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Symbolic actions. 1–3. Drawing of the siege of Jerusalem. 4–8. Lying on the left and right side. 9–17. Eating unclean food. The prophet, who is forbidden to speak, must in visible images (as if by gestures and facial expressions) represent Jerusalem 1) besieged, 2) starving and 3) conquered. And since the disasters of the siege continue in captivity, which is a kind of long-term siege of the people, the image of the former also includes the representation of the latter. Each of these three moments is expressed in a special symbolic action (the latter already in Chapter V), but between the first and second a symbolic image of captivity is inserted, so that all symbolic actions are 4, corresponding to the 4 heavenly punishments that usually befall sinners and seem to come from the 4 winds of the earth (Ezek. 14.21; cf. explanation 1, 5). Each subsequent symbolic action is described and explained in more detail than the previous one, and the last one (Ezek.5.1–4) is accompanied by a detailed justification for all these threats (Ezek.5.5–17). Ezek.4:1. And you, son of man, take yourself a brick and lay it before you, and inscribe on it the city of Jerusalem; "And you, son of man." Continuation of the speech of God in Chapter III, next, the prophet was ordered to perform symbolic actions during a similar appearance of God to him in Khobar in the Tel Aviv plain, which followed shortly (see explanation Eze. 3.22) after the Khobar vision, probably in the same year. If the command to perform these symbolic actions had been given at another time, and not then, it would have been added at the beginning of chapter IV, as in chapters VI and VII: “and the word of the Lord came to me.” But the very vision of the Glory of the Lord might not last throughout the entire time of the present revelation, which did not need to be more than internal. Thus, the symbolic actions depicting the siege and capture of Jerusalem were carried out by the prophet 4 years earlier than the events themselves - a period of time during which they could not be naturally foreseen, for only in the 4th year of his reign (a year before the calling of Ezekiel and his symbolic actions) Zedekiah entered into an alliance with Nebuchadnezzar, in the 7th year he betrayed him, and in the 9th year the siege of Jerusalem began, which dragged on 2 years. – Bricks in Assyria and Babylon were used not only for buildings (for which they were an exceptional material there), but also for writing: entire libraries were discovered, written in wedge-shaped characters on such bricks or clay tiles. They wrote on damp tiles and then dried them. The most interesting monuments of the Assyrian civilization have reached us on clay. Drawings on bricks have also reached us; The British Museum owns several such specimens, discovered at Nimrud. Ezekiel's real symbolic action may have included the idea that the siege of Jerusalem would one day be recorded on Babylonian tiles. But it is unlikely that in this case the prophet used the tile, although Symmachus puts πλινθιον, and LXX for the same purpose gives πλινθος the feminine gender here. An ordinary brick could be more readily available and was more suitable for the purpose due to its size: the bricks of the Babylonian walls were 1 lb. x 5 d. x 5 d. – “Inscribe” (lit. “engrave”) on it the city of Jerusalem, “all as it remained in the faithful memory of the prophet” (Trochon); literally: “Jerusalem, city.” Ezek.4:2. and set up a siege against it, and make a fortification against it, and build a rampart around it, and set up a camp against it, and place battering machines all around against it; “And arrange (instead of drawing - a general expression along the lines of Ezek. 32.18; Jer. 1.10) a siege,” that is, draw the totality of all siege works, which are then calculated in detail. – “And make (lit. “build”) a fortification”, Heb. “dayek” - an unknown siege structure of the ancients, must be specifically Babylonian, because it is mentioned only by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 33:27, 21:20) and Jeremiah (Jer 42:4; 2 Kings 25.1): either a watchtower, watchtower, to observe from it what is happening in the city (cf. Isaiah 29.3), or a throwing tower stones into the city, a catapult (if a tower, then a collective name, because in Jeremiah and 2 Kings it was “around”), or a siege wall corresponding to our line of trenches to repel attacks, or a siege rampart (from it an embankment led to the wall of the besieged city, which will be discussed further). "And fill the shaft". It was filled not only with sand, but with stones, turf, and wood; ballistas were placed on it, and it served as cover from enemy arrows. Greek χασακα (front garden), slav. "prison". If