Ezekiel 4 · Verse 16

Ezekiel 4:16

Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:
Ezekiel 4:16, King James Version

Ezekiel 4:16 in other translations

BSBThen He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure.
WEBMoreover he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness. They will drink water by measure, and in dismay;
ASVMoreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay:
YLTAnd He saith unto me, ‘Son of man, lo, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they have eaten bread by weight and with fear; and water by measure and with astonishment, they do drink;
DARBYAnd he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight, and with anxiety; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:
BBEAnd he said to me, Son of man, see, I will take away from Jerusalem her necessary bread: they will take their bread by weight and with care, measuring out their drinking-water with fear and wonder:
WebsterMoreover he said to me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment.

What does Ezekiel 4:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
16. staff of bread--bread by which life is supported, as a man's weight is by the staff he leans on (Le 26:26; Psa 105:16; Is 3:1). by weight, and with care--in scant measure (Eze 4:10).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 16 I will break the staff of bread - They shall be besieged till all the bread is consumed, till the famine becomes absolute; see 2Kgs 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 2Kgs 25:6 observes: "This number of years will take us back, with sufficient exactness, from the year in which Jerusalem was sacked by Nebuchadnezzar to the first year of Jeroboam's reign, when national idolatry began in Israel. The period of days seems to predict the duration of the siege by the Babylonians, 2Kgs 25:9, deducting from the year five months and twenty-nine days, mentioned 2Kgs 25:1-4, the time during which the Chaldeans were on their expedition against the Egyptians; see Jer 37:6." This amounts nearly to the same as that mentioned above.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ezekiel 4:9-17

The bread which was Ezekiel's support, was to be made of coarse grain and pulse mixed together, seldom used except in times of urgent scarcity, and of this he was only to take a small quantity. Thus was figured the extremity to which the Jews were to be reduced during the siege and captivity. Ezekiel does not plead, Lord, from my youth I have been brought up delicately, and never used to any thing like this; but…

Read the full comment on Ezekiel 4:9-17 →

Ezekiel 4:16 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.

וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
אֵלַ֗י'e.Laito meH413
בֶּן\־ben-O son ofH1121
אָדָם֙'a.DamhumankindH120
הִנְנִ֨יhi.Nihere IH2005
שֹׁבֵ֤רsho.Ver[am] about to breakH7665
מַטֵּה\־ma.teh-[the] staff ofH4294
לֶ֙חֶם֙le.chembreadH3899
בִּיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םbi.Ru.sha.Limin JerusalemH3389
וְאָכְלוּ\־ve.'a.khe.lu-and they will eatH398
לֶ֥חֶםLe.chembreadH3899
בְּמִשְׁקָ֖לbe.mish.Kalby weightH4948
וּבִדְאָגָ֑הu.vid.'a.Gahand in anxietyH1674
וּמַ֕יִםu.Ma.yimand waterH4325
בִּמְשׂוּרָ֥הbim.su.Rahby measureH4884
וּבְשִׁמָּמ֖וֹןu.ve.shi.ma.Monand in horrorH8078
יִשְׁתּֽוּ\׃yish.Tuthey will drinkH8354

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ezekiel 4:16

  • Ezekiel 5:16

    When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:

  • Isaiah 3:1

    For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

  • Leviticus 26:26

    And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

  • Ezekiel 4:10-11

    And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.

  • Psalms 105:16

    Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.

  • Ezekiel 12:18-19

    Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness; And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord God of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein.

  • Ezekiel 14:13

    Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:

  • Lamentations 4:9-10

    They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

  • Lamentations 1:11

    All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O Lord, and consider; for I am become vile.

  • Psalms 60:3

    Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.

  • Lamentations 5:9

    We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I will.
5:16; 14:13; Le 26:26; Ps 105:16; Isa 3:1
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.
10,11; 12:18,19; Ps 60:3; La 1:11; 4:9,10; 5:9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Ezekiel 4:15

    Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.

  • Ezekiel 4:16

    Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:

  • Ezekiel 4:17

    That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.

Read all of Ezekiel 4

Ezekiel 4:16 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Díjome luego: Hijo del hombre, he aquí quebrantaré el sostén del pan en Jerusalem, y comerán el pan por peso, y con angustia; y beberán el agua por medida, y con espanto.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et il me dit: Fils d’homme, voici, je brise le bâton du pain dans Jérusalem; et ils mangeront le pain au poids et avec inquiétude, et ils boiront l’eau à la mesure et avec stupeur,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und er sprach zu mir: Menschensohn, siehe, ich will in Jerusalem den Stab des Brotes zerbrechen; und sie werden Brot essen nach dem Gewicht und in Angst, und Wasser trinken nach dem Maße und in Entsetzen,
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et dixit ad me: Fili hominis, ecce ego conteram baculum panis in Jerusalem, et comedent panem in pondere et in sollicitudine, et aquam in mensura et in angustia bibent,