Ezekiel 4:16

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 4:9-17

The best exposition of this part of Ezekiel's prediction of Jerusalem's desolation is Jeremiah's lamentation of it, Lam. 4:3, 4; 5:10; where he pathetically describes the terrible famine that was in Jerusalem during the siege and the sad effects of it. I. The prophet here, to affect the people with the foresight of it, must confine himself for 390 days to coarse fare and short commons, and that ill-dressed, for they should want both food and fuel. 1. His meat, for the quality of it, was to be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 4:16

Moreover he said unto me, son of man ,.... What follows opens the design, and shows what was intended by the symbol of the miscellany bread, baked with cow dung, the prophet was to eat by measure, as, well as drink water by measure: namely, the sore famine that should be in Jerusalem at the time of the siege: behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem : that is, take away bread, which is the staff of life, the support of it, and which strengthens man's heart; and also the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 4:16

I will break the staff of bread - They shall be besieged till all the bread is consumed, till the famine becomes absolute; see 2 Kings 25:3 ; : "And on the ninth of the fourth month, the famine prevailed in the city; and There Was No Bread for the people of the land." All this was accurately foretold, and as accurately fulfilled. Abp. Newcome on 2 Kings 25:6 ; observes: "This number of years will take us back, with sufficient exactness, from the year in which Jerusalem was sacked by... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 4:16

Verse 16 God returns again to the citizens of Jerusalem, and announces that they should be so destroyed by famine, that they should be reduced to the last extremity, and all but consumed by want. But he places here two forms of punishment: he says, that he should break the staff of bread: then, that their abundance of bread should be small, because they would be compelled to eat their morsels by weight and fear, and to drink water by measure and astonishment. I said they were different forms,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 4:1-17

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 4:1-17

The siege of Jerusalem and the sufferings of the people symbolized. "Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem," etc. This chapter presents difficulties to the student. There is the question whether it is to be understood literally or metaphorically; or, more correctly, whether the things here set forth were really done or were only visional. The commands given in Ezekiel 4:1-3 might have been literally executed; but the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 4:9-17

A symbolic famine. The moral intention for which God imposed this series of painful privations on his prophet was this, viz. to convince the people that their expectation of a speedy return to Jerusalem was vain and futile. Their honoured city, around which God had so long thrown the shield of his protection, could not (so they thought) long remain in the power of the heathen. To explode this bubble delusion, God represented before their eyes the rigours of a military siege, the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 4:16

The staff of bread . The phrase occurs again in Ezekiel 5:16 ; Ezekiel 14:13 , and also in Le 26:26; Psalms 105:16 . In Isaiah 3:1 the thought is the same, but the Hebrew word is different. They shall eat bread by weight, etc. The phrase occurs, it may be noted, in Le 26:26, one of the verses above referred to. The care and astonishment , implying that the wonted cheerfulness of meals would have departed, meet us again in Ezekiel 12:19 . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 4:16-17

The chastisement of famine. The striking and distressing symbolism described in this chapter must have brought with great vividness before the mind of the prophet, and before the minds of his companions in exile, the sufferings that were about to befall the metropolis which was the pride of their hearts. In the siege which was to come upon Jerusalem, the citizens should endure the horrors of privation, of hunger, and of thirst. It was foretold that in a sense this should be God's... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 4:16

The staff of bread - Bread is so called because it is that on which the support of life mainly depends.With astonishment - With dismay and anxiety at the calamities which are befalling them. read more

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