Ezekiel / Chapter 4

Ezekiel 4

17 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Ezekiel 4 records the first of the prophet's sign-acts (otot) — symbolic performances commanded by God to dramatize the coming siege and destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel is ordered to inscribe the city of Jerusalem on a clay brick and construct a miniature siege around it, then to lie on his left side for 390 days bearing the iniquity of the house of Israel and on his right side for 40 days bearing the iniquity of the house of Judah. He must cook his meager rations over human dung — a symbol of the unclean food Israel will eat in exile — though God relents and allows cow dung instead when Ezekiel protests. These are not metaphors but prophetic performance art: the exiles watch Ezekiel's body become a living parable of Jerusalem's fate.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The sign-acts of chapter 4 transform the prophet's body into a text. Ezekiel does not merely speak God's word — he enacts it. The siege model on the brick recalls Babylonian military planning tablets, turning familiar technology against the audience: they would recognize the siege diagram as something a conquering army would prepare. The numbers 390 and 40 have generated extensive scholarly debate. The Septuagint reads 190 instead of 390 for Israel's years. The number 40 for Judah echoes Israel's 40 years in the wilderness — a generation of judgment. The food rationing (v. 10-11) prescribes approximately eight ounces of food and about two-thirds of a quart of water per day — severe subsistence rations that replicate siege conditions. Most striking is the dung negotiation (vv. 12-15): Ezekiel is the only prophet in the Hebrew Bible who successfully pushes back on a divine command and receives a concession. His priestly revulsion at ritual defilement — 'I have never defiled myself!' — is so deeply ingrained that God accommodates it, substituting cow dung for human dung. The priest in Ezekiel surfaces even in his resistance.

Translation Friction

The word levenah (v. 1) is rendered 'brick' — specifically an unfired clay brick or tile, the standard Mesopotamian writing surface. Some translations render this as 'tablet,' but the Hebrew specifically means 'brick.' The numbers 390 and 40 present a major textual difficulty: the LXX reads 190 for Israel, and scholars have proposed various symbolic interpretations. We render the Masoretic numbers and note the variant. The word tse'ah (v. 12, 'human excrement') is blunt in Hebrew, and we rendered it without euphemism. Ezekiel's protest in verse 14 uses three terms for ritual defilement — nevelah ('carcass of an animal that died on its own'), terefah ('torn animal'), and basar piggul ('foul/abominable meat') — each drawn from the Levitical purity code, demonstrating the priestly precision of his objection.

Connections

The siege sign-act connects to the actual siege of Jerusalem described in 2 Kings 25 and Jeremiah 52. The iron plate as a 'wall of iron' between prophet and city (v. 3) may symbolize God's implacable resolve or the barrier between God and his people. The food rationing anticipates the famine descriptions in Lamentations 4:4-10. Ezekiel's protest about defilement connects to his priestly identity (1:3) and to the purity concerns that dominate chapters 22, 36, and 40-48. The dung-fire cooking anticipates the exile theology of 4:13 — eating unclean food among the nations. The lying on one's side bearing iniquity connects to the concept of substitutionary burden-bearing that appears in Isaiah 53.

Ezekiel 4:1

וְאַתָּ֣ה בֶן־אָדָ֗ם קַח־לְךָ֙ לְבֵנָ֔ה וְנָתַתָּ֥ה אוֹתָ֖הּ לְפָנֶ֑יךָ וְחַקּוֹתָ֥ עָלֶ֛יהָ עִ֖יר אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃

"As for you, son of man — take a brick and set it in front of you. Inscribe on it a city: Jerusalem.

KJV Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

לְבֵנָה levenah
"brick" — brick, tile, clay tablet

A standard Mesopotamian clay brick, used for building and for inscribing text. Ezekiel's audience in Babylon would be familiar with such objects as writing surfaces and architectural models.

Translator Notes

  1. The word levenah means 'brick' — an unfired clay brick of the kind used throughout Mesopotamia as a writing surface. Babylonian military commanders used similar clay models for siege planning, so the exiles watching Ezekiel would immediately recognize the gesture. The verb chaqotah ('inscribe, engrave') indicates carving into the wet clay, not drawing on a surface.
Ezekiel 4:2

וְנָתַתָּ֣ה עָלֶ֣יהָ מָצ֗וֹר וּבָנִ֤יתָ עָלֶ֙יהָ֙ דָּיֵ֔ק וְשָׁפַכְתָּ֥ עָלֶ֖יהָ סֹלְלָ֑ה וְנָתַתָּ֤ עָלֶ֙יהָ֙ מַחֲנ֔וֹת וְשִׂים־עָלֶ֥יהָ כָּרִ֖ים סָבִֽיב׃

Then set up a siege against it: build a siege wall against it, raise an earthwork ramp against it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it on every side.

KJV And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

כָּרִים karim
"battering rams" — battering rams, siege engines, rams

Siege weapons designed to breach fortified walls. Assyrian and Babylonian reliefs depict these devices in detail — the exiles had likely seen them in use.

Translator Notes

  1. The verse catalogues standard ancient Near Eastern siege equipment with military precision. Matsor ('siege') is the general term. Dayeq ('siege wall, siege tower') is a fortified observation structure. Solelah ('ramp, earthwork') is the assault ramp built against the city wall. Machanot ('camps') are the encampments of besieging forces. Karim ('battering rams') are the siege engines used to breach walls. Ezekiel is constructing a complete miniature siege in full view of the exiles.
Ezekiel 4:3

וְאַתָּ֣ה קַח־לְךָ֗ מַחֲבַ֣ת בַּרְזֶל֮ וְנָתַתָּ֣ה אוֹתָ֣הּ ׀ קִ֣יר בַּרְזֶל֮ בֵּינְךָ֣ וּבֵ֣ין הָעִיר֒ וַהֲכִינֹתָ֤ה אֶת־פָּנֶ֙יךָ֙ אֵלֶ֔יהָ וְהָיְתָ֥ה בַמָּצ֖וֹר וְצַרְתָּ֣ עָלֶ֑יהָ א֥וֹת הִ֖יא לְבֵ֥ית יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Then take an iron griddle and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Fix your face against it — it will be under siege, and you will press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel."

KJV Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

אוֹת ot
"sign" — sign, symbol, omen, token, miraculous sign

A prophetic sign-act — physical performance that enacts a divine message. The sign-acts of Ezekiel 4-5 are among the most elaborate in prophetic literature.

Translator Notes

  1. The machavat barzel ('iron griddle, iron plate') was a common cooking implement — Ezekiel repurposes a household object as a symbol of impenetrable divine judgment. The iron wall between prophet and city has been interpreted as representing God's implacable resolve against Jerusalem or as the barrier between God and his unfaithful people. The phrase ot hi levet yisra'el ('it is a sign for the house of Israel') identifies the entire performance as an ot — a prophetic sign-act that communicates through enacted symbolism rather than spoken word.
Ezekiel 4:4

וְאַתָּ֤ה שְׁכַב֙ עַל־צִדְּךָ֣ הַשְּׂמָאלִ֔י וְשַׂמְתָּ֛ אֶת־עֲוֹ֥ן בֵּית־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל עָלָ֑יו מִסְפַּ֨ר הַיָּמִ֜ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר תִּשְׁכַּב֙ עָלָ֔יו תִּשָּׂ֖א אֶת־עֲוֹנָֽם׃

Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of days that you lie on it, you will bear their iniquity.

KJV Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

עָוֹן avon
"iniquity" — iniquity, guilt, punishment for guilt, crookedness

Avon encompasses both the sin and its consequences — the twisted state of guilt and the punishment it produces. It is distinct from chet (missing the mark) and pesha (rebellion/transgression).

Translator Notes

  1. The left side may correspond to the northern kingdom (Israel), which lay to the left when facing east — the standard orientation in ancient Near Eastern geography. The verb tissa ('you will bear') uses the same root (nasa) as bearing a burden — Ezekiel physically takes on the weight of Israel's iniquity through his posture. The concept of one person bearing another's iniquity connects to the substitutionary theology of Isaiah 53:4-6, though here the bearing is representational rather than redemptive.
Ezekiel 4:5

וַאֲנִ֗י נָתַ֤תִּי לְךָ֙ אֶת־שְׁנֵ֣י עֲוֹנָ֔ם לְמִסְפַּ֖ר יָמִ֑ים שְׁלֹשׁ־מֵא֤וֹת וְתִשְׁעִים֙ י֔וֹם וְנָשָׂ֖אתָ עֲוֹ֥ן בֵּית־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

I have assigned to you the years of their iniquity as a number of days: three hundred and ninety days. So you will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

