Ezekiel 4:1

Ominous Object Lessons

4:1 “And you, son of man, take a brick ¹  and set it in front of you. Inscribe ²  a city on it – Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 4:5

4:5 I have determined that the number of the years of their iniquity are to be the number of days ³  for you – 390 days. ⁴  So bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. ⁵ 

Ezekiel 4:15

4:15 So he said to me, “All right then, I will substitute cow’s manure instead of human excrement. You will cook your food over it.”

Ezekiel 16:14

16:14 Your fame ⁶  spread among the nations because of your beauty; your beauty was perfect because of the splendor which I bestowed on you, declares the sovereign Lord. ⁷ 

Ezekiel 16:19

16:19 As for my food that I gave you – the fine flour, olive oil, and honey I fed you – you placed it before them as a soothing aroma. That is exactly what happened, declares the sovereign Lord.

Ezekiel 16:34

16:34 You were different from other prostitutes ⁸  because no one solicited you. When you gave payment and no payment was given to you, you became the opposite!

Ezekiel 16:61

16:61 Then you will remember your conduct, and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you.

Ezekiel 27:5

27:5 They crafted ⁹  all your planks out of fir trees from Senir; ¹⁰ 

they took a cedar from Lebanon to make your mast.

Ezekiel 27:7

27:7 Fine linen from Egypt, woven with patterns, was used for your sail

to serve as your banner;

blue and purple from the coastlands of Elishah ¹¹  was used for your deck’s awning.

Ezekiel 35:5

35:5 “‘You have shown unrelenting hostility and poured the people of Israel onto the blades of a sword ¹²  at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment.

[4:1]  ¹ sn Ancient Near Eastern bricks were 10 to 24 inches long and 6 to 13 1/2 inches wide.

[4:1]  ² tn Or perhaps “draw.”

[4:5]  ³ tn Heb “I have assigned for you that the years of their iniquity be the number of days.” Num 14:33-34 is an example of the reverse, where the days were converted into years, the number of days spying out the land becoming the number of years of the wilderness wanderings.

[4:5]  ⁴ tc The LXX reads “190 days.”

[4:5]  ⁵ tn Or “When you have carried the iniquity of the house of Israel,” and continuing on to the next verse.

[16:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “name.”

[16:14]  ⁶ sn The description of the nation Israel in vv. 10-14 recalls the splendor of the nation’s golden age under King Solomon.

[16:34]  ⁷ tn Heb “With you it was opposite of women in your prostitution.”

[27:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “built.”

[27:5]  ¹⁰ tn Perhaps the hull or deck. The term is dual, so perhaps it refers to a double-decked ship.

[27:7]  ¹¹ sn This is probably a reference to Cyprus.

[35:5]  ¹³ tn Or “gave over…to the power of the sword.” This phrase also occurs in Jer 18:21 and Ps 63:10.