Ezekiel 4:1
Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
Ezekiel 4:1 in other translations
| BSB | “Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you, and draw on it the city of Jerusalem. |
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| WEB | “You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem. |
| ASV | Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it a city, even Jerusalem: |
| YLT | ‘And thou, son of man, take to thee a brick, and thou hast put it before thee, and hast graven on it a city--Jerusalem, |
| DARBY | And thou, son of man, take thee a brick, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it a city, — Jerusalem: |
| BBE | And you, son of man, take a back and put it before you and on it make a picture of a town, even Jerusalem. |
| Webster | Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem; |
What does Ezekiel 4:1 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Eze 4:1-17. Symbolical Vision of the Siege and the Iniquity-bearing.
1. tile--a sun-dried brick, such as are found in Babylon, covered with cuneiform inscriptions, often two feet long and one foot broad.Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Introduction
Ezekiel delineates Jerusalem, and lays siege to it, as a type of the manner in which the Chaldean army should surround that city, Eze 4:1-3. The prophet commanded to lie on his left side three hundred and ninety days, and on his right side forty days, with the signification, Eze 4:4-8. The scanty and coarse provision allowed the prophet during his symbolical siege, consisting chiefly of the worst kinds of grain, and likewise ill-prepared, as he had only cow's dung for fuel, tended all to denote the scarcity of provision, fuel, and every necessary of life, which the Jews should experience during the siege of Jerusalem, Eze 4:9-17. Verse 1 Take thee a tile - A tile, such as we use in covering houses, will give us but a very inadequate notion of those used anciently; and also appear very insufficient for the figures which the prophet was commanded to pourtray on it. A brick is most undoubtedly meant; yet, even the larger dimensions here, as to thickness, will not help us through the difficulty, unless we have recourse to the ancients, who have spoken of the dimensions of the bricks commonly used in building. Palladius, De Re Rustica, lib. 6 c. 12, is very particular on this subject: - Sint vero lateres longitudine pedum duorum, latitudine unius, altitudine quatuor unciarum. "Let the bricks be two feet long, one foot broad, and four inches thick." Edit. Gesner, vol. 3 p. 144. On such a surface as this the whole siege might be easily pourtrayed. There are some brick-bats before me which were brought from the ruins of ancient Babylon, which have been made of clay and straw kneaded together and baked in the sun; one has been more than four inches thick, and on one side it is deeply impressed with characters; others are smaller, well made, and finely impressed on one side with Persepolitan characters. These have been for inside or ornamental work; to such bricks the prophet most probably alludes. But the tempered clay out of which the bricks were made might be meant here; of this substance he might spread out a sufficient quantity to receive all his figures. The figures were 1. Jerusalem. 2. A fort. 3. A mount. 4. The camp of the enemy. 5. Battering rams, and such like engines, round about. 6. A wall round about the city, between it and the besieging army.Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ezekiel 4:1-8
Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain
Ezekiel 4:1 in the original Hebrew
Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.
Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for Ezekiel 4:1
- Hosea 1:2-9
The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. …
- Isaiah 20:2-4
At the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
- Hosea 12:10
I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
- Jeremiah 27:2-22
Thus saith the Lord to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah; And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters; I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. …
- Jeremiah 25:15-38
For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. Then took I the cup at the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me: To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day; …
- Jeremiah 32:31
For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
- 1 Samuel 15:27-28
And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
- Ezekiel 5:1-17
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. …
- Jeremiah 13:1-14
Thus saith the Lord unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water. So I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins. And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. …
- Amos 3:2
You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
- Jeremiah 18:2-12
Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, …
- 1 Kings 11:30-31
And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces: And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:
Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
9 By the provision of the siege, is shewn the hardness of the famine.
take.
5:1-17; 12:3-16; 1Sa 15:27,28; 1Ki 11:30,31; Isa 20:2-4
Jer 13:1-14; 18:2-12; 19:1-15; 25:15-38; 27:2-22; Ho 1:2-9; 3:1-5
Ho 12:10
a tile.[Lebêbnâh ,] {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.
even.
Jer 6:6; 32:31; Am 3:2
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain
Context
- Ezekiel 4:1
Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
- Ezekiel 4:2
And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
Ezekiel 4:1 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Y TÚ, hijo del hombre, tómate un adobe, y ponlo delante de tí, y diseña sobre él la ciudad de Jerusalem: |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Et toi, fils d’homme, prends une brique et mets-la devant toi, et trace sur elle une ville, Jérusalem. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Und du, Menschensohn, nimm dir einen Ziegelstein und lege ihn vor dich hin, und zeichne darauf eine Stadt, Jerusalem. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Et tu, fili hominis, sume tibi laterem, et pones eum coram te, et describes in eo civitatem Jerusalem. |