Ezekiel 4 · Verse 3

Ezekiel 4:3

Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
Ezekiel 4:3, King James Version

Ezekiel 4:3 in other translations

BSBThen take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.
WEBTake for yourself an iron pan and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city. Then set your face toward it. It will be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
ASVAnd take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
YLTAnd thou, take to thee an iron pan, and thou hast made it a wall of iron between thee and the city; and thou hast prepared thy face against it, and it hath been in a siege, yea, thou hast laid siege against it. A sign it is to the house of Israel.
DARBYAnd take thou unto thee an iron plate, and put it for a wall of iron between thee and the city; and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it: this shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
BBEAnd take a flat iron plate, and put it for a wall of iron between you and the town: and let your face be turned to it, and it will be shut in and you will make an attack on it. This will be a sign to the children of Israel.
WebsterMoreover take thou to thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

What does Ezekiel 4:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. iron pan--the divine decree as to the Chaldean army investing the city. set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city--Ezekiel, in the person of God, represents the wall of separation between him and the people as one of iron: and the Chaldean investing army. His instrument of separating them from him, as one impossible to burst through. set ... face against it--inexorably (Psa 34:16). The exiles envied their brethren remaining in Jerusalem, but exile is better than the straitness of a siege.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 Take thou unto thee an iron pan - מחבת machabath, a flat plate or slice, as the margin properly renders it: such as are used in some countries to bake bread on, called a griddle or girdle, being suspended above the fire, and kept in a proper degree of heat for the purpose. A plate like this, stuck perpendicularly in the earth, would show the nature of a wall much better than any pan could do. The Chaldeans threw such a wall round Jerusalem, to prevent the besieged from receiving any succours, and from escaping from the city. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel - This shall be an emblematical representation of what shall actually take place.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ezekiel 4:1-8

The siege of Jerusalem. (Ezek 4:1-8) The famine the inhabitants would suffer. (Ezek 4:9-17) Verses 1-8 The prophet was to represent the siege of Jerusalem by signs. He was to lie on his left side for a number of days, supposed to be equal to the years from the establishment of idolatry. All that the prophet sets before the children of his people, about the destruction of Jerusalem, is to show that sin is the…

Read the full comment on Ezekiel 4:1-8 →

Ezekiel 4:3 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.

וְאַתָּ֤הve.'a.Tahand youH859
קַח\־kach-takeH3947
לְךָ֙le.Kha<for> yourself
מַחֲבַ֣תma.cha.Vata baking tray ofH4227
בַּרְזֶ֔לbar.ZelironH1270
וְנָתַתָּ֤הve.na.ta.Tahand you will makeH5414
אוֹתָהּ֙'o.Tah<obj.> itH853
קִ֣ירkira wall ofH7023
בַּרְזֶ֔לbar.ZelironH1270
בֵּינְךָ֖bei.ne.Khabetween youH996
וּבֵ֣יןu.Veinand betweenH996
הָעִ֑ירha.'Irthe cityH5892
וַהֲכִינֹתָה֩va.ha.khi.no.Tahand you will directH3559
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
פָּנֶ֨יךָpa.Nei.khaface yourH6440
אֵלֶ֜יהָ'e.Lei.hato itH413
וְהָיְתָ֤הve.ha.ye.Tahand it will beH1961
בַמָּצוֹר֙va.ma.tzOrin <the> state of siegeH4692
וְצַרְתָּ֣ve.tzar.Taand you will lay siegeH6696
עָלֶ֔יהָ'a.Lei.haon itH5921
א֥וֹת'ot[will be] a signH226
הִ֖יאhi'itH1931
לְבֵ֥יתle.Veitfor [the] house ofH1004
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל\׃\ \סYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478

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

Cross references for Ezekiel 4:3

  • Isaiah 8:18

    Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

  • Ezekiel 12:6

    In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.

  • Isaiah 20:3

    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;

  • Ezekiel 12:11

    Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity.

  • Ezekiel 24:24-27

    Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord God. Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters, That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears? In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

  • Hebrews 2:4

    God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

  • Leviticus 2:5

    And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil.

  • Luke 2:34

    And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;

  • Jeremiah 39:1

    In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
an iron pan. or, a flat plate, or slice.
Le 2:5
This.
12:6,11; 24:24-27; Isa 8:18; 20:3; Lu 2:34; Heb 2:4

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

Context

  • 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 4:3

    Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

  • Ezekiel 4:4

    Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.

Read all of Ezekiel 4

Ezekiel 4:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Tómate también una plancha de hierro, y ponla en lugar de muro de hierro entre ti y la ciudad: afirmarás luego tu rostro contra ella, y será en lugar de cerco, y la sitiarás. Es señal á la casa de Israel.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et toi, prends une plaque de fer, et mets-la comme un mur de fer entre toi et la ville; et dresse ta face contre elle, et elle sera assiégée, et tu l’assiégeras: ce sera un signe pour la maison d’Israël.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und du, nimm dir eine eiserne Pfanne und stelle sie als eine eiserne Mauer zwischen dich und die Stadt; und richte dein Angesicht gegen sie, daß sie in Belagerung sei und du sie belagerest. Das sei ein Wahrzeichen dem Hause Israel. -
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Et tu sume tibi sartaginem ferream, et pones eam in murum ferreum inter te et inter civitatem: et obfirmabis faciem tuam ad eam, et erit in obsidionem, et circumdabis eam: signum est domui Israël.