinds of siege operations to which Ezekiel alludes in this section.

What was symbolized by the pan which Ezekiel set up between himself and his sketch of Jerusalem ?

What was Ezekiel symbolizing by lying first on his left side and then on his right?

From what point in time are the 390 years of Israel’s punishment to be counted? What forty years was Judah punished for its iniquity?

Were the 390 days and the 40 days of immobilization con current or consecutive?

How can you explain the fact that Ezekiel performed various symbolic acts during the period of his immobilization?

How might one answer those who contend that there is no way to fit the 430 days of immobilization into the chronology of Ezekiel’s early ministry?

What was Ezekiel representing by the diet he consumed during the days of his symbolic siege?

Were the dietary regulations in effect only during the first 390 days, or during the entire period of 430 days?

How did the Lord indicate His thoughtful concern for Ezekiel in the matter of the cooking fuel?

What was Ezekiel to do with the hairs of his head to symbolize the various fates awaiting the Jews? What element of hope is found here?

Ezekiel 4:1-3

Chapter Four

DRAMATIC PARABLES 4:1-5:4

The use of symbolic actions by Old Testament prophets was a tried and true way of gaining an audience and underscoring a point.[138] The great prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah found the symbolic act a useful tool when they could no longer obtain a hearing for the unspoken word.[139] Ezekiel performs four dramatic parables in this section: (1) the parable of the siege of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:1-3); (2) the parable of national sin (Ezekiel 4:4-6); (3) the parable of the siege famine (Ezekiel 4:9-17); and (4) the parable of the nation’s fate (Ezekiel 5:1-4).

[138] Early examples of the use of symbolic prophecy are 1 Samuel 15:27 f, 1 Kings 11:29 ff; 1 Kings 22:14; 2 Kings 13:14-19.

[139] E. g., Isaiah 20:2; Jeremiah 13:1-7; Jeremiah 19:1-2; Jeremiah 27:2-3.

These dramatic parables were performed in the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity. At that time any thought of Jerusalem’s overthrow would, according to any human prognostication, be highly improbable. Zedekiah ruled in Jerusalem as Nebuchadnezzar’s vassal. With his lands diminished and his military strength exhausted it would scarcely be imagined that he would be so stupid and careless as to provoke his overlord. Yet Ezekiel joined Jeremiah in affirming that destruction was the ultimate fate of Jerusalem and dispersion the fate of her inhabitants.

I. THE PARABLE OF JERUSALEM’S SIEGE 4:1-3

TRANSLATION

(1) But as for you, son of man, take to yourself a tile and place it before you and inscribe upon it a city, Jerusalem. (2) And lay siege against it, and construct a mound about it, and set against it encampments, and place battering rams round about. (3) And as for you, take to yourself an iron pan and place it as a wall of iron between you and the city; and set your face against it and it shall enter a state of siege, and you shall besiege it. It is a sign to the house of Israel.

COMMENTS

In this first symbolic action Ezekiel was to sketch a diagram of Jerusalem on a tile or brick (RSV). In Mesopotamia the clay tablet was the common writing material. While the clay was moist and soft the inscription was engraved upon it with a stylus; then the tablet was exposed to the sun for hardening. Large numbers of such tablets have been recovered, some of which have diagrams of buildings upon them similar to what an architect might devise. It would be natural under the circumstances for a Hebrew exile to make use of the Babylonian writing material. Ezekiel was instructed to lay siege against the city he had drawn (Ezekiel 4:2). By a common figure the prophet is here represented as doing that which he portrays. Perhaps he drew on the tile the plan of a siege. On the other hand, it may mean that he was to model the various siege weapons around the brick. A third possibility is that the armament of the besieging troops was represented on other tiles.

Four common siege techniques are named:

1. Assault rowers (KJV, forts). The Hebrew is actually singular. The term dayeq denotes the towers manned by archers by which a besieged city was attacked. Sometimes these towers were of enormous height, as much as twenty stories.[140] Such towers are frequently depicted in Mesopotamian art. According to 2 Kings 25:1 assault towers were used in the final siege of Jerusalem.

[140] Currey, BC, p. 32.

2. Mounds (solela). Banks of soil heaped up to the level of the walls of the besieged city. Such mounds could serve as observation posts, and, if close enough to the walls, ramps for the battering rams.

3. Camps (machanot). Military detachments which surrounded the city.

4. Battering rams (karim). Iron-shod beams transported by a wheeled tower.[141] Often the battering ram was found in the lower part of the siege towers mentioned above.

[141] Blackwood, EPH, p. 58.

The prophet was to place an iron pan between himself and the inscribed tile. This would be a kind of flat plan virtually no more than a sheet of metal such as was used for baking a thin cake of bread (cf. Leviticus 2:5). This pan represented a wall of iron. Some see here a symbol of Jerusalem’s wall in which the Jews put so much trust. Others take the pan to symbolize the iron-like severity of the siege against the city. There would be no escaping from that doomed place. Still others see the pan as depicting the impenetrable barrier, which had arisen between God (as represented by Ezekiel) and Jerusalem. Still others see in the pan another siege implement the shield which attackers would erect as protection for archers.

With his symbolic objects in place, Ezekiel was to perform a symbolic action. He was (1) to set his face against the city; and (2) lay siege to it. The prophet was to assume the part of the attacking army. Since Ezekiel was God’s representative, his actions would underscore the point that God was fighting against Jerusalem. Perhaps the laying siege (RSV, press the siege) indicates the gradual movement of the clay models of siege instruments nearer and nearer the doomed city.[142]

[142] Ellison, E,W,W, p. 33.

The tile diagram and the objects pertaining to it were designed to be a sign to the house of Israel (Ezekiel 4:3). Ellison pictures Ezekiel silently acting out these parables much to the chagrin of the growing numbers who assembled each day to watch these antics, When the crowd was ready to listen, Ezekiel gave the verbal explanation of his actions (Ezekiel 5:5 to Ezekiel 7:27).[143] The term house of Israel here embraces both those Jews who were in exile and those who remained in Judah.

[143] Ibid. Others think that Ezekiel never actually performed these parables, but only described to the captives vividly what he had seen in vision.

Ezekiel 4:4-8

II. PARABLE OF ISRAEL’S SIN 4:4-8

TRANSLATION

(4) And as for you, lie upon your left side, and set the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. The number of days in which you lay upon it you shall bear their iniquity. (5) For I have appointed to you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of days, three hundred ninety days. So shall you bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. (6) When you have finished these days, then lie a second time upon your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days; one day for each year I have appointed you. (7) So unto the siege of Jerusalem you shall set your face, and your shoulder shall be uncovered, and you shall prophecy against it. (8) And behold I have placed bands upon you, and you shall not turn yourself from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.

COMMENTS

In Ezekiel 4:1-3 Ezekiel impersonated Jerusalem’s enemies; his role is now reversed. Here Ezekiel symbolizes the apostate people of God. He is to lie first on his left side, then on his right side, to bear the iniquity of the house of Israel and the house of Judah. The Oriental habit was to face eastward when indicating points of the compass.[144] Facing east one has north on his left side and south on his right. Hence the left side represented the house of Israel, the Northern Kingdom which had been carried captive in 722 B.C. The right side symbolized the house of Judah, the Southern Kingdom which was in its dying days at the moment Ezekiel received this revelation. The number of days which the prophet spent on each side symbolized the number of years which each kingdom had stood under the condemnation of God.

[144] Feinberg, PE, p. 33.

A few observations about this action parable need to be made before the difficult question of the numbers found here is taken up:

1. The action of the prophet in lying first on the one side and then on the other was commanded by God. Therefore there is no reason to suspect that Ezekiel suffered from epileptic seizures or catalepsy.

2. Ezekiel 4:4 seems to suggest that the time periods here indicated do not represent the time of Israel’s sinning, but the period during which the people of God had been or would be punished for their sins.

3. The longer period of punishment for Israel, the Northern Kingdom, indicates the greater guilt of that nation.

4. Part of the time Israel and Judah bore the penalty of their sin simultaneously. That is to say, the period of punishment overlapped.

5. The end of the period of punishment was the same for both kingdoms 539 B.C.

6. In dealing with prophetic numbers one must allow for approximations or rounding off to figures.

7. Such great diversity of opinion exists as to the terminus a quo of the figures here given that dogmatic assertions are out of place.

8. Inherent in these figures is a hint of hope. The period of punishment, though long and terrible, would not be inter minable.

9. It is not necessary to assume that Ezekiel was in the prone position day and night. Other activities are said to have been performed during this period. Hence the symbolic prone position must have lasted only part of each day. Ezekiel was to lie on his left side 390 days. If the Hebrew text be retained as is, there seems to be only one possible terminus a quo for this period, viz., the division of the Hebrew kingdom in 931 B.C. Allowing for round figures something very common in prophecy the 390 years would terminate with the fall of Babylon in 539 B.C. Through that entire period the citizens of the Northern Kingdom were under the wrath of God because of their apostate activities.[145]

[145] Many modern writers prefer to follow the Greek text which gives 190 as the figure here. From the fall of Samaria in 722 B. C until the time of Ezekiel’s vision was about 150 years Add to this the 40 years mentioned in Ezekiel 4:6 and the figure 190 is reached However, it is more likely that the Greek translators deliberately altered the text. There is no logical explanation of how any accidental change in the text could have occurred here.

From what point are the 40 years of Judah’s punishment to be counted? The figure 40 is reminiscent of the period of Israel wandering in the wilderness. It seems more in accordance with the other signs in this book to suppose that these years represent not that which had already transpired, but that which was yet to be. From the final deportation of Jews to Babylon in 582 B.C. (Jeremiah 52:30) until the fall of Babylon and the end of the Babylonian exile in 539 B.C. is a period of 42 years. The prophet is probably referring to this period with the symbolic number 40, the period during which God’s people, because of their sin, would be denied access to the Promised Land.

Another view worthy of note is that of Currey who sees in these figures a purely symbolic significance. The two figures combined yield 430 years. This may be a representation of the future in terms of the past. Just as Israel was 430 years in Egyptian bondage, so would they now be in bondage in Mesopotamia.[146] A correlation may also exist between the 40 years punishment assigned to Judah and the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness during the Exodus from Egypt.[147]

[146] Currey. BC, pp. 33-34. Hoses had predicted already that Ephraim would again suffer the misery of bondage in a strange land. See Hoses Ezekiel 8:13; Ezekiel 9:3.

[147] Ellison, (EMM, p. 34) argues for this connection.

In his prone position Ezekiel was to bear the iniquity of the two kingdoms. The term iniquity in the Old Testament can refer to the sin itself or the punishment that comes upon that offense. In the present passage the term seems to have the latter connotation. Ezekiel is to symbolize through his personal suffering of physical restraint the punishment of God’s people in being cut off from the Holy Land and the Temple. This symbolic suffering is by no means to be equated with the vicarious suffering which is set forth in Isaiah 53.

During the entire time that he was lying on his side Ezekiel was to fix his gaze upon the tile which depicted the besieged city of Jerusalem. The fixing of the gaze indicates steadfastness of purpose. He was to have his arm uncovered like a warrior prepared for battle (cf. Isaiah 52:10). By these actions he would be prophesying against Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:7).

Ezekiel 4:8 underscores the discomfort which Ezekiel must have experienced while carrying out this symbolic act. He was not to turn from one side to another. There may be a hint of special divine aid in the statement I lay bands upon you.[148]

[148] Taylor (TOTC, p. 81) takes the expression literally, and pictures Ezekiel’s body trussed with cords during his daily period upon his side.

Some scholars find difficulty in fitting the 430 days of this action parable into the chronology of the early ministry of Ezekiel. Ellison argues that this action parable must be fitted into the year and two months which elapsed between Ezekiel 1:2 and Ezekiel 8:1. According to the Jewish system of reckoning time, this would be equivalent to 413 days.[149] Ellison therefore argues that the 40 days on the right side must have been concurrent with the last 40 days of the 390 days on the left side.[150] However, the text certainly gives the impression that the 430 days of prostration were consecutive 390 on the left side followed by 40 on the right side. In the fulfillment of this prophecy the 40 years of Judah’s punishment was in fact concurrent with the last 40 years of Israel’s punishment. But in the symbolic action performed by Ezekiel the days seem to be consecutive. Therefore, one must conclude either (1) that during the period between Ezekiel 1:2 and Ezekiel 8:1 a month had been intercalated (see note 12); or (2) that the symbolic prostration extended beyond the time stipulated in Ezekiel 8:1. Of course, if the prophet’s prostration occurred only in a vision as some scholars contend, it would not be necessary to fit the 430 days into the chronology of Ezekiel’s life.

[149] The Jewish year was a lunar year of 354 days. Periodically an extra month was intercalated so as to bring the lunar calendar into harmony with the seasons. If the year which elapsed between Ezekiel 1:2 and Ezekiel 8:1 was such a leap year, the maximum number of days would be 442.

[150] Ellison, EMM. p. 34.

Ezekiel 4:9-17

III. THE PARABLE OF JERUSALEM’S FAMINE 4:9-17

TRANSLATION

(9) NOW as for You, take to you wheat and barley, and beans and lentils and millet and fitches, and put them in a vessel, and prepare them for food for yourself, according to the number of days in which you are lying upon your side, three hundred ninety days and you shall eat it. (10) And your food which you shall eat shall be twenty shekels in weight for a day. Once each day[151] you shall eat it. (11) And as for water, you shall drink the sixth of a hin by measure. Once each day you shall drink it. (12) And as a barley cake you shall eat it, and with human dung you shall bake it in their presence. (13) And the LORD said, In this way the children of Israel shall eat their unclean food among the nations where I will drive them. (14) Then I said, Ah, O Lord GOD! Behold mv soul has not been polluted, and a corpse or that which was torn in pieces I have never eaten from my youth until now, nor has abominable meat come into my mouth. (15) Then He said unto me, See, I have appointed for you cattle dung instead of human dung, and you shall prepare your food with it. (16) And he said unto me, Son of man, behold I am about to shatter the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat food by weight and with concern, and water by measure and in dismay they shall drink, (17) because bread and water will be scarce. And they shall be dismayed one with another, and shall waste away under their punishment.

[151] Literally, from time to time. A similar phrase is found in 1 Chronicles 9:25 which makes it clear that it refers to a recurring action which was to take place at the same time each day. See Taylor, TOTC, pp. 82-83,

COMMENTS

How could Ezekiel be commanded to make bread while lying bound upon his side? Several commentators think that this inconsistency is proof positive that all of these symbolic actions transpired in vision where such a thing would be possible.[152] However, if the prophet’s immobilization occupied only a part of each day as suggested above, no inconsistency is apparent. Once Ezekiel had performed his daily demonstration lying facing the model of the besieged city he apparently would arise and perform the other symbolic acts which related to the siege.

[152] E.g., Blackwood, EPH, p. 60; Fisch, .SBB, p. 21.

Ezekiel’s symbolic diet during the days of his siege was designed to set forth two basic thoughts: (1) the scarcity of food which would exist in Jerusalem during the final siege; and (2) the impure food which those exiled from Judah would be forced to eat. Six instructions were given to the prophet about his diet.

1. The nature of his food was restricted. His bread was to be made of an odd mixture of grains and seeds. Instead of the normal wheat flour, various kinds of cereals would have to be mixed so as to obtain sufficient quantity to make a cake of bread. Those besieged in Jerusalem would have to eat what they could get. Six different kinds of cereal grains are specified: (1) wheat and (2) barley are quite commonly mentioned as foods in the Old Testament; (3) beans (pol) mentioned elsewhere only in 2 Samuel 17:28; (4) lentils, (5) millet, and (6) fitches (spelt, RSV), a species of wheat.

2. These various grains were to be placed in one vessel. In the Law of Moses it was forbidden to sow the ground with mingled seeds (Leviticus 19:19; Deuteronomy 22:9). Though not specifically condemned, the mixing of these grains and seeds in flour would seem to be banned under the same principle.[153] In a city under siege and in foreign exile the Jews would not be able to be so scrupulous about their diet.

[153] Taylor, (TOTC, p. 82), does not feel that any ritual defilement was involved in mixing these grains.

3. The dietary restrictions are to be in force during the 390 days of bearing the iniquity of the people of God (Ezekiel 4:9). Here again the question of the duration of Ezekiel’s symbolic siege of Jerusalem is raised. Ezekiel 4:9 seems to suggest that the prophet would lie upon his side only 390 days. What happened to the 40 days he was to lie upon his right side? Many modern scholars assume that the 390 days are inclusive of the 40 days. However, this interpretation runs counter to the explicit statement in Ezekiel 4:6 that Ezekiel was to lie on his right side after he had finished the 390 days on his left side. one must conclude either (1) that the dietary regulations of this paragraph were to be observed only during the time when Ezekiel was on his left side; or (2) that the dietary restrictions were observed during the 40 days on the right side as well even though the text does not explicitly so state. Any other interpretations would put Ezekiel 4:9 at variance with Ezekiel 4:6. God’s people were to be exiled from the sacred temple precincts for 390 years, the Northern Kingdom from 931 to 539 B.C., and the Southern Kingdom for the last 40 years of that period. The point that Ezekiel is trying to establish is that God’s people would eat unclean food as exiles in foreign lands. This point he established during the 390 days on his left side. Continuing this phase of the demonstration during the period he lay on his right side would have been superfluous.

4. The quantity of his food was limited. Ezekiel’s diet during the 390 days was to consist of twenty shekels of food (Ezekiel 4:10) and the sixth of a hin of water (Ezekiel 4:11). This amounts to about ten ounces of food and a quart of water daily. In a hot climate this limitation on water would be very oppressive. This probably corresponds to the water of affliction mentioned in 1 Kings 22:27; and Isaiah 30:20. The fact that food was weighed rather than measured indicates the most extreme scarcity (cf. Leviticus 26:26; Revelation 6:6).

5. The prophet was to partake of his unpalatable meals literally, from time to time (Ezekiel 4:10). The Rabbis interpreted this phrase to mean once in a twenty-four hour period. Currey concurs, feeling that the instruction is to partake of the food at the appointed interval of a day and at no other time.[154]

[154] Currey, BC, p. 35.

6. This meager food was to be eaten as barley cake (Ezekiel 4:12). He would eat his meal with all the relish that one would customarily give to barley cakes.

7. The food was to be eaten in their sight (Ezekiel 4:12). Thus would they come to understand it as a sign of what had befallen them already, and of what would yet befall their brethren in Jerusalem.

8. One of the usual calamities of a siege is lack of fuel. To further dramatize siege conditions Ezekiel was to prepare his food with unclean fuel. The prophet was first told to use human dung (Ezekiel 4:12) as cooking fuel, that which was revolting as well as ceremonially impure and defiling (cf. Deuteronomy 23:12 ff.). Barley bread was prepared on hot stones (1 Kings 19:6), which were to be heated by human excrement. For the moment the ceremonial law was to be overridden so as to make a moral point.

The significance of the disgusting instruction regarding the use of human dung for fuel is given in Ezekiel 4:13. Those Israelites who yet lingered in Jerusalem would be forced to eat unclean food among the nations where God would drive them (cf. Hosea 9:3). Foreign lands were regarded by the Israelites as unclean.[155] Even those who attempted to maintain the dietary code would be eating unclean bread because the ritual firstfruits of the harvest would not be able to be offered in the Temple of the Lord.[156] In addition to the specific prediction being set forth in this action parable, Ezekiel is making a significant point: Israel’s position as a separate, sanctified people would be destroyed during the Babylonian exile.[157]

[155] Fisch, SBB, p. 23.

[156] Cf. Amos 7:17; Daniel 1:8.

[157] Feinberg, PE, pp. 34-35.

This command to prepare his food with human dung as fuel shocked the conscientious young priest who obliquely requested relief from this phase of the object lesson. Even in exile where it would be most difficult to obtain kosher food Ezekiel had faithfully observed the dietary law. He had practiced his faith. The first words that Ezekiel speaks in this book are an emotional outburst, Ah Lord God! The godly prophet was not so much concerned with that which displeased his taste as that which offended his conscience.

From exasperation Ezekiel moved to narrative prayer which is introduced in Ezekiel 4:14 with behold. My soul (i.e., I) has nor been polluted. He had meticulously sought to abide by the dietary laws from my youth until now. Even in the deprivations of captivity and the spiritual confusion of that episode he had conscientiously attempted to follow the law of God.

Ezekiel cites three examples of how he had faithfully observed the Old Testament law. (1) He had not eaten of a corpse, i.e., an animal which had not been properly slaughtered. Such meat was forbidden (Leviticus 17:15; Deuteronomy 14:21). (2) He had not eaten that which was torn in pieces, i.e., an animal which had been killed by a wild beast. Such were forbidden to the Israelite because the blood had not been properly drained. (3) Abominable meat (piggul) had never come into his mouth. In its more restricted sense the Hebrew term refers to sacrificial flesh rendered unfit by disregard for the laws of sacrifice.[158] In a broader sense, the term is used of any forbidden food.[159]

[158] More precisely, meat of an offering, if kept to the third day was forbidden to be eaten by the priests as abominable (Leviticus 19:7).

[159] Cf. Leviticus 7:18; Isaiah 65:4.

The gracious Lord acquiesced in the request of His prophet. He permitted Ezekiel to substitute animal dung for the prescribed human dung (Ezekiel 4:15). Cow dung was a common fuel in Palestine, much as buffalo chips was on the American plains. Dried cow dung was not as physically disgusting as human dung. So in the case of Ezekiel there was a mitigation of the defilement; but still defilement remained, and in exile the people of God were subjected to it.

The second application of the food parable is set forth in Ezekiel 4:16-17. Shortly God would shatter the staff of bread in Jerusalem. Bread was then and is still known as the staff of life because man is so dependent upon it (cf. Leviticus 26:26; Psalms 105:16). The inhabitants of that doomed city would be forced to eat food by weight and drink water by measure. The food and water would be so scarce as to give rise to grave concern and even dismay (Ezekiel 4:16). Faced with this lack of food the populace would gradually waste away. This they would experience because they were under the punishment[160] of the Lord (Ezekiel 4:17).

[160] Could also be translated, in their iniquity.