Ezekiel 4:1--11:25
take <03947> [take.]
brick <03843> [a tile.]
[Lebˆbnƒh <\\See definition 03843\\>,] {levainah,} generally denotes a brick, and Palladius informs us that the bricks in common use among the ancients were "two feet long, one foot broad, and four inches thick;" and on such a surface the whole siege might be easily pourtrayed. Perhaps, however, it may here denote a flat tile, like a Roman brick, which were commonly used for tablets, as we learn from Pliny, Hist. Nat. 1. vii. c. 57.
Jerusalem <03389> [even.]
Lay ................ Post <05414> [lay.]
battering rams <03733> [battering rams. or, chief leaders.]
iron frying ......... iron <04227 01270> [an iron pan. or, a flat plate, or slice.]
sign <0226> [This.]
left ................ number ........... bear <08042 04557 05375> [upon.]
place <07760> [and lay.]
bear <05375> [thou shalt bear.]
determined <05414> [I have.]
390 <07969> [three.]
This number of years will take us back from the year in which Judea was finally desolated by Nebuzar-adan, B.C. 584, to the establishment of idolatry in Israel by Jeroboam, B.C. 975. "Beginning from 1 Ki 12:33. Ending Jer 52:30."
40 days ...... day ... each <0705 03117> [forty days.]
This represented the forty years during which gross idolatry prevailed in Judah, from the reformation of Josiah, B.C. 624, to the same final desolation of the land. Some think that the period of 390 days also predicts the duration of the siege of the Babylonians, (ver. 9,) deducting from it five months and twenty-nine days, when the besiegers went to meet the Egyptians (2 Ki 25:1-4; Jer 37:5;) and that forty days may have been employed in desolating the temple and city. "Beginning from 2 Ki 23:3, 23. Ending Jer 52:30."
days ...... day ... each year <08141 03117> [each day for a year. Heb. a day for a year, a day for a year.]
<03559> [set.]
arm <02220> [and thine.]
will <05414> [I will.]
side .... other <06654> [from one side to another. Heb. from thy side to thy side.]
wheat <02406> [wheat.]
millet <01764> [millet.]
{Dochan,} in Arabic, {dokhn,} the {holcus dochna} of Forskal, is a kind of millet, of considerable use as a food; the cultivation of which is described by Browne.
spelt <03698> [fitches. or, spelt.]
{Kussemim} is doubtless [zea,] or spelt, as Aquila and Symmachus render here; and so LXX. and Theodotion, [olyra.] In times of scarcity it is customary to mix several kinds of coarser grains with the finer, to make it last the longer.
390 <07969> [three.]
drink ............ drink <08354> [shalt drink.]
[cake. a "round" thing.]
Ah <0162> [Ah.]
ceremonially <05315> [my soul.]
eaten <0398> [have I.]
unclean <06292> [abominable.]
cow's manure ..... excrement <06832 01561 01241> [cow's dung.]
Dried cow-dung is a common fuel in the East, as it is in many parts of England, to the present day; but the prophet was ordered to prepare his bread with human ordure, to shew the extreme degree of wretchedness to which the besieged should be exposed, as they would be obliged literally to use it, from not being able to leave the city to collect other fuel.
remove <07665> [I will.]
eat <0398> [eat.]
The prophet was allowed each day only twenty shekels weight, or about ten ounces, of the coarse food he had prepared, and the sixth part of a hin, scarcely a pint and a half, of water; all of which was intended to shew that they should be obliged to eat the meanest and coarsest food, and that by weight, and their water by measure.
rot <04743> [and consume.]
son <01121> [son.]
In this expressive emblem, the prophet represents the Jewish nation; his hair, the people; the razor, the Chaldeans; the cutting of the hair, the calamities and disgrace coming upon them; the balances, the exact distribution of the Divine judgments; the third part of the hair burnt, those destroyed in the city; the third part smitten with a knife, those slain in attempting to escape; the third part scattered to the winds, those who escaped to other countries; the few hairs in his skirt, those left with Gedaliah; and the burning of these, their destruction in Egypt.
take ............ Shave off ............. take <03947> [take.]
take ............ Shave off ............. take <03947> [then.]
Burn <01197> [shalt burn.]
city <05892> [the city.]
unleash <07324> [I will draw.]
few <04592> [a few.]
ends of your garment <03671> [skirts. Heb. wings.]
take <03947> [take.]
fire ......... fire <0784> [shall a fire.]
Jerusalem <03389> [This.]
placed <07760> [I have.]
defied <04784> [she hath.]
rejected <03988> [for they.]
carried <06213> [neither have done.]
execute <06213> [even I.]
among ...... watch <08432 05869> [in the.]
do ........ done ...... do <06213> [that which.]
The sentence here passed upon Jerusalem is very dreadful, and the manner of expression makes it yet more so: the judgments are various, the threatenings of them varied, reiterated; so that one may well say, Who is able to stand in God's sight when he is angry?
fathers .............. fathers <01> [the fathers.]
survivors <07611> [the whole.]
live <02416> [as I live.]
defiled <02930> [thou hast.]
detestable idols <08251> [detestable.]
withdraw ........... spare <01639 02550> [will I.]
<05869> [neither shall.]
third ...... die ............. third .............. third <07992 04191> [third part of.]
scatter <02219> [and I will scatter.]
unleash <07324> [and I will draw.]
This was particularly fulfilled in the destruction of those who retired to Egypt; and has been remarkably verified in the many persecutions and miseries which the Jews have suffered at different times, in the various countries into which they are dispersed.
anger <0639> [shall mine.]
rage ............................ rage <02534> [I will cause.]
appeased <05162> [I will be.]
spoken <01696> [spoken.]
make <05414> [I will.]
nations <01471> [the nations.]
example <04148> [an instruction.]
execute <06213> [when.]
deadly <07451> [the evil.]
remove <07665> [and will.]
<07451> [and evil.]
Plague <01698> [and pestilence.]
bring <0935> [and I.]
Lord <03068> [I the.]
word <01697> [And the word.]
This is a new prophecy, and was probably given after the 430 days of his lying on his left and right side were accomplished. By Israel here Judea is simply meant; not the ten tribes, who had long before been carried captive.
turn <07760> [set.]
mountains <02022> [the mountains.]
Mountains .................... mountains <02022> [Ye.]
Mountains .................... mountains <02022> [to the mountains.]
destroy <06> [and I will.]
incense altars <02553> [images. or, sun-images. and so.]
will ... down <05307> [and I.]
I will place <05414> [lay. Heb. give.]
dwellings <04186> [all your.]
cities <05892> [the cities.]
high places <01116> [and the.]
altars <04196> [your altars.]
works <04639> [your works.]
slain <02491> [slain.]
know <03045> [and ye.]
remember <02142> [remember.]
will .... I ... crushed <07665> [I am.]
eyes <05869> [their eyes.]
exiled ............................ loathe <07617 06962> [they shall.]
They shall humble themselves on account of their abominations, forsake their idolatry, and worship ME alone: and this they have done from the Babylonish captivity to the present day.
Clap <05221> [Smite.]
Ah <0253> [Alas.]
fall <05307> [fall.]
far <07350> [far off.]
by ...... vent <03615> [thus.]
dead <02491> [when.]
high <07311> [upon.]
stretch out <05186> [will I.]
desolate waste .... wilderness <08077 04057 04923> [more desolate than the wilderness. or, desolate from the wilderness. Diblath.]
[Almon-diblathaim.]
[Beth-diblathaim.]
Diblath was a city of Moab and appears from parallel passages to have been situated between Dibon and Abarim or Nebo.
land <0127> [unto.]
end ... end <07093> [An end.]
Two or three MSS. read {ketz ba, ba hakketz,} "the end cometh, come is the end;" which is supported by all the ancient versions.
release <07971> [and I.]
judge <08199> [will judge.]
I will .... accountable <05414> [recompense. Heb. give.]
<05869> [mine.]
suffer <05414> [but.]
know <03045> [and ye.]
end ............ end <07093> [An end.]
This is similar to the second verse; but there is a paronomasia, or play upon words, here, deserving of notice: {ketz ba, ba hakketz, haikeetz ailayich,} "the end cometh, come is the end: it waketh for thee." {Ketz,} is an end; {haikeetz,} is to wake or watch.
comes .... comes .... awakened against ....... you ..... coming <06974 0935> [watcheth for thee. Heb. awaketh against thee.]
comes .... comes ..... against ........... coming <0935> [behold.]
Doom <06843> [morning.]
time <06256> [the time.]
day <03117> [the day.]
shouts <01906> [sounding again. or, echo.]
pour <08210> [pour.]
vent <03615> [accomplish.]
judge <08199> [and I.]
behavior .................... know <01870 03045> [thee. Heb. upon thee. and ye.]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
coming <0935> [behold, it.]
Doom <06843> [the morning.]
staff <04294> [the rod.]
pride <02087> [pride.]
Violence <02555> [Violence.]
crowd <01995> [none.]
crowd <01995> [multitude. or, tumult. theirs. or, their tumultuous persons. neither.]
time <06256> [time.]
customer <07069> [let.]
wrath <02740> [for.]
seller <04376> [the seller.]
both .... alive ....................... life <02416> [they were yet alive. Heb. their life were yet among the living. neither.]
iniquity <05771> [in, etc. or, whose life is in his iniquity. the iniquity of his life. Heb. his iniquity.]
blown <08628> [have.]
anger <02740> [for.]
Their survivors <06403> [they.]
doves <03123> [like.]
moan <01993> [mourning.]
hands <03027> [hands.]
urine <04325 03212> [be weak as water. Heb. go into water.]
<02296> [shall also.]
terror <06427> [and horror.]
discard <07993> [shall cast.]
filth <05079> [removed. Heb. for a separation, or uncleanness. they shall not.]
[it is the stumbling-block of their iniquity. or, their iniquity is their stumbling-block.]
beauty <06643> [the beauty.]
made <06213> [but.]
rendered ....................... render ... filthy <05079 07760 05414> [set it far from them. or, made it unto them an unclean thing.]
face <06440> [face.]
Vandals <06530> [robbers. or, burglars.]
chain <07569> [a chain.]
land <0776> [for.]
bring <0935> [I will bring.]
possession <03423> [they shall.]
That is, "the Chaldeans shall possess the houses of the Jews." The antecedents of pronouns are thus frequently understood in Hebrew poetry.
arrogance <01347> [I will also.]
arrogance <01347> [the pomp.]
That is, the magnificence of their greatest and haughtiest princes.
be desecrated <02490 06942> [their holy places shall be defiled. or, they shall inherit their holy places.]
Terror <07089> [Destruction. Heb. Cutting off. and they.]
Disaster ... disaster ... come <01943 0935> [Mischief shall.]
seek <01245> [then.]
instruction <08451> [but.]
elders <02205> [ancients.]
king <04428> [king.]
deal <06213> [I will.]
justice <04941> [according to their deserts. Heb. with their judgments.]
know <03045> [and they.]
sixth year .... sixth <08141 08345> [in the sixth year.]
elders <02205> [and the.]
hand <03027> [that the.]
I watched <07200> [I beheld.]
glow <02830> [amber.]
Amber is a hard, inflammable, bituminous substance, of a beautiful yellow colour, very transparent, and susceptible of an exquisite polish. When rubbed it is highly endowed with electricity; a name which the moderns have formed from its Greek name [elektron.] But, as amber becomes dim as soon as it feels the fire, and is speedily consumed, it is probable that the original {chashmal,} which Bochart derives from the Chaldee {nechash,} copper, and {melala,} gold, was a mixed metal, similar to that which the Greeks called [elektron,] electrum, as the LXX. and Vulgate render, from its resemblance to amber in colour.
stretched out <07971> [he put.]
wind <07307> [the spirit.]
door <06607> [to the door.]
statue <05566> [the image.]
provokes <07069> [provoketh.]
look up ....... looked up <05375> [lift.]
gate <08179> [at the.]
see ........................... see <07200> [seest.]
great ...................... greater ... than <01419> [even.]
far <07368> [that I.]
great ...................... greater ... than <01419> [greater.]
practicing <06213> [that they.]
figure <08403> [and behold.]
These images portrayed on the wall were no doubt the objects of Egyptian idolatry, the ox, ape, crocodile, ibis, beetle, etc., as we find those idols were painted on the walls of the tombs of kings and nobles.
figure <08403> [every.]
Seventy <07657> [seventy.]
Shaphan <08227> [Shaphan.]
men ........................ each <0376> [every.]
see ................................. see <07200> [hast.]
elders <02205> [ancients.]
dark ..... chamber <02822 02315> [in the.]
see ................................. see <03068 07200> [The Lord seeth.]
greater <01419> [greater.]
north <06828> [toward.]
see ........ see <07200> [Hast.]
greater ... than <01419> [greater.]
inner <06442> [the inner.]
entrance <06607> [at the door.]
twenty-five <02568> [about.]
backs <0268> [with their.]
facing <06440> [their faces.]
worshiping <07812> [and they.]
It seems that the Jews had incorporated every species of idolatry into their worship, Egyptian, Phoenician, and Persian; for this evidently was the Magian worship of the sun.
trivial <07043> [Is it a light, etc. or, Is there any thing lighter than to commit, etc. for.]
putting <07971> [they put.]
So the Vulgate has, {applicant ramum ad nares suas,} "they apply the branch to their nose;" which Jerome explains by "a branch of the palm tree with which they adored the idols;" and it seems plainly to allude to the Magian fire-worshippers, who, Strabo tells us, held a little bunch of twigs in their hand, when praying before the fire.
act <06213> [will I also.]
shouted <07121> [and though.]
shouted <07121> [cried.]
destruction <06486> [Cause.]
six <08337> [six.]
upper <05945> [the higher.]
faces <06437> [lieth. Heb. is turned. slaughter weapon. Heb. weapon of his breaking in pieces. and one.]
kit <07083> [ink-horn.]
{Keseth,} (in Chaldee, {kista,} Syriac, {kesto,} Ethiopic, {kasut,}) denotes a bottle, or vessel to hold any fluid; and being here united to {sophair,} a writer, is not improperly rendered as an ink-horn: so one of the editions of Aquila, [melandocheion,] and Vulgate, {atramentarium.} Dr. Shaw informs us, that among the Moors, "the {Hojas,} i.e., writers or secretaries, suspend their ink-horns in their girdles."
side <04975> [by his side. Heb. upon his loins. beside.]
[set a mark. Heb. mark a mark.]
moan <0584> [that sigh.]
listened <0241> [hearing. Heb. ears.]
through <05674> [Go.]
wipe ... out <04889> [utterly. Heb. to destruction. old.]
touch <05066> [but.]
Begin ....... began <02490> [and begin.]
Old men ............................... elders <02205> [at the.]
threw <05307> [that I.]
Ah <0162> [Ah.]
sin <05771> [The iniquity.]
land ..................... land <0776> [and the land.]
[full of. Heb. filled with. perverseness. or, wresting of judgment.]
Lord ... abandoned ...... Lord <03068 05800> [The Lord hath.]
eye <05869> [mine.]
repay <05414> [but.]
back word <07725 01697> [reported the matter. Heb. returned the word. I have.]
watched ....................... appearing <07200> [I looked.]
platform <07549> [in the.]
top <07218> [above.]
resembling <04758> [as the.]
man <0376> [unto.]
Go ......................... went <0935> [Go.]
hands <02651> [thine hand. Heb. the hollow of thine hand. coals.]
scatter <02236> [scatter.]
cloud <06051> [and the.]
glory ................................... glory <03519> [the glory.]
Then <07311> [went up. Heb. was lifted up. and the house.]
sound ................. sound <06963> [the sound.]
outer <02435> [outer.]
sound ................. sound <06963> [the voice.]
stretched out <07971> [stretched forth. Heb. sent forth. unto the.]
left <03318> [and went.]
four <0702> [behold.]
gleamed <05869> [as the.]
jasper <08658> [a beryl.]
{Tarshish} is generally rendered by the LXX. and the Vulgate the chrysolite, so called by the ancients (from [chrusos (chrysos) <\\See definition 5557\\>,] gold, and [lithos <\\See definition 3037\\>,] a stone,) because of its fine gold yellow colour. It is now called by the moderns the topaz; is a very beautiful and valuable gem in its pure and perfect state, though very rarely found so; and the finer pieces of it are in hardness second only to the diamond. The Vulgate, however, in ch. 1:16, renders, {quasi visio maris,} "as the appearance of the seas," i.e., azure; and Dr. Geddes (on Ex 28:10) says, that, with {Abarbanel,} he believes the beryl to be intended. It is a pellucid gem, called by our lapidaries, {aqua marina,} of a sea or bluish green colour, found in the East Indies and about the gold mines of Peru. The genuine beryl never receives any other mixture of colour; and in its perfect state approaches the hardness of garnet.
four <03212 0702> [they went upon.]
head <07218> [whither.]
bodies <01320> [body. Heb. flesh. were.]
called <07121> [it was cried, etc. or, they were called in my hearing,]
Wheel, or Galgal.
first ...... a <0259> [every.]
faces ...... face .... cherub <06440 03742> [the face of a cherub.]
In ch. 1:10, instead of "the face of a cherub," it is "the face of an ox:" hence a cherub was in the likeness of an ox, at least as to its head. The extraordinary shape of these angelic beings, which appeared to the prophet in vision, is manifestly symbolical; for it is not to be supposed that these heavenly beings are really thus formed. The four faces, wings, and the arms of a man, denote the sublime qualities of these immediate ministers of the Deity; qualities entirely essential to fill up the extent of their duty. The face of a man denotes their intelligence; of a lion, their intrepid courage; of an ox, their patience and perseverance in labour; and of an eagle, their great penetration, their sublime sight into heavenly things, and their readiness to rise up into all that is great and divine. The wings being stretched out, signifies their readiness and rapidity in obeying the commands of their Master; the wings bent down, denotes their profound respect before the Lord of the Universe; and the man's arms under the wings, shew that zeal produces application and labour.
rose <07426> [lifted.]
living <02416> [This.]
spirit <07307> [for.]
living <02416> [of the living creature. or, of life.]
glory <03519> [the glory.]
stopped <05975> [and stood.]
cherubim <03742> [the cherubims.]
east <06931> [of the east.]
glory <03519> [and the glory.]
living <02416> [the living.]
River <05104> [the river.]
knew <03045> [and I.]
Each ... four ..... four <0702> [had four.]
form <01823> [and the.]
form <01823> [the likeness.]
<03212> [they went.]
wind <07307> [the spirit.]
east <06931> [the east.]
entrance <06607> [behold.]
Jaazaniah <02970> [Jaazaniah.]
Pelatiah <06410> [Pelatiah.]
[It is not, etc. or, It is not for us to build houses near.]
cooking pot <05518> [this city.]
Spirit ................................... minds <07307> [the Spirit.]
said .... Say ....... says ....... thinking <0559> [Speak.]
said .... Say ....... says ....... thinking <0559> [Thus have.]
know <03045> [for.]
corpses <02491> [Your.]
take ... out <03318> [but.]
will <05414> [and deliver.]
execute <06213> [and will.]
die ...... will <05307> [fall.]
border <01366> [in.]
know <03045> [and ye.]
[for we have not walked. or, which have not walked.]
behaved .......... you <06213> [but.]
prophesying <05012> [And it.]
Whilst the prophet, in vision, was delivering this message to the princes, Pelatiah suddenly died; and it is highly probable the he was actually struck dead at this very time, in so remarkable a manner as to render the vision much noticed. The prophet, alarmed and distressed for the welfare of his people, anxiously enquired whether the Lord meant to destroy the remnant of Israel.
prophesying <05012> [when.]
Then ... threw .... down <05307> [Then.]
Alas <0162> [Ah.]
brothers <0251> [thy brethren.]
gone far away <07368> [Get.]
inhabitants ................. land <03427 0776> [unto.]
say ........ says <0559> [Thus saith.]
little <04592> [as a.]
give ........ put .................... give <05414> [I will give.]
give ........ put .................... give <05414> [I will put.]
remove <05493> [I will take.]
<03212> [they may.]
people <05971> [and they.]
hearts <03820> [whose.]
detestable things <08251> [their detestable.]
repay <05414> [I will.]
glory <03519> [the glory.]
east <06924> [which.]
wind ..................... Spirit <07307> [the spirit.]
Babylonia <03778> [into.]
vision ............ vision <04758> [So.]
