SEV Biblia, Chapter 4:1
¶ Y tú, hijo de hombre, tómate un adobe, y ponlo delante de ti, y pinta sobre él la ciudad de Jerusalén;
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 4:1
Verse 1. Take thee a tile] A tile, such as we use in covering houses, will give us but a very inadequate notion of those used anciently; and also appear very insufficient for the figures which the prophet was commanded to pourtray on it. A brick is most undoubtedly meant; yet, even the larger dimensions here, as to thickness, will not help us through the difficulty, unless we have recourse to the ancients, who have spoken of the dimensions of the bricks commonly used in building. Palladius, De Re Rustica, lib. vi. c. 12, is very particular on this subject: - Sint vero lateres longitudine pedum duorum, latitudine unius, altitudine quatuor unciarum. "Let the bricks be two feet long, one foot broad, and four inches thick." Edit. Gesner, vol. iii. p. 144. On such a surface as this the whole siege might be easily pourtrayed. There are some brick-bats before me which were brought from the ruins of ancient Babylon, which have been made of clay and straw kneaded together and baked in the sun; one has been more than four inches thick, and on one side it is deeply impressed with characters; others are smaller, well made, and finely impressed on one side with Persepolitan characters. These have been for inside or ornamental work; to such bricks the prophet most probably alludes.
But the tempered clay out of which the bricks were made might be meant here; of this substance he might spread out a sufficient quantity to receive all his figures. The figures were 1. Jerusalem. 2. A fort. 3. A mount. 4. The camp of the enemy. 5. Battering rams, and such like engines, round about.
6. A wall round about the city, between it and the besieging army.
Matthew Henry Commentary
The siege of Jerusalem. (Ezek. 4:1-8) The famine the inhabitants woul suffer. (Ezek. 4:9-17)
Ezek. 4:1-8 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 destructio of Jerusalem, is to show that sin is the provoking cause of the ruin of that once flourishing city.
Ezek. 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. Thu was figured the extremity to which the Jews were to be reduced durin the siege and captivity. Ezekiel does not plead, Lord, from my youth have been brought up delicately, and never used to any thing like this but that he had been brought up conscientiously, and never had eate any thing forbidden by the law. It will be comfortable when we ar brought to suffer hardships, if our hearts can witness that we have always been careful to keep even from the appearance of evil. See what woful work sin makes, and acknowledge the righteousness of God herein Their plenty having been abused to luxury and excess, they were justl punished by famine. When men serve not God with cheerfulness in the abundance of all things, God will make them serve their enemies in the want of all things __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
ואתה 859 בן 1121 אדם 120 קח 3947 לך לבנה 3843 ונתתה 5414 אותה 853 לפניך 6440 וחקות 2710 עליה 5921 עיר 5892 את 853 ירושׁלם׃ 3389
