Ezekiel 4:12

Ezekiel 4:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
• New International Version (NIV)Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung."
• New King James Version (NKJV)And you shall eat it as barley cakes; and bake it using fuel of human waste in their sight.”

Context of Ezekiel 4:12

10You should eat 220 grams of food each day. Eat it at the same time each day. 11You must measure the water that you drink each day. You may drink two cups at the same times each day. Prepare your food like a cake that is made from barley. Bake it on a fire that you have made with human dung. Do this where the people can see you.’ 13The Lord also said, ‘I will send Israel's people away to live in foreign lands. Then they will have to eat unclean food, as you will do now.’ 14Then I said, ‘No, Almighty Lord, I could not use human dung. It would make me unclean. Since I was a child I have never eaten any food that would make me unclean. I have never eaten meat from a dead animal that people have found. I have not eaten meat from an animal that wild animals have killed.’

Ezekiel 4:12 word by word

וְעֻגַ֥ת שְׂעֹרִ֖ים תֹּֽאכֲלֶ֑נָּה וְהִ֗יא בְּגֶֽלְלֵי֙ צֵאַ֣ת הָֽאָדָ֔ם תְּעֻגֶ֖נָה לְעֵינֵיהֶֽם׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And thou shalt eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• barleyשְׂעֹרָהώe‛ôrâh ώe‛ôrâh ώe‛ôr ώe‛ôr · barleyH8184
• cakesעֻגָה‛ûggâh · disc of breadH5692
• and thou shalt bakeעוּג‛ûg · to bakeH5746
• it with dungגֵּלgêlel · dungH1561
• that cometh outצֵאָהtsâ'âh · excrementH6627
• of manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• in their sightעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: seeingH5869

Commentaries on Ezekiel 4:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Thou shalt bake it with dung - Dried ox and cow dung is a common fuel in