KJV For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The formula is one day per year of iniquity. The number 390 has generated extensive debate. Some scholars calculate it from the division of the kingdom under Rehoboam (ca. 930 BCE) to the fall of Jerusalem (586 BCE), yielding approximately 344 years — close but not exact. The Septuagint reads 190 instead of 390, which may represent a different chronological scheme or a textual corruption. Others see the numbers as symbolic rather than precisely historical. We follow the Masoretic text's 390 and note the LXX variant.
Ezekiel 4:6

וְכִלִּ֣יתָ אֶת־אֵ֗לֶּה וְשָֽׁכַבְתָּ֙ עַל־צִדְּךָ֤ הַיְמָנִי֙ שֵׁנִ֔ית וְנָשָׂ֥אתָ אֶת־עֲוֹ֖ן בֵּ֣ית יְהוּדָ֑ה אַרְבָּעִ֣ים י֔וֹם י֥וֹם לַשָּׁנָ֖ה י֥וֹם לַשָּׁנָ֖ה נְתַתִּ֥יו לָֽךְ׃

When you have completed these, lie down again — this time on your right side — and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days. I have assigned you one day for each year.

KJV 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.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The right side corresponds to the south (Judah's geographic position). The number 40 resonates deeply in biblical symbolism: 40 years of wilderness wandering, 40 days of the flood, 40 days of Moses on Sinai. For Judah, 40 years may represent the generation of judgment or may count from some specific starting point (perhaps Josiah's reform in 622 BCE to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, yielding 36 years — again close but not exact). The formula yom lashanah ('a day for a year') makes the symbolic equation explicit.
Ezekiel 4:7

וְאֶל־מְצ֥וֹר יְרוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם תָּכִ֣ין פָּנֶ֑יךָ וּזְרֹעֲךָ֣ חֲשׂוּפָ֔ה וְנִבָּאתָ֖ עָלֶֽיהָ׃

Set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it.

KJV Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The bared arm (zero'akha chasuphah) symbolizes readiness for action — a warrior rolls up his sleeve to fight. Combined with the fixed gaze toward Jerusalem, Ezekiel embodies both the divine warrior's aggression and the prophet's unrelenting focus. He prophesies 'against' (aleha) the city — the preposition confirms that Jerusalem is the target, not the beneficiary, of this oracle.
Ezekiel 4:8

וְהִנֵּ֨ה נָתַ֤תִּי עָלֶ֙יךָ֙ עֲבוֹתִ֔ים וְלֹא־תֵהָפֵ֥ךְ מִצִּדְּךָ֖ אֶל־צִדֶּ֑ךָ עַד־כַּלּוֹתְךָ֖ יְמֵ֥י מְצוּרֶֽךָ׃

See — I will place ropes on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.

KJV And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The ropes (avotim) constrain Ezekiel's movement, preventing him from shifting position during the prolonged sign-act. Whether these bonds are literal or metaphorical (divine constraint) is debated — the same word appeared in 3:25. The phrase yemei metsurekha ('the days of your siege') identifies Ezekiel's lying-down period with the siege itself. The prophet does not merely represent the siege; his body is the siege.
Ezekiel 4:9

וְאַתָּ֣ה קַח־לְךָ֗ חִטִּ֤ין וּשְׂעֹרִים֙ וּפ֣וֹל וַעֲדָשִׁ֔ים וְדֹ֖חַן וְכֻסְּמִ֑ים וְנָתַתָּ֨ה אוֹתָ֜ם בִּכְלִ֣י אֶחָ֗ד וְעָשִׂ֨יתָ אוֹתָ֤ם לְךָ֙ לְלֶ֔חֶם מִסְפַּ֨ר הַיָּמִ֜ים אֲשֶׁר־אַתָּ֣ה ׀ שׁוֹכֵ֣ב עַל־צִדְּךָ֗ שְׁלֹשׁ־מֵא֤וֹת וְתִשְׁעִים֙ י֔וֹם תֹּאכְלֶֽנּוּ׃

Now take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer wheat. Put them all in a single container and make bread from them for yourself. For the number of days that you lie on your side — three hundred and ninety days — you will eat it.

KJV Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The mixed-grain bread is itself a sign of scarcity — under normal conditions, bread was made from wheat or barley alone. Mixing six different grains and legumes indicates that no single staple is available in sufficient quantity, forcing the baker to combine whatever scraps remain. The word kussemim ('emmer wheat' or 'spelt') is a coarse, inferior grain. The KJV's 'fitches' (an archaic word for vetches) is replaced with the more precise identification. The 390-day period matches the Israel-bearing period from verse 5.
Ezekiel 4:10

וּמַאֲכָ֨לְךָ֜ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תֹּאכְלֶ֗נּוּ בְּמִשְׁק֛וֹל עֶשְׂרִ֥ים שֶׁ֖קֶל לַיּ֑וֹם מֵעֵ֥ת עַד־עֵ֖ת תֹּאכְלֶֽנּוּ׃

The food you eat will be measured by weight: twenty shekels per day. You will eat it at set intervals.

KJV And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Twenty shekels is approximately eight ounces (230 grams) — barely a subsistence ration. The phrase me'et ad-et ('from time to time') indicates rationed intervals rather than eating freely. This is siege-level deprivation: enough to survive, not enough to sustain strength. A shekel was approximately 11.5 grams, making the daily ration about 230 grams of mixed-grain bread.
Ezekiel 4:11

וּמַ֥יִם בִּמְשׂוּרָ֖ה תִּשְׁתֶּ֑ה שִׁשִּׁ֣ית הַהִ֔ין מֵעֵ֥ת עַד־עֵ֖ת תִּשְׁתֶּֽה׃

You will also drink water by measure: a sixth of a hin. You will drink it at set intervals.

KJV Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. A hin was approximately 6 liters (1.5 gallons), making a sixth of a hin roughly one liter (about one quart) — enough to prevent death from dehydration but not enough for normal functioning, especially in the Mesopotamian heat. The measured water, like the weighed bread, replicates the desperate rationing of a besieged city where water sources have been cut off.
Ezekiel 4:12

וְעֻגַ֥ת שְׂעֹרִ֖ים תֹּאכְלֶ֑נָּה וְהִ֗יא בְּגֶֽלְלֵי֙ צֵאַ֣ת הָאָדָ֔ם תְּעֻגֶ֖נָה לְעֵֽינֵיהֶֽם׃

You will eat it as a barley cake, baking it over human excrement in their sight."

KJV And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

צֵאַת הָאָדָם tse'at ha'adam
"human excrement" — excrement, dung, human waste

The term is deliberately crude in Hebrew. Using human waste as cooking fuel rendered food ritually unclean and symbolized the total degradation of siege conditions.

Translator Notes

  1. The command is deliberately revolting. The word tse'at ha'adam ('human excrement') is blunt and unambiguous — the Hebrew does not soften the image. Using human dung as fuel was both a practical reality in fuel-scarce siege conditions and a severe ritual defilement. Baking food over human waste rendered it unclean under Levitical law. The phrase le'einehem ('in their sight') means the exiles must watch — the sign-act is public performance.
Ezekiel 4:13

וַיֹּ֖אמֶר יְהוָ֑ה כָּ֗כָה יֹאכְל֤וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אֶת־לַחְמָ֣ם טָמֵ֔א בַּגּוֹיִ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַדִּיחֵ֖ם שָֽׁם׃

Then the LORD said, "In the same way the children of Israel will eat their bread in a state of defilement among the nations where I will drive them."

KJV And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

טָמֵא tamei
"defilement" — unclean, defiled, ritually impure, contaminated

The priestly term for ritual impurity. In Ezekiel's priestly worldview, defilement is not merely a matter of hygiene but a rupture in the sacred order that separates Israel from God's presence.

Translator Notes

  1. The interpretive key: the unclean cooking method symbolizes Israel's future existence among the nations, where maintaining ritual purity will be impossible. The word tamei ('unclean, defiled') is priestly vocabulary — for a kohen like Ezekiel, eating defiled food is a fundamental violation of sacred identity. The exile is not merely political displacement but ritual catastrophe: Israel will be unable to eat clean food, offer proper sacrifice, or maintain the purity boundaries that define their relationship with God.
Ezekiel 4:14

וָאֹמַ֗ר אֲהָהּ֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה הִנֵּ֥ה נַפְשִׁ֖י לֹ֣א מְטֻמָּאָ֑ה וּנְבֵלָ֨ה וּטְרֵפָ֤ה לֹא־אָכַ֙לְתִּי֙ מִנְּעוּרַ֣י וְעַד־עַ֔תָּה וְלֹא־בָ֥א בְּפִ֖י בְּשַׂ֥ר פִּגּֽוּל׃

But I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten an animal that died on its own or was torn by beasts, and no foul meat has ever entered my mouth."

KJV Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.

Notes & Key Terms 3 terms

Key Terms

נְבֵלָה nevelah
"animal that died on its own" — carcass, corpse, animal not properly slaughtered

An animal that died naturally rather than being ritually slaughtered. Eating nevelah rendered a person unclean (Leviticus 17:15).

טְרֵפָה terefah
"torn by beasts" — torn animal, prey, animal killed by predators

An animal killed by other animals, prohibited as food in Exodus 22:31. The modern kosher dietary term 'treif' derives from this word.

פִּגּוּל piggul
"foul meat" — foul thing, abomination, ritually offensive meat

A technical priestly term for sacrificial meat that has become unfit — specifically, meat from a peace offering eaten on the third day (Leviticus 7:18).

Translator Notes

  1. Ezekiel's protest is remarkable — the only instance in the book where the prophet pushes back against a divine command. His objection draws on three categories from the Levitical purity code: nevelah ('an animal that died naturally,' prohibited in Leviticus 17:15), terefah ('an animal torn by predators,' prohibited in Exodus 22:31), and basar piggul ('foul/abominable meat,' the term used in Leviticus 7:18 and 19:7 for sacrificial meat left too long). The precision of Ezekiel's categories reveals his priestly training — this is not a general complaint about unpleasant food but a legal brief citing specific provisions of Torah. The exclamation ahahh ('Ah!') expresses anguished protest.
Ezekiel 4:15

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י רְאֵ֗ה נָתַ֤תִּי לְךָ֙ אֶת־צְפִיעֵ֣י הַבָּקָ֔ר תַּ֖חַת גֶּלְלֵ֣י הָאָדָ֑ם וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ אֶֽת־לַחְמְךָ֖ עֲלֵיהֶֽם׃

Then he said to me, "Very well — I will allow you cow dung in place of human excrement, and you may prepare your bread over that."

KJV Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. God makes a concession — the only divine accommodation to prophetic protest in the book. The word tsephi'ei habaqqar ('cow dung, cattle dung') replaces gelelei ha'adam ('human excrement'). Dried cow dung was (and remains) a common fuel source in the ancient Near East and carries no ritual impurity. The concession is significant: it preserves the sign-act's message (siege conditions, scarcity) while removing the ritual defilement that offended Ezekiel's priestly conscience. God's willingness to adjust the sign-act demonstrates that the point is the message, not the maximum humiliation of the prophet.
Ezekiel 4:16

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י בֶּן־אָדָ֕ם הִנְנִ֥י שֹׁבֵ֛ר מַטֵּה־לֶ֖חֶם בִּירוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם וְאָכְל֨וּ לֶ֤חֶם בְּמִשְׁקָל֙ וּבִדְאָגָ֔ה וּמַ֤יִם בִּמְשׂוּרָה֙ וּבְשִׁמָּמ֔וֹן יִשְׁתּ֑וּ

Then he said to me, "Son of man, I am about to break the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weight and in anxiety, and they will drink water by measure and in horror,

KJV Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

מַטֵּה לֶחֶם matteh-lechem
"supply of bread" — staff of bread, support of bread, food supply

Literally 'the staff of bread' — the image of bread as a walking stick that supports and sustains life. Breaking the staff means removing the basic sustenance that keeps a population alive.

Translator Notes

  1. The phrase matteh-lechem ('staff of bread') is a vivid metaphor — bread is the staff that supports life, and God will snap it. The word bid'agah ('with anxiety, with worry') describes the psychological torment of rationing: every meal consumed in fear that it may be the last. Beshimmamon ('in horror, in desolation') describes the terror of watching water supplies dwindle. The rationing described mirrors exactly what Ezekiel has been acting out — his sign-act is a preview of Jerusalem's future.
Ezekiel 4:17

לְמַ֨עַן יַחְסְר֤וּ לֶ֙חֶם֙ וָמַ֔יִם וְנָשַׁ֖מּוּ אִ֣ישׁ וְאָחִ֑יו וְנָמַ֖קּוּ בַּעֲוֹנָֽם׃

so that they lack bread and water. They will stare at one another in dismay and waste away because of their iniquity."

KJV That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The chapter closes with the ultimate consequence: complete deprivation leading to physical wasting. The verb nashammu ('they will be appalled, they will stare in horror') depicts survivors looking at each other in stunned disbelief. The verb namaqqqu ('they will rot away, waste away, pine away') describes the slow physical deterioration of famine — bodies consuming themselves. The final phrase ba'avonam ('because of their iniquity') insists that this is not arbitrary suffering but the consequence of covenant rebellion. The avon that Ezekiel bore symbolically on his side (v. 4-6) now produces its fruit in the real siege.
Chapter 3 Report an error Ezekiel index Chapter 5