the previous word means a rampart, then this one means an embankment leading from the rampart and abutting against the city wall (cf. Jer 6:6, 32:24; Isa 37.33). “Arrange your camp”, lit. "stans", pl. h., camps, because the enemy army was located around the entire city, not just one, but a whole series of camps; perhaps an indication of the diversity of the besieging army (Blessed Jerome: “military guard”). – “And set up battering machines” lit., “rams”, i.e. battering rams (cf. Eze. 26.9; Josephus, De bello judaico III, 7, 19). Discoveries in Assyria show that these tools have been known there since ancient times: they are depicted on bas-reliefs in the palace of Nimrod d.b. XII century BC (Layard, Nineveh, t. II, p. 868); images in Kuyundzhik in the palace of Sennacherib show that at least 7 rams were used during the siege of one city. – Carving all this on brick was not easy; Maybe the prophet outlined everything with just lines and dots. With the instructions to the prophet regarding the symbolic action, a prediction about all the details of the siege is imperceptibly intertwined here: these instructions paint such a vivid picture of the siege that only a very skillful engraver could transfer it to stone. Ezek.4:3. and take yourself an iron plank, and set it up like an iron wall between you and the city, and turn your face towards it, and it will be under siege, and you will besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel. “Iron board”, more precisely, as in Slavic: “frying pan” (baking tray, sheet), from which, for example, bread cakes were baked in oil (Lev. 2.5). The prophet was ordered to use it, because among the iron things it was closest to hand and was found in every house. She could best imagine the iron wall between the prophet, the representative of God, and the city depicted on the brick: between Jehovah and His saint. next to the city, a whole wall has grown, impenetrable as iron, a sign of the inexorability and inevitability of God’s determination regarding Jerusalem (Blesseds Jerome and Theodoret), and perhaps the reasons for them - the sinfulness and hardness of the people (Kimkhi: “gross and black sins”). The same board could indicate the indestructible siege work around Jerusalem. The bas-reliefs of Nimrud and Kuyundzhik depict sieges in which all the objects named in Art. 2 are found, and at the same time a kind of large shields fixed on the ground, behind which the arrows were hidden (Layard, Nineveh II, 345). “And turn your face towards him” (cf. Ps 24:16, etc.). Looking at him intently, without taking his eyes off, full of tireless indignation, “with the stern and unforgiving face of a strict judge, who, being adamant in his decision, looks at the guilty person with a firm gaze” (Blessed Jerome). “And you besiege him.” As God's representative, the prophet must now lay siege to the city himself. No one else but Jehovah himself will besiege the city, and the enemy army is only an instrument by which His will is carried out (Aram.) (Jer 25:9, 27:6, 43:10). Likewise, the ancient prophets imagined the attack of the enemy, diverging in this respect to the point of contrast with the popular view, according to which Jehovah cannot separate Himself from the people. “This will be a sign for the house of Israel.” This symbolic siege marks the fate that threatens Jerusalem. One kingdom of Judah is called here the House of Israel, since after the fall of the kingdom of Israel it alone represented the entire nation (cf. 2 Chronicles 35:18, 30:1, 21:2; Isaiah 48.1); in the same sense, Ezekiel uses this name above: Eze.3.7, 17, below: Eze.5.4; Ezek.8.6 etc.; He departs from this use only once, right now in v. 4 and 5. Ezek.4:4–17. Ezekiel could no longer draw the difficult conditions of the siege on brick, but could only imagine it on himself. This is what he does in the next symbolic action. If the inhabitants of besieged Jerusalem suffered, first of all, terrible oppression, which made any free movement impossible for them, then their position in captivity will not be significantly different, and not only during the siege, but also in captivity they will have to support their existence with meager and unclean food. Both are presented together in the same two symbolic actions and each of them is explained first in relation to captivity (vv. 5-6, 13), and then in relation to the siege (vv. 8, 16-17), by which this section returns to its original point - vv. 1–3. Ezek.4:4. Lie down on your left side and put on it the iniquity of the house of Israel; according to the number of days that you lie on it, you will bear their iniquity. The real symbolic action consisted of a long, whole month, lying of the prophet on one side (not in a dream, because during this lying the prophet must