Ezekiel 4:1

Ezekiel 4:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
• New International Version (NIV)“Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"And you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“You also, son of man, take a clay tablet and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, Jerusalem.

Context of Ezekiel 4:1

“Now you, son of man, take a brick, set it in front of you, and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. 2Then lay siege against it: Construct a siege wall, build a ramp, pitch military camps, and place battering rams against it on all sides. 3Take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Face it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign for the house of Israel.

Ezekiel 4:1 word by word

וְאַתָּ֤ה בֶן־אָדָם֙ קַח־לְךָ֣ לְבֵנָ֔ה וְנָתַתָּ֥ה אוֹתָ֖הּ לְפָנֶ֑יךָ וְחַקּוֹתָ֥ עָלֶ֛יהָ עִ֖יר אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Thou also, sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• of manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• takeלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• thee a tileלְבֵנָהlebênâh · brickH3843
• and layנָתַןnâthan · to give: putH5414
• it beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• thee, and pourtrayחָקַקchâqaq · to decreeH2710
• upon it the cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389

Cross-references for Ezekiel 4:1

• Ezekiel 5:1“Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as you would a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.
• Ezekiel 12:3“Now you, son of man, get your bags ready for exile and go into exile in their sight during the day. You will go into exile from your place to another place while they watch; perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.
• 1 Samuel 15:27When Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the corner of his robe, and it tore.
• 1 Kings 11:30Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he had on, tore it into twelve pieces,
• Isaiah 20:2during that time the Lord had spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, take off your sackcloth from your waist and remove the sandals from your feet,” and he did that, going stripped and barefoot —
• Jeremiah 13:1This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment and put it on. But do not put it in water.”
• Jeremiah 18:2“Go down at once to the potter’s house; there I will reveal my words to you.”
• Jeremiah 19:1This is what the Lord says: “Go, buy a potter’s clay jar. Take some of the elders of the people and some of the leading priests
• Jeremiah 25:15This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand and make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink from it.
• Jeremiah 27:2This is what the Lord said to me: “Make chains and yoke bars for yourself and put them on your neck.
• Hosea 1:2When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, he said this to him: Go and marry a woman of promiscuity, and have children of promiscuity, for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity by abandoning the Lord.
• Hosea 3:1Then the Lord said to me, “Go again; show love to a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, just as the Lord loves the Israelites though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”
• Hosea 12:10I will speak through the prophets and grant many visions; I will give parables through the prophets.

Commentaries on Ezekiel 4:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Take 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1A tile - Rather, a brick. Sun-dried or kiln-burned bricks were from very early times used for building walls throughout the plain of Mesopotamia. The bricks of Nineveh and Babylon are sometimes stamped with what appears to be the device of the king in whose reign they were made, and often covered with a kind of enamel on which various scenes are portrayed. Among the subjects depicted on such bricks discovered at Nimroud are castles and forts.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The 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 provoking cause of the ruin of that once…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-2The first of Ezekiel’s sign acts was a visual message. A sign act is a symbolic action that teaches a lesson (see “Prophetic Sign Acts” Theme Note). God told Ezekiel to build a small model of Jerusalem. He then showed the city surrounded by enemy forces. This model picture showed that Jerusalem would soon be under siege (surrounded and attacked by an army).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-171. tile--a sun-dried brick, such as are found in Babylon, covered with cuneiform inscriptions, often two feet long and one foot broad.Read the comment

Topics related to Ezekiel 4:1

• Drawing
• Instruction
• Pantomime
• Symbols and Similitudes
• Tile

In the dictionaries

• Jerusalem
• Son of man
• Care
• Cherub
• Graving
• Living creatures
• Agabus
• Hosea
• Tile; Tiling
• Zedekiah (2)

Commentaries on Ezekiel 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings