Yehezkiel 3:16--4:17
Konteks3:16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: 1 3:17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman 2 for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. 3:18 When I say to the wicked, “You will certainly die,” 3 and you do not warn him – you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked deed and wicked lifestyle so that he may live – that wicked person will die for his iniquity, 4 but I will hold you accountable for his death. 5 3:19 But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life. 6
3:20 “When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle 7 before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death. 3:21 However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he 8 does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.”
3:22 The hand 9 of the Lord rested on me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the valley, 10 and I will speak with you there.” 3:23 So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, 11 and I threw myself face down.
3:24 Then a wind 12 came into me and stood me on my feet. The Lord 13 spoke to me and said, “Go shut yourself in your house. 3:25 As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and tie you up with them, so you cannot go out among them. 3:26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to reprove 14 them, for they are a rebellious house. 3:27 But when I speak with you, I will loosen your tongue 15 and you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says.’ Those who listen will listen, but the indifferent will refuse, 16 for they are a rebellious house.
4:1 “And you, son of man, take a brick 17 and set it in front of you. Inscribe 18 a city on it – Jerusalem. 4:2 Lay siege to it! Build siege works against it. Erect a siege ramp 19 against it! Post soldiers outside it 20 and station battering rams around it. 4:3 Then for your part take an iron frying pan 21 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 22 for the house of Israel.
4:4 “Also for your part lie on your left side and place the iniquity 23 of the house of Israel on it. For the number of days you lie on your side you will bear their iniquity. 4:5 I have determined that the number of the years of their iniquity are to be the number of days 24 for you – 390 days. 25 So bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 26
4:6 “When you have completed these days, then lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 40 days 27 – I have assigned one day for each year. 4:7 You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it. 4:8 Look here, I will tie you up with ropes, so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you complete the days of your siege. 28
4:9 “As for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, 29 put them in a single container, and make food 30 from them for yourself. For the same number of days that you lie on your side – 390 days 31 – you will eat it. 4:10 The food you eat will be eight ounces 32 a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed 33 times. 4:11 And you must drink water by measure, a pint and a half; 34 you must drink it at fixed times. 4:12 And you must eat the food like you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human excrement.” 35 4:13 And the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their unclean food among the nations 36 where I will banish them.”
4:14 And I said, “Ah, sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat 37 has never entered my mouth.”
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.”
4:16 Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply 38 in Jerusalem. 39 They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror 4:17 because they will lack bread and water. Each one will be terrified, and they will rot for their iniquity. 40
[3:16] 1 sn This phrase occurs about fifty times in the book of Ezekiel.
[3:17] 2 tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24; 2 Kgs 9:17.
[3:18] 3 sn Even though the infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the warning, the warning is still implicitly conditional, as the following context makes clear.
[3:18] 4 tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and v. 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
[3:18] 5 tn Heb “his blood I will seek from your hand.” The expression “seek blood from the hand” is equivalent to requiring the death penalty (2 Sam 4:11-12).
[3:19] 6 tn Verses 17-19 are repeated in Ezek 33:7-9.
[3:20] 7 tn Or “stumbling block.” The Hebrew term refers to an obstacle in the road in Lev 19:14.
[3:21] 8 tn Heb “the righteous man.”
[3:22] sn Hand in the OT can refer metaphorically to power, authority, or influence. In Ezekiel God’s hand being on the prophet is regularly associated with communication or a vision from God (1:3; 3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1).
[3:22] 10 sn Ezekiel had another vision at this location, recounted in Ezek 37.
[3:24] 12 tn See the note on “wind” in 2:2.
[3:26] 14 tn Heb “you will not be to them a reprover.” In Isa 29:21 and Amos 5:10 “a reprover” issued rebuke at the city gate.
[3:27] 15 tn Heb “open your mouth.”
[3:27] 16 tn Heb “the listener will listen, the refuser will refuse.” Because the word for listening can also mean obeying, the nuance may be that the obedient will listen, or that the one who listens will obey. Also, although the verbs are not jussive as pointed in the MT, some translate them with a volitive sense: “the one who listens – let that one listen, the one who refuses – let that one refuse.”
[4:1] 17 sn Ancient Near Eastern bricks were 10 to 24 inches long and 6 to 13 1/2 inches wide.
[4:1] 18 tn Or perhaps “draw.”
[4:2] 20 tn Heb “set camps against it.”
[4:3] 21 tn Or “a griddle,” that is, some sort of plate for cooking.
[4:3] 22 tn That is, a symbolic object lesson.
[4:4] 23 tn Or “punishment” (also in vv. 5, 6).
[4:5] 24 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] 25 tc The LXX reads “190 days.”
[4:5] sn The significance of the number 390 is not clear. The best explanation is that “days” are used figuratively for years and the number refers to the years of the sinfulness of Israel during the period of the First Temple. Some understand the number to refer to the length of the division of the northern and southern kingdoms down to the fall of Jerusalem (931-586
[4:5] 26 tn Or “When you have carried the iniquity of the house of Israel,” and continuing on to the next verse.
[4:6] 27 sn The number 40 may refer in general to the period of Judah’s exile using the number of years Israel was punished in the wilderness. In this case, however, one would need to translate, “you will bear the punishment of the house of Judah.”
[4:8] 28 sn The action surely refers to a series of daily acts rather than to a continuous period.
[4:9] 29 sn Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. All these foods were common in Mesopotamia where Ezekiel was exiled.
[4:9] 31 tc The LXX reads “190 days.”
[4:10] 32 sn Eight ounces (Heb “twenty shekels”). The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of grain about 230 grams here (8 ounces).
[4:10] 33 tn Heb “from time to time.”
[4:11] 34 sn A pint and a half [Heb “one-sixth of a hin”]. One-sixth of a hin was a quantity of liquid equal to about 1.3 pints or 0.6 liters.
[4:12] 35 sn Human waste was to remain outside the camp of the Israelites according to Deut 23:15.
[4:13] 36 sn Unclean food among the nations. Lands outside of Israel were considered unclean (Josh 22:19; Amos 7:17).
[4:14] 37 tn The Hebrew term refers to sacrificial meat not eaten by the appropriate time (Lev 7:18; 19:7).
[4:16] 38 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support.
[4:16] 39 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[4:17] 40 tn Or “in their punishment.” Ezek 4:16-17 alludes to Lev 26:26, 39. The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here, 3:18, 19; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
