Ezekiel 4:2

4:2 Lay siege to it! Build siege works against it. Erect a siege ramp ¹  against it! Post soldiers outside it ²  and station battering rams around it.

Ezekiel 4:1

Ominous Object Lessons

4:1 “And you, son of man, take a brick ³  and set it in front of you. Inscribe ⁴  a city on it – Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 43:19-20

43:19 you will give a young bull for a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are descended from Zadok, who approach me to minister to me, declares the sovereign Lord. 43:20 You will take some of its blood, and place it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border all around; you will cleanse it and make atonement for it. ⁵ 

Ezekiel 4:3

4:3 Then for your part take an iron frying pan ⁶  and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it. It is to be under siege; you are to besiege it. This is a sign ⁷  for the house of Israel.

Ezekiel 4:9

4:9 “As for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, ⁸  put them in a single container, and make food ⁹  from them for yourself. For the same number of days that you lie on your side – 390 days ¹⁰  – you will eat it.

¹ tn Or “a barricade.”

² tn Heb “set camps against it.”

³ sn Ancient Near Eastern bricks were 10 to 24 inches long and 6 to 13 1/2 inches wide.

⁴ tn Or perhaps “draw.”

⁵ sn Note the similar language in Lev 16:18.

⁷ tn Or “a griddle,” that is, some sort of plate for cooking.

⁸ tn That is, a symbolic object lesson.

⁹ sn Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. All these foods were common in Mesopotamia where Ezekiel was exiled.

¹⁰ tn Heb “bread.”

¹¹ tc The LXX reads “190 days.”