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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
4:1-24:27 Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah. In the roughly chronological ordering of Ezekiel's preaching, the oracles of chs. 4-24 precede the downfall of Jerusalem in His message consistently points to approaching judgment; both the message and the messenger were vindicated by the fall of the city. Although the sequence appears to be chronological, there is also some grouping by theme and genre: chs. 4-7 include a high density of "symbolic actions"; chs. 8-11 comprise the second major vision sequence in the book, Ezekiel's first "temple vision"; chs. 15-23 are dominated by "parables" and extended metaphors. Almost the only relief from the relentless indictment of sin and announcement of judgment comes in 11:14-21, which anticipates the hopeful tone of the latter half of the book, but not without sounding the familiar warning.
4:1-5:17 God against Jerusalem. Commissioned, equipped, and positioned, Ezekiel now receives his first complex of oracles.
4:1-5:4 God against Jerusalem Enacted. Poetry is typically the vehicle for prophetic oracles--but not here. Ezekiel is called upon to perform "street theater": actions (rather than words) that convey a divine message. In most cases in Ezekiel, like this one, only the instructions are recorded, and not the report of the performance and its reception.
4:1-8 This complex of instructions is not dated. Although the "vision reprise" in the preceding section links it most naturally back to the beginning of the book, other terms (e.g., "cords" in 3:25; cf. 4:8) join it closely with this passage. If so, these symbolic actions would then belong to the same time frame as the prophet's commissioning (). In any case this passage ought to be dated before the events of 24:1 (), when the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem is reported to Ezekiel.
4:1-2 These verses describe a complete siege in miniature; brick was the common building material in Babylon, not Jerusalem. The fivefold repetition of against it strikes an insistent note.
4:3 The iron griddle (Hb. makhabath barzel) was part of the priestly equipment (see Lev. 2:5; 6:21; 7:9); domestic versions were probably not metal. The sign ensures that the siege, which could have been construed as God's passive neglect, be understood as deliberate hostility.
4:4-6 The instructions to lie on your left side and then again lie down . . . on your right side prescribe Ezekiel's disposition during the enacted siege (v. 7). The practicalities of what would amount to over in this posture are not spelled out (e.g., readers are not told for how many hours each day Ezekiel would lie down this way), but the implied identification of the prophet with his people remains strong.
4:4 Punishment (Hb. ‘awon, "punishment" or "iniquity," given as an alternative in ESV footnote; cf. vv. 5, 6, 17). The word may refer to either an offense or its penalty. Ezekiel's enactment points to "punishment," which is the most likely sense (see v. 12), although when combined with bear, ‘awon usually carries the nuance of "iniquity" (e.g., Lev. 10:17; Num. 18:1). The number of the days, stipulated in the following verses, corresponds to periods of exile. Both phrases strikingly parallel the pronouncement of the of wilderness wandering in Num. 14:33-34.
4:7 As the prophet takes God's role in the street drama, the arm bared (cf. Isa. 52:10) suggests the more common "outstretched arm" (e.g., Ex. 6:6; Deut. 4:34; Ezek. 20:33-34) with which the Lord acts on behalf of his people, but here it is wielded against Jerusalem. Ezekiel's muteness (3:26) gives way to speech with the instruction to prophesy against the city.
4:9-17 Again, the actions commanded--in this case rationing of food and water--ensure that Ezekiel's symbolic identification with the besieged community is complete.
4:9 The combination of wheat . . . emmer (as the ESV footnote explains, emmer is a type of wheat; it is inferior to ordinary wheat) is not prohibited, but it is not appealing. Desperation for food during a siege will drive one to eat even this--and worse.
4:10 The twenty shekels ration of bread amounts to just
4:11 The sixth part of a hin is roughly equivalent to
4:12-15 Ezekiel raises no objection until he is told to use human dung for fuel. Animal dung is a common fuel (v. 15; cf. 1 Kings 14:10), but Ezekiel, as a priest, regards food as holy (e.g., Lev. 21:6; 22:7-8) and excrement as defiling (Deut. 23:12-14).
4:16 Underlying the phrase supply of bread is the distinctive Hebrew "staff of bread" (matteh-lekhem; see ESV footnote), which probably refers to a method of storage. To break the staff (see 5:16; 14:13; also Lev. 26:26; Ps. 105:16) is synonymous with famine.
5:1-4 razor. Although cleanliness from disease may underlie this action (Lev. 14:9), it is unlikely that that picture of purification is in mind here. Rather, the shaving of head and beard combines elements that are again both desecrating and shaming. Priests should not shave off their hair (Ezek. 44:20; see also Lev. 21:5), so this desecrates as the unclean food did in Ezekiel 4. Further, the shaming of the king of Assyria in Isa. 7:20 at God's own hands echoes Ezekiel's action here. Each of the three actions should be understood as proclaiming destruction, even for those who survive (scatter to the wind, Ezek. 5:2; bind them, v. 3). Even the remnant of vv. 3-4 faces a precarious and vulnerable future.
5:5-17 God against Jerusalem Explained. Naturally, these symbolic actions carry enigmatic elements, not the least of which is the motivation behind them. This oracular commentary on Ezekiel's street theater offers the rationale and alludes to each of the three phases of Jerusalem's destruction previously acted out. Since this passage is intended to be commentary, it is also in large part self-explanatory.
5:8-10 The hostility identified here with God's setting himself against Jerusalem points back to the actions in 4:1-2. eat their sons. This gruesome prospect arises not only out of the realities of siege warfare (see Lam. 4:10) but also from the judgments for breaking the covenant (Deut. 28:49-57).
5:11 Deuteronomy often steels the Israelites to inflict stern judgment--when issues of purity or loyalty are at stake--in terms of their "eye not pitying" (e.g., Deut. 13:8; 19:13). The same Hebrew is used here for God's eye that will not spare (also six more times in Ezekiel).
5:12 The groupings of thirds point back to the symbolic action of the hair in vv. 1-4, as does the reference to scattering (cf. v. 10). With pestilence, famine, and sword (also v. 17; 6:11-12; 7:15; 12:16; and 14:21), Ezekiel employs one of Jeremiah's favorite groupings of three disasters (used
