Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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:
16. the staff of bread ] i.e. the staff which bread is; a common figure, ch. Eze 5:16; Lev 26:26; Isa 3:1; Psa 105:16.
It is scarcely necessary to say that the symbolical actions of this chapter were not actually performed. They naturally passed through the mind of the prophet as described, but so far as others were concerned they were merely narrated. The truth expressed by the symbolical action was as plain when the action was merely described as it would have been had the action been performed and seen. It is evident that the actions referred to here could not have been performed because they are represented as being done simultaneously. It is while he presses the siege with arm uncovered that the prophet also lies on his side held down by bands, bearing the sin of the people ( Eze 4:5 ; Eze 4:7-8), and it is while lying immoveable in this condition that he prepares cakes upon the coals and eats them ( Eze 4:8-9). The prophet’s symbols merely express an idea; it is only when supposed to be actually performed that inconsistencies appear.
The siege and the hardships of it prolonged into the exile the people’s bearing their sin are the two chief ideas of the chapter. These are of course contemporaneous with one another so far, but they are spoken of separately in Eze 4:1-6, the siege in Eze 4:1-3, and the hardships of it and the exile in Eze 4:4-6. But from Eze 4:7 onwards they are somewhat mixed together. Cornill reconstructs the chapter in a very drastic way with the view of keeping the two things, the siege and the exile, distinct throughout. He groups the verses as follows: first, bearing the sin of the people, i.e. the exile with its uncleanness, Eze 4:4-6 ; Eze 4:8 (7 is a gloss), 9, 12 5; and secondly, the siege with its scarcity, Eze 4:1-3 ; Eze 4:10-11 ; Eze 4:16-17. This reconstruction of the text is too violent to have any probability. A different suggestion was made by Well. ( Hist. p. 273, note), to the effect that in Eze 4:9, 390 is the right reading (though erroneously transferred also to Eze 4:5 for 190), and that the reference is exclusively to the siege, which the prophet calculated would last so long. Further, the prophet’s lying on his side and being bound with bands, Eze 4:8, is a different thing from his lying on his side, Eze 4:5. In Eze 4:5 he represented the bondage of the exile, in Eze 4:8 seq. the straitness of the siege. This view requires that Eze 4:13, which interprets Eze 4:8 seq. of eating unclean food in the dispersion, should be struck out as a gloss. The verse certainly appears in a shorter form in LXX., though there seems no ground for considering it wholly interpolated. And it is more natural that the repulsive symbol of Eze 4:12 should refer to the fact that all food eaten in exile was unclean rather than to uncleanness due to scarcity of fuel during the siege. The introduction too of a literal number of 390 days among other numbers of days which are symbolical is scarcely probable.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
16, 17. Explanation of the symbol of eating bread by measure ( Eze 4:10-11).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The staff of bread – Bread is so called because it is that on which the support of life mainly depends.
With astonishment – With dismay and anxiety at the calamities which are befalling them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
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 2Kg 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 Eze 4:6 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, Eze 4:9, deducting from the year five months and twenty-nine days, mentioned 2Kg 25:1-4, the time during which the Chaldeans were on their expedition against the Egyptians; see Jer 37:5.” This amounts nearly to the same as that mentioned above.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Here the Lord confirms his threat of famine by a solemn protestation that he would break the staff of bread; either take their, harvests away, and deny them bread, or withhold his blessing, the strength of bread, that it should not nourish and refresh, as Lev 26:26.
In Jerusalem, that sinful city.
By weight: see Eze 4:10.
With care; afraid and doubtful whether or where they shall have any more.
By measure: Eze 4:11.
With astonishment; amazed at the strangeness of their condition, and the wounds and death of many that fell by the enemies hand, attempting to fetch a little water; or astonished, their very eyes failing for thirst.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. staff of breadbread bywhich life is supported, as a man’s weight is by the staff he leanson (Lev 26:26; Psa 105:16;Isa 3:1).
by weight, and with careinscant measure (Eze 4:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Moreover he said unto me, son of man,…. What follows opens the design, and shows what was intended by the symbol of the miscellany bread, baked with cow dung, the prophet was to eat by measure, as, well as drink water by measure: namely, the sore famine that should be in Jerusalem at the time of the siege:
behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: that is, take away bread, which is the staff of life, the support of it, and which strengthens man’s heart; and also the nourishing virtue and efficacy from what they had. The sense is, that the Lord would both deprive them of a sufficiency of bread, the nourishment of man; and not suffer the little they had to be nourishing to them; what they ate would not satisfy them, nor do them much good; see Le 26:26;
and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; that they might not eat too much at a time, but have something for tomorrow; and to cause their little stock to last the longer, not knowing how long the siege would be:
and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment; that such a judgment should fall upon them, who thought themselves the people of God, and the favourites of heaven.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
God returns again to the citizens of Jerusalem, and announces that they should be so destroyed by famine, that they should be reduced to the last extremity, and all but consumed by want. But he places here two forms of punishment: he says, that he should break the staff of bread: then, that their abundance of bread should be small, because they would be compelled to eat their morsels by weight and fear, and to drink water by measure and astonishment. I said they were different forms, because even if bread was sufficient, God often breaks its staff, as he calls it. And this clearly appears from Lev 26:26, whence our Prophet has adopted this expression. For here Moses explains what it is to break the staff of bread; because, he says, ten women shall cook their bread in one dish, and then they must bona fide restore the quantity of meal given them; for the bread shall be weighed, and thou shalt eat and not be satisfied. There God had said, I will break the staff of bread: but a clearer explanation follows — namely, although wheat for cooking the bread should be sufficient, and the women should mutually observe each other that no theft should take place, but should return in weight what had been given out to them, yet its nourishment should be deficient. We see then that God breaks the staff of bread, when a sufficiently plentiful supply exists, but those who eat are not satisfied.
That this may appear more clearly, we muse assume the principle that men do not live by bread only, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God, (Deu 8:3,) for here God signifies that we are not nourished by virtue of the bread, properly speaking: for how can bread be life-giving when it wants both sense and vigor? We see then that there is no force in bread to nourish us which excludes the hidden grace of God, for we live by the word of God. The subject here is not the word of doctrine nor yet spiritual life; but Moses understands that we are sustained not by bread and wine and other food, or by any kind of drink, but by the secret virtue Of God whilst he inspires the bread with rigor for our nourishment. Bread then is our nourishment, but not by any peculiar or intrinsic virtue: this it has from another source, namely, the favor and ordination of God. As, therefore, a small portion of bread is sufficient; for us, so if any one gorge himself he will cry out sooner than be satisfied, unless God inspires the virtue. And for this reason Christ uses that passage against Satan: Man lives not by bread alone, (Mat 4:4; Luk 4:4,) because he shows that the life of man was propped up by the secret virtue of God, and that God, whenever it pleases him, does not need these foreign assistances. God then can sustain us by himself: sometimes he uses bread, but only as an adventitious instrument; in the meantime he derogates nothing from his own virtue: hence a staff is taken metaphorically for a prop. For as old men already totter on their legs, and all their limbs being broken down by weakness, support themselves with a staff, so also bread is said to have a staff, because we are propped up by the nourishment. Our strength also becomes deficient, and hence he who takes nourishment is said to refresh himself with food. God, therefore, breaks the staff of bread when he renders men famished, even when they have a sufficient abundance of bread. Neither are they satisfied, how much soever they may gorge themselves, because the food loads instead of refreshes them.
This is the first punishment with which God threatens the Jews. Another also is added, namely, that they shall be destitute of bread. We see then that there is a double mode by which God punishes us by hunger. For although bread is sufficient, yet he breaks and destroys its staff, so that it cannot prop us up nor recall our lost vigor. At length he takes away our bread, because he either strikes our fruits with blight or hail, or makes us suffer under other calamities. Hence barrenness brings want, so that God will affect us with hunger both ways: for he says, behold! I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and then he adds, they shall eat their bread by weight and in fear, they shall drink their water by measure and in astonishment, because in truth they shall be reduced to such straits that they shall scarcely dare to touch their bread, because while they look forward to the morrow they shall fear and be astonished. And he confirms this opinion in the next verse, that they shall be destitute of bread and water, and shall be astonished: for this explanation agrees better; therefore a man and his brother shall be astonished, that is, they shall look mutually on each other as if astonished. Thus those who are without wisdom and discern nothing but despair are accustomed to act: at length they shall pine away in their iniquity. Again God repeats that the Jews could not complain when he so grievously afflicts them, because they shall receive the reward of their own iniquity. Now follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem.In Eze. 4:16-17, the meaning of the foregoing symbolism is declared in plain language. Bread, as the chief article of food is put for all food, the specific for the general. There shall be extreme suffering and distress, as a part of the punishment for their long-continued sins.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16, 17. These verses explain Eze 4:10-11.
Staff of bread Or, staff ( of life), which is bread (Lev 26:26; Isa 3:1). Expositors differ as to whether Ezekiel actually was compelled to eat this bread during the six months of the pictorial siege or not. There is no sufficient reason to doubt it. Certainly, if the painting of the tile and the pictured siege and the prophet’s lying upon his side were real acts, then this was also. Dr. Davidson’s objection that he is represented as making and eating the bread, while at the same time he is said to be lying motionless upon his side is by no means conclusive. Even if he were in a cataleptic condition, as some think, yet he might still have obeyed all these commands, the bread, of course, being made by his wife. But if, as we understand it, these commands to remain in a certain posture, motionless, applied only to the hours during which his picture-sermon was being preached, and not to his private life, then he might with his own hands have prepared the food. It could have been eaten lying upon his side, as one hand was not “bound” (Eze 4:7).
Consume away for their iniquity “Another echo from the book which had so largely entered into the prophet’s education” (Lev 26:39). “Pine” in Hebrew is same as “consume.” “To the wretchedness of physical privation there was added the consciousness of the sufferers that it was caused by their own evil deeds.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight and with carefulness, and they will drink water by measure and with dismay, that they may want bread and water, and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.” ’
‘The staff of bread.’ Compare Eze 5:16; Eze 14:13. To ‘break the staff of bread’ was to take away the provisions on which man depended for survival, the things on which he leaned. Thus ample provision in Jerusalem would cease and be replaced by shortage and famine, so that bread had to be measured out and eaten with careful consideration and discrimination, in order that it might be made to last, and water also would be given by measure, with dismay and astonishment at the shortage of it. Indeed they would reach a point when they both craved it, and lacked it, because the shortage was so great. And they would waste away because of their sinful ways and hearts.
The question must arise as to whether Ezekiel had to stick strictly to this diet, or whether it only applied to daylight hours. There are actually no grounds for doubting that it was strictly required. The ‘bed sores’ and the sight of Ezekiel growing thinner and thinner may well have been part of the illustration, although possibly concession might have been allowed if things became too desperate, especially as regards water. God would be there watching over him. It was the principle revealed that was important, not the fulfilling of the minute detail.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Melancholy as this was, when the bread and water were given out by weight and measure, yet infinitely more distressing is it, when the Lord makes a famine, not of the bread that perisheth, but that which endureth to everlasting life. Oh Lord! keep to us the blessed and invaluable privilege of our Sabbaths, and of Jesus the bread of life. Amo 8:11 ; Joh 6:35 , etc.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 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:
Ver. 16. Behold, I will break a the staff of bread.] Bread shall be very scarce, and that which men have shall not nourish or satisfy them; they shall have appetitnm caninum. See Isa 3:1 ; See Trapp on “ Isa 3:1 “ and take that good counsel, Amo 5:14-15 lest we know the worth of good by the want of it.
a contabescere, foetidum fieri.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I will break. Reference to Pentateuch (Lev 26:26). Occurr ing again in Eze 5:16; Eze 14:13; but nowhere else in O.T.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will: Eze 5:16, Eze 14:13, Lev 26:26, Psa 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. Eze 4:10, Eze 4:11, Eze 12:18, Eze 12:19, Psa 60:3, Lam 1:11, Lam 4:9, Lam 4:10, Lam 5:9
Reciprocal: Deu 28:48 – in hunger Job 6:7 – as my sorrowful meat Job 21:25 – never Psa 80:5 – General Psa 104:15 – bread Ecc 5:17 – he eateth Isa 36:12 – that they may Eze 4:9 – wheat Amo 4:8 – but Mic 6:14 – eat Hag 1:6 – eat Rev 6:5 – had
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 4:16. To avoid confusion It is well to keep in mind the fact of the three captivities,” or the three stages In the subjugation of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah. For a more extended comment on this subject see 2Ki 24:1 in volume 2 of this Commentary. Two of these captivities had taken place when Ezekiel began to write. The third one was still to come hut not very far in the future. The famine that is predicted in this verse occurred in that terrible event, and the Biblical account of it is given in 2Ki 25:3. The statements of this verse are literal and were fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar threw Jerusalem into a siege.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 4:16-17. Behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem I will cause a scarcity of bread in Jerusalem, 2Ki 25:3; and deprive it of the chief support of mans life. And they shall eat their bread by weight and with care Here we have a declaration of the meaning of what the prophet was ordered to do, Eze 4:10-11. It was intended to signify, that during the siege, the people of Jerusalem should eat their food very sparingly, and with great anxiety, for fear they should not be able to get a further supply, when what they had was consumed. That they may want bread and water Or, so that they shall want bread and water: and be astonished one at another Shall look upon one another astonished at each others ghastly, meager countenances, or at the greatness of their calamities; and consume away, &c. And pine away with hunger and hardships, on account of their wickedness.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4:16 Moreover he said to me, Son of man, behold, I will break {n} the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and in horror:
(n) That is, the force and strength with which it would nourish, Isa 3:1, Eze 14:13 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
All these conditions were to symbolize how people back in Jerusalem were going to have to eat to live during the siege. They would have to eat sparingly because the famine caused by the siege would be severe.