prophesy with an outstretched hand against Jerusalem, depicted on the brick - v. 7; therefore, the Slavic translation is inaccurate, contrary to the Hebrew and Greek “write it down”), lying, obviously continuous and therefore especially difficult, which could be accompanied by painful numbness the side on which the prophet lay. Thus, this symbolic action, not being as striking as the symbolic actions of the previous prophets, for example, walking naked, wearing a yoke or cohabiting with a harlot, was no less strong, strong precisely because of its inner strength: the prophet here suffered heavily for the whole people, representing the suffering of Christ for the world. One stichera in the service to the prophet Ezekiel (July 21) sees in his repose just such a thought: “Ezekiel, who is pleasing to God, as Christ’s likeness, you endured the torment of someone else’s duty, you are cruelly tortured, prescribing salvation, theophany, and deliverance to the world that would be honest for the sake of the cross” (2 verses on the Lord’s proclamation). This lying down meant the painful connectedness of actions among the besieged and captives, similar to that of those chained and sick; the prophet makes it clear that by the destruction of Jerusalem, which was the true head of both kingdoms, as the place of the sanctuary, the wickedness of the entire people, the kingdom of Israel, as well as the Judah, was punished. The left side indicates the kingdom of Israel either as inferior compared to Judah, or as lying to the north, to the left, if you face the East. "Put it down" Lit. "take it." – “On him” – left side. "The iniquity of the house of Israel". Sin appears to be a burden that must be worn (Lev. 5.17, etc.) until it is redeemed (Num. 14.34); bearing guilt therefore becomes a punishment for it (Ezek. 21.30, etc.); it can be carried one by one; such is the suffering of Jehovah's Servant in Isa. 53; but this case does not apply to Ezekiel: he bears the guilt only symbolically, as a sign that Israel and Judah must bear it. LXX already indicates in this verse the number of days that the prophet should lie on his left side, namely 150 days, which Heb. the text indicates only the following. verse. Thus LXX indicate this number twice and unequally: in this verse it is 150, and in the next. 190, which casts doubt on the authenticity of their increase. Ezek.4:5. And I have determined for you the years of iniquity by the number of days: three hundred and ninety days you will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. Ezek.4:6. And when you have accomplished this, then lie down again on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah for forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year, I have determined for you. From when and until when should the 390 years of Israel's iniquity and the 40 years of Judah be counted? If by “years of iniquity” we mean the years in which Israel sinned (and not the years in which she was punished for sins), then the following methods of calculation are possible. 1. The rabbis (Rashi, Kimhi, etc.) begin the count of 890 years from the entry of the Israelites into the land of Canaan and end with the taking into captivity of the ten tribes: 151 years - the period of judges, 241 - the time of kings, in round number 390 years; but before the division of the kingdoms, Judah and Israel also committed lawlessness; Why is the lawlessness of the latter calculated only at 40 years of age? 2. Others begin the count with the division of the kingdoms: 256 years of existence of the ten-tribe kingdom † 134 from its fall to the destruction of the church; according to a more correct chronology, 975 BC, division of kingdoms - 589 capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar 386; the missing 4 years were added as a matter of poetic license; but since the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, only Judas has sinned; nevertheless, this explanation is more likely than the previous one, since the Holy Scriptures often say about Jeroboam that he led Israel into sin. - 40 years of Judah's iniquity 1) the rabbis begin with the idolatry of Manasseh, which, they assume on the basis of 2 Chronicles 33.13-17, lasted only 16 years (because this is the number that must be added to the next ones to make 40) † 2 Amon and, omitting the pious reign of Josiah, 22 years of Joachim and Zedekiah. Or 2) these 40 years begin with the 13th year of the reign of Josiah, with the appearance of Jeremiah in the prophetic ministry, and God does not consider the previous sins of Judah, for example, the idolatry of Ahaz, Manasseh, Amon, because of public repentance under Josiah, and ends with the destruction of the church; but it was the reign of Josiah that was the most pious, and from it they propose to count the years of Judah’s iniquity. – Under the years of lawlessness, which were indicated by the symbolic lying of the prophet, one can understand the fruits of punishment for lawlessness. Then the following calculations are possible for 390 and 40. 