
Text -- Ezekiel 4:3 (NET)




Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics



collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Wesley -> Eze 4:3
Wesley: Eze 4:3 - -- That it may resemble a wall of iron, for as impregnable as such a wall, shall the resolution and patience of the Chaldeans be.
That it may resemble a wall of iron, for as impregnable as such a wall, shall the resolution and patience of the Chaldeans be.
The divine decree as to the Chaldean army investing the city.

JFB: Eze 4:3 - -- Ezekiel, in the person of God, represents the wall of separation between him and the people as one of iron: and the Chaldean investing army. His instr...
Ezekiel, in the person of God, represents the wall of separation between him and the people as one of iron: and the Chaldean investing army. His instrument of separating them from him, as one impossible to burst through.
Clarke: Eze 4:3 - -- Take thou unto thee an iron pan - מחבת machabath , a flat plate or slice, as the margin properly renders it: such as are used in some countries...
Take thou unto thee an iron pan -

Clarke: Eze 4:3 - -- This shall be a sign to the house of Israel - This shall be an emblematical representation of what shall actually take place.
This shall be a sign to the house of Israel - This shall be an emblematical representation of what shall actually take place.
TSK -> Eze 4:3

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes -> Eze 4:3
Barnes: Eze 4:3 - -- An iron pan - Another figure in the coming siege. On Assyrian sculptures from Nimroud and Kouyunjik there are sieges of cities with "forts, mou...
An iron pan - Another figure in the coming siege. On Assyrian sculptures from Nimroud and Kouyunjik there are sieges of cities with "forts, mounts, and rams;"and together with these we see a kind of shield set up on the ground, behind which archers are shooting. Such a shield would be represented by the "flat plate"(margin). Ezekiel was directed to take such a plate (part of his household furniture) and place it between him and the representation of the city.
A sign to the house of Israel - This "sign"was not necessarily acted before the people, but may simply have been described to them as a vivid representation of the event which it foretold. "Israel"stands here for the kingdom of Judah (compare Eze 3:7, Eze 3:17; Eze 5:4; Eze 8:6). After the captivity of the ten tribes the kingdom of Judah represented the whole nation. Hence, prophets writing after this event constantly address their countrymen as the house of Israel without distinction of tribes.
Poole -> Eze 4:3
Poole: Eze 4:3 - -- An iron pan to signify the hardness and obstinacy of the besiegers; probably a frying-pan, on the plain part of which the the bearing the portrait of...
An iron pan to signify the hardness and obstinacy of the besiegers; probably a frying-pan, on the plain part of which the the bearing the portrait of Jerusalem lying, the iron edges or brims compassed it round about, as a line drawn round a besieged city, out of which the distressed could not flee, into which no relief could be brought. It plainly noted the cruelty of the Chaldeans and future tortures of the Jews, who were like to be fried or broiled in this iron pan, as Jer 29:22 ; /APC 2Mac 7:5.
Set it for a wall of iron that it may resemble a wall of iron; for as impregnable as such a wall should the courage, resolution, and patience of the Chaldeans be attacking it.
Set thy face against it fix thy displeased countenance against it, in token of my displeasure.
Thou shalt lay siege: if the prophet do represent him that sent him, then it speaks God’ s appearing against these wicked ones.
This shall be a sign all these things are signs and emblems usual with all, most usual with this prophet, who in this hieroglyphic foreshows the state of those that lived at Jerusalem.
Haydock -> Eze 4:3
Haydock: Eze 4:3 - -- Pan, or plate, on which bread was usually baked. This was to represent the walls of the city. (Calmet)
Pan, or plate, on which bread was usually baked. This was to represent the walls of the city. (Calmet)
Gill -> Eze 4:3
Gill: Eze 4:3 - -- Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan,.... Which Kimchi thinks, for its metal, represented the hardness of the hearts of the people of Israel; and,...
Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan,.... Which Kimchi thinks, for its metal, represented the hardness of the hearts of the people of Israel; and, for its colour, the blackness of their sins: though others are of opinion, this being a pan in which things are fried, it may signify the miseries of the Jews in captivity; the roasting of Ahab and Zedekiah in the fire, and particularly the burning of the city: others, the wrath of God against them, and his resolution to destroy them: but rather, since the use of it was as follows,
and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city, it seems to represent all such things as are made use of by besiegers to screen them from the besieged; such as are now used are trenches, parapets, bastions, &c. for the prophet in this type is the besieger, representing the Chaldean army secure from the annoyance of those within the walls of the city:
and set thy face against it; with a firm resolution to besiege and take the city; which denotes both the settled wrath of God against this people, and the determined purpose of the king of Babylon not to move from it until he had taken it:
and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it; as an emblem of the army of the Chaldeans besieging it, which is confirmed by the next clause:
this shall be a sign to the house of Israel; of the city of Jerusalem being besieged by the Babylonians; this was a sign representing it, and giving them assurance of it.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Eze 4:1-17
TSK Synopsis: Eze 4:1-17 - --1 Under the type of a siege is shewn the time from the defection of Jeroboam to the captivity.9 By the provision of the siege, is shewn the hardness o...
MHCC -> Eze 4:1-8
MHCC: Eze 4:1-8 - --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 f...
Matthew Henry -> Eze 4:1-8
Matthew Henry: Eze 4:1-8 - -- The prophet is here ordered to represent to himself and others by signs which would be proper and powerful to strike the fancy and to affect the min...
Constable: Eze 4:1--24:27 - --II. Oracles of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for sin chs. 4-24
This section of the book contains prophecies th...

Constable: Eze 4:1--7:27 - --A. Ezekiel's initial warnings chs. 4-7
In this section, Ezekiel grouped several symbolic acts that pictu...

Constable: Eze 4:1--5:17 - --1. Dramatizations of the siege of Jerusalem chs. 4-5
The Lord had shut Ezekiel's mouth (3:26), s...
