Ezekiel 4 · Verse 4

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.

Ezekiel 4:4, King James Version

Ezekiel 4:4 in other translations

BSB	Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side.
WEB	“Moreover lie on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. According to the number of the days that you shall lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.
ASV	Moreover lie thou 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.
YLT	‘And thou, lie on thy left side, and thou hast placed the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; the number of the days that thou liest on it, thou bearest their iniquity.
DARBY	And thou, lie upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: the number of the days that thou liest upon it, thou shalt bear their iniquity.
BBE	Then, stretching yourself out on your left side, take the sin of the children of Israel on yourself: for as long as you are stretched out, so long will the sin of the children of Israel be on you.
Webster	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.

What does Ezekiel 4:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

4. Another symbolical act performed at the same time as the former, in vision, not in external action, wherein it would have been only puerile: narrated as a thing ideally done, it would make a vivid impression. The second action is supplementary to the first, to bring out more fully the same prophetic idea. left side--referring to the position of the ten tribes, the northern kingdom, as Judah, the southern, answers to "the right side" (Eze 4:6). The Orientals facing the east in their mode, had the north on their left, and the south on their right (Eze 16:46). Also the right was more honorable than the left: so Judah as being the seat of the temple, was more so than Israel. bear the iniquity--iniquity being regarded as a burden; so it means, "bear the punishment of their iniquity" (Nu 14:34). A type of Him who was the great sin-bearer, not in mimic show as Ezekiel, but in reality (Is 53:4, 6, 12).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 4 Lie thou also upon thy left side - It appears that all that is mentioned here and in the following verses was done, not in idea, but in fact. The prophet lay down on his left side upon a couch to which he was chained, Eze 4:6, for three hundred and ninety days; and afterwards he lay in the same manner, upon his right side, for forty days. And thus was signified the state of the Jews, and the punishment that was coming upon them. 1. The prophet himself represents the Jews. 2. His lying, their state of depression. 3. His being bound, their helplessness and captivity. 4. The days signify years, a day for a year; during which they were to bear their iniquity, or the temporal punishment due to their sins. 5. The three hundred and ninety days, during which he was to lie on his left side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Israel, point out two things: the first, The duration of the siege of Jerusalem. Secondly, The duration of the captivity off the ten tribes, and that of Judah. 6. The prophet lay three hundred and ninety days upon his left side, and forty days upon his right side, in all four hundred and thirty days. Now Jerusalem was besieged the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah, 2Kgs 25:1, 2Kgs 25:2, and was not taken till the eleventh year of the same prince, 2Kgs 25:2. But properly speaking, the siege did not continue the whole of that time; it was interrupted; for Nebuchadnezzar was obliged to raise it, and go and meet the Egyptians, who were coming to its succor. This consumed a considerable portion of time. After he had defeated the Egyptians, he returned and recommenced the siege, and did not leave it till the city was taken. We may, therefore, conclude that the four hundred and thirty days only comprise the time in which the city was actually besieged, when the city was encompassed with walls of circumvallation, so that the besieged were reduced to a state of the utmost distress. The siege commenced the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah; and it was taken on the ninth day of the fourth month of the eleventh year of the same king. Thus the siege had lasted, in the whole, eighteen months, or five hundred and ten days. Subtract for the time that Nebuchadnezzar was obliged to interrupt the siege, in order to go against the Egyptians, four months and twenty days, or one hundred and forty days, and there will remain four hundred and thirty days, composed of 390+40=430. See Calmet on this place. See also at the end of this chapter, Eze 4:16 (note).

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 4:4 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

שְׁכַב֙she.Khavlie downH7901

עַל\־'al-onH5921

צִדְּךָ֣tzi.de.Khaside yourH6654

הַשְּׂמָאלִ֔יha.se.ma.Li<the> leftH8042

וְשַׂמְתָּ֛ve.sam.Taand you will putH7760

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

עֲוֹ֥ן'a.Von[the] iniquity ofH5771

בֵּֽית\־beit-[the] house ofH1004

יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478

עָלָ֑יו'a.Lavon itH5921

מִסְפַּ֤רmis.Par[the] number ofH4557

הַיָּמִים֙hai.ya.Mimthe daysH3117

אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhichH834

תִּשְׁכַּ֣בtish.Kavyou will lieH7901

עָלָ֔יו'a.Lavon itH5921

תִּשָּׂ֖אti.Sa'you will bearH5375

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

עֲוֹנָֽם\׃'a.vo.Naminiquity theirH5771

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

Cross references for Ezekiel 4:4

Leviticus 16:22
And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
Numbers 18:1
And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
Leviticus 10:17
Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord?
Isaiah 53:11-12
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Ezekiel 4:8
And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
Hebrews 9:28
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
1 Peter 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Matthew 8:17
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
2 Kings 17:21-23
For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.
Numbers 14:34
After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
Ezekiel 4:5
For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

upon.
5,8
and lay.
2Ki 17:21-23
thou shalt bear.
Le 10:17; 16:22; Nu 14:34; 18:1; Isa 53:11,12; Mt 8:17; Heb 9:28
1Pe 2:24

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

Context

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.
Ezekiel 4:5
For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

Read all of Ezekiel 4

Ezekiel 4:4 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y tú dormirás sobre tu lado izquierdo, y pondrás sobre él la maldad de la casa de Israel: el número de los días que dormirás sobre él, llevarás sobre ti la maldad de ellos.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et toi, couche-toi sur ton côté gauche, et mets sur lui l’iniquité de la maison d’Israël: le nombre des jours que tu coucheras sur ce côté, tu porteras leur iniquité.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und du, lege dich auf deine linke Seite und lege darauf die Ungerechtigkeit des Hauses Israel: Nach der Zahl der Tage, die du darauf liegst, sollst du ihre Ungerechtigkeit tragen.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et tu dormies super latus tuum sinistrum, et pones iniquitates domus Israël super eo, numero dierum quibus dormies super illud: et assumes iniquitatem eorum.