390 years begin with the first taking of Israel into Assyrian captivity by Tiglath-Pelizar under the king of Israel Pekah, from where 164 years passed until the 11th year of Zedekiah. † 70 years of Babylonian captivity † 155 years 4 months from the restoration of the church under Zerubbabel until the final liberation of the people under Artaxerxes Memnon 889 l. 4 m. (Blessed Jerome); in this case, the years are counted by reigns and all reigns are taken as complete ones, even the final ones in a series, i.e., the reign of Phakai and Artaxerxes Memnon, although the Bible does not say and it is not known from anywhere in which years of these kings the events related to this took place - the Assyrian captivity and the salvation of the Jews from Haman. As for 40 years, approximately this amount should have passed from the migrations under Jehoiachin to the decree of Cyrus (before the release of Jehoiachin from prison), i.e., so many years of actual and especially difficult captivity for the kingdom of Judah (which ideally lasted 70 years; see explanation Eze. 1.1 “thirtieth year”). In particulars and details, each of these calculations allows for many objections (except for those made in their places, for example, also: the captivity of Israel and Judah according to Ezek. 37.15 and further should apparently end at the same time) and, one might say, not a single one gives an exact coincidence with the numbers indicated by the prophet. But an exact match is hardly necessary here; it is important that in the history of Israel, in the history of both its sins and the disasters for these sins, one can find the periods indicated by the prophet. The lawless existence of the kingdom of Israel, indeed, relates to the lawless period in the kingdom of Judah as 390 to 40, and the same approximately proportion exists between the long captivity of the first and the short captivity of the second. And if we take into account that the threads of the history of that time are often completely lost from under our gaze and that, in particular, for example, the time of the return of the 10 tribes from captivity is completely unknown to us, then we should generally consider the most accurate explanation of these symbolic numbers to be beyond human comprehension. It is significant that the siege of Jerusalem, which, like the captivity, was indicated by the symbolic lying of the prophet, was almost equal in duration to this lying: it lasted 1 1 2 years or 530 days, but there were breaks in it (Jer 37: 7–8). It is also significant that the sum of the numbers given here, 430, corresponds to the years of Israel’s “arrival” in Egypt, and according to the prophets, the Assyrian-Babylonian captivity of Israel is nothing more than a repetition of Egyptian slavery (Hosea 2:2, 8:13, 10:3, 6; Ezek.20, etc.); and of the 430 years of Israel's life in Egypt, exactly 40 years can be singled out as a period of especially severe disasters, whether these 40 years are put in the 40-year wandering in the desert or in the 40-year stay of Moses in Arabia (after the murder of the Egyptian), when the oppression from the Pharaoh was supposed to intensify (Keil). Regarding the number 40, it should also be noted that this number, so to speak, is so symbolic that it is hardly used everywhere in the sense of a specific quantity (the flood, the fast of Moses and Elijah, the preaching of Jonah in Nineveh, the fast of the Savior - all for 40 days); in Persian, this number, in addition to its own meaning, also means “many.” So Judah sinned a lot, for a long time, and Israel 9 3 4 times, almost 10 times more than the multitude! – LXX instead of 390 have 190 (some codices have 150 and very few have 390) and perhaps with the aim of bringing their reading closer to the Hebrew. the beginning of verse 5 reads like this: “and I gave you two of their iniquities for the number of days,” - obviously the same as in the Targum: “I gave you two for one according to their sins,” i.e., one day for two years of their iniquities (LXX and Targum thus understood the Hebrew “shene” in the sense of “two” and not “years”). The newest exegetes consider the figure LXX more correct: in Art. 9 God commands the prophet to eat unclean bread, all those according to Heb. text 390 days, in Greek. 190, in which he will lie on his side; from this they conclude that 40 days of lying on the right side or 40 years of iniquity of Judah are included in the total number of 390 or 190, of which 350 or 150 will go to lying on the left side or to the iniquity of Israel; the last of these numbers is what some codices LXX have in Art. 4 and 5; and if so, then the years of Israel’s iniquity, or rather the punishment for it, exceed the years of Judah’s iniquity by only 150 years; the Assyrian captivity of Israel, i.e., the capture of Samaria, actually preceded the Babylonian captivity or the capture of Jerusalem for the 1st 1st 2nd centuries (725–589). In addition, the reading of LXX is confirmed, they say, by the fact that on the 5th day of the 6th month of the 6th year of his captivity, the prophet already has his second vision, in which the elders are present and in which he is transported in spirit to Jerusalem; by this time, they say, his lying down should have ended (couldn’t the prophet have had a vision of Chapter VIII-XI while lying down? The feat of lying down and the fasting associated with it could most have contributed to that vision); a m. i.e., if we assume for his symbolic actions the earliest date is 12 days 4 months 5 years (7 days after the first, Khovar vision), before the vision of VIII-XI ch. 412 days will remain (what if the year were a leap year? or if 40 are included in 390 days?). From the reading of the Greek, they say, the Hebrew could easily have arisen under the influence of considerations that the new captivity of Israel should correspond in number of years to the slavery of Egypt or (according to Bertholet) on the basis of gematria (the numerical value of the letters) in the words “days of siege” “yemei matzorah”: 10 † 40 † 10 † 40 † 90 † 200 390. But just as easily 190 or 150 could have emerged from 390 under the influence of those two considerations that are now cited in defense of 190. Ezek.4:7. And turn your face and your naked right hand to the siege of Jerusalem, and prophesy against it. To show that the symbolic lying down marks not only the captivity, but also the siege of Jerusalem, the prophet must, while lying down, look at the siege of Jerusalem depicted on the brick (and therefore, have his mind turned to this event) and stretch out his right hand (Slavic and Greek, more precisely: “muscle”) to this image, naked (maybe with the tunic lowered from it, which is generally thrown over the head and tied with a belt, covered only the upper part of the arm), trace. rolled up for fighting and battle (cf. Isa. 52.10; therefore, gloriously freely: “strengthen the muscle ... strengthen”, 52: in other words, the prophet, even while lying down, let him continue to imagine on himself (cf. the iron board, v. 3) Jehovah menacingly besieging the city. “And prophesy against him.” This posture of the prophet will be a prophecy, because according to Ezek. 3.26 prophecy only the silent is possible for him. Ezek.4:8. Behold, I have placed bonds on you, and you will not turn from one side to the other until the days of your siege are fulfilled. But, continuing to play what was started in the 3rd art. the role of the besieger, the prophet must also play the role of the besieged: he will do this by lying down. God will put invisible bonds on him (see explanation of Eze. 3.25) so that he physically cannot turn over from side to side in case the unbearable pain of his side from prolonged lying begins to overcome obedience to the command of God, “so as not to indicate any relief from suffering, which will not come (for the besieged) until the perfect fulfillment of the predicted days comes” (Blessed Jerome). Ezek.4:9. Take for yourself wheat and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and pour them into one vessel, and make yourself bread from them, according to the number of days that you will lie on your side; three hundred and ninety days you will eat them. The besieged and captives will suffer such hunger that they will rip out from everywhere any grain that is lying around somewhere in order to bake bread from them. Bread from such a multi (6) compound mixture, constituting disgusting and unhealthy food, imparted ritual uncleanness to those who ate it, since according to the Law of Moses it was not even possible to sow a field and a vineyard with seeds of two kinds, as well as to make a dress from two kinds of material (Deut. 22.9 and Lev. 19.19); every mixture of this kind was considered unclean. The colors of the picture are taken from a besieged city, but Ezekiel is referring primarily to captivity. He wants to dramatically portray to the captives that food in captivity is unclean (cf. Hos 9.3 and Am 7.17). The grains are listed in order of dignity, starting with the highest, which should be depleted first. Wheat is “a memory of better times” (Gefernik). Barley is horse feed in Palestine (1 Kings 4.28); Bread is prepared from it during famine (2 Kings 4.42). Bob is mentioned in the Bible only in 2 Samuel 17.28; according to Pliny (Hist nat. XVIII, 30) it was mixed into bread among many peoples. Lentils (slav. “lamb”) - now in Egypt the poor make bread from it during times of great crop shortage. Millet, millet, is highly cultivated in Egypt and Arabia - “the food of the common people, wild and slaughtered animals” (Blessed Jerome); in Hebrew “Dokhaz” may be what, in Arabic, “dahn” is an oblong, round, dark brown grain like rice, from which, due to the lack of better products, a kind of thin bread is prepared (Keil). Spelled (glorified “spell”) is the worst kind of wheat, the flour from which is thinner and whiter than ordinary wheat, but the bread made from it is very dry, disgusting and has little nutrition; Vulgate: vicia – “...wild, crane peas.” “Make yourself bread from them according to the number of days that you will lie on your side.” By blessed Jerome, 390 loaves, one for each day of lying. Consequently, loaves had to be prepared from this nasty mixture in advance for more than a year; It was impossible otherwise, without subsequently violating the commandment to lie down; by the end of this period, the breads should have positively petrified (however, the prophet was allowed to make not breads, but cakes - biscuits - see 12.); in a country like Palestine, bread is almost worthless even on the second day. On the part of the prophet, this was more than a fast, a fast for a sinful people. What fortitude was required to endure such an incredibly difficult and apparently pointless fast! “Three hundred and ninety days you will eat them.” Why not 390 + 40? By blessed Jerome as a sign that not the same punishment would befall Judas, who had at least the knowledge of God, and Israel, who had completely withdrawn from the true religion. Maybe 40 days are not mentioned for the sake of brevity of expression. Most likely, because the indicated number is sufficient for its purpose - the announcement of a long punishment. Ezek.4:10. And you shall eat your food, which you shall eat, by the weight of twenty shekels a day; eat this from time to time. In a city under siege, when food products run out, they are given to residents by weight. In ancient times, captives who were forced into slavery did not eat more plentifully. As a sign of this, the prophet must take his meager food, consisting only of bread that tastes disgusting, by weight. Sickle 3.83 spool. 20 shekels 25 1 2, lots, “half of what is required for the daily consumption of a person in those countries” (Trochon): “with such food the soul is more exhausted than supported” (Blessed Jerome). However, Welsted (Travers in Arabia, t. II, p. 200) says that the Bedouins undertake a journey of 10-12 days, taking nothing with them except a bag filled with small biscuits; each biscuit weighs about 5 ounces; two such biscuits and a sip of water are all they consume in 24 hours. - “Eat this from time to time.” An expression found only in 1 Chronicles 9.25, understood by some: “from morning to evening,” by others: “from the beginning of lying to the end”; most likely: you don’t eat the 25-lot loaf of bread right away, but at the usual eating hours, for lunch, dinner, in parts. Ezek.4:11. And drink water in measure, drink a sixth of a hin; drink like this from time to time. The hardest thing was that we had to drink water in moderation, which only happens in the worst cases of siege. Gin is a name of Egyptian origin; often mentioned in the Bible (Ex 29:40, 30:24; Num 15.4, 7, 9); according to the rabbis it is equal to the volume of 72 chicken eggs; track. 9 3 5 bottles in 1 20 buckets, 1 6 gins 1 3 5 bottles. During the sieges of those times with a primitive water supply, a lack of water was inevitable. Ezek.4:12. And eat them like barley cakes, and bake them before their eyes in human dung. “The worst is coming” (Smend). As a sign of the lack of wood, the said bread must be cooked not in the oven, but in the ashes, making it in the form of barley cakes (probably the common bread of the poorest people), that is, so thin that a little heat from the ashes can penetrate the entire dough. In countries poorest in firewood, they were replaced by dry livestock dung (also southern Russian dung). Bread baked in the ashes of such fuel cannot but inspire disgust, although in some places even now in the East and, by the way, in Palestine itself, the fellahs do not disdain such baked flatbreads. But if for this purpose you use human droppings, as the prophet was commanded, that is, a cake, all covered with such ash (this is how you need to understand the expression of the Vulgate: “and you will cover them with human feces”, and the less decisive LXX: “in the line, βολβιτοις, bloodworm, κοπρου, human hidden”) meant almost the same thing as eating human feces. Perhaps the besieged city could go to such an extreme as to destroy all the livestock in it. Giving the food a disgusting smell, this method of preparation desecrated it on the basis of Deut. 23.13–14. - “And bake them before their eyes.” When receiving his visitors, the prophet should not hide from them with his symbolic action. Ezek.4:13. And the Lord said, “So the children of Israel will eat their unclean bread among the nations to which I will drive them out.” In 13–17 Art. the symbolic action is explained first in relation to captivity, and then in relation to besieged Jerusalem, which is how the conclusion of the chapter adjoins Chapter V; but this explanation is interrupted in v. 14 and 15. The most terrible thing about captivity is that there you will have to eat unclean bread (Hosea 9.3 et c.; Am 7.17), from contact with the pagans (as Symmachus translates “among those nations”) no less unclean than bread cooked in feces. Ezek.4:14. Then I said: Oh, Lord God! my soul has never been defiled, and I have not eaten carrion or torn to pieces by wild beasts from my youth until now; and no unclean meat came into my mouth. “That Ezekiel himself is so afraid of this is characteristic” (Smend). Wed. Acts 10.14. The places in the book of Ezekiel that make it possible to see such a living conversion of the prophet with God are generally few: Ezek.9:8, 11:13, 20:49. Lev was forbidden to eat carrion and torn to pieces by beasts. 17.15; Deuteronomy 14.21, because in such meat there remains blood, the bearer of the soul. By other “unclean meat” we mean d.b. meat of unclean animals, such as pigs. Here argumentum a majore ad minus (Maldonatus). "From my youth". Consequently, at this time the prophet was considerably removed in age from his youth (cf. Slav. “even to this day”). Ezek.4:15. And He said to me: Behold, I allow you, instead of human feces, cow dung, and prepare your bread with it. “Although the prophet so rebels against the commission, God softens the latter only a little. Despite the above mentioned use of cow dung for baking bread, this hardly prevented the fact that for Ezekiel such preparation meant desecration of food. But the concession to the prophet concerned only him personally and did not change anything in God’s determination regarding Israel” (Smend). Ezek.4:16. And he said to me: Son of man! Behold, I will break in pieces the support of grain in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight and in sorrow, and they will drink water by measure and in despondency, “Bread support” - Hebraism: bread that strengthens human strength; back in Ezek.5:16, 14:13; Isa 3.1. - “They will eat bread by weight and in sadness, and they will drink water in moderation and in despondency,” that is, “in anxiety” (Vulgate) that both will soon come out. Ezek.4:17. because they will lack bread and water; and they will look at each other with horror, and will waste away in their iniquity. “They will look at each other,” looking in vain for help from each other. - “They will wither away.” Slow death by starvation. - “In lawlessness.” Greek pl. ch.: “for lawlessness.” Here we cannot ignore the question raised by the exegesis of chapters IV and V. Ezekiel: were the symbolic actions described in them actually performed by the prophet? All these actions are so strange, amazing, “unaesthetic” that some interpreters of Ezekiel recognize them as similar actions of the prophet Amos (Amos 9); Isaiah (Isaiah 20); Jeremiah (Jer 13; Jer 27) and Ezek.12.17 etc., only in parables, comparisons or visionary experiences. But, others rightly note, that in execution these symbolic actions seemed childish and funny is another matter; whether he seemed funny to people (and he really seemed like that sometimes, cf. Ezekiel 33.30–32) or not, Ezekiel didn’t care about that; if only they were attentive to him and to what he wanted to bring closer to their understanding. However, it is still a big question whether these symbolic actions would be “more intelligent” if they were fictional or internally experienced. In general, here we need to take into account the following: 1) the prophetic word is, according to the Old Testament concept, the very action that takes place in the physical world; 2) the distance of Ezekiel and his environment from the arena of events to which all interests were directed could constantly awaken in him the need to tangibly reify them for himself and his compatriots (“to find a surrogate for personal presence in Jerusalem.” - Smend); 3) if Ezekiel, according to the most correct understanding of Ezekiel 3.27, really lost the ability to speak for some time, then he should have turned to some kind of facial expression; 4) an oriental person is always ready to supplement speech with gestures. You might be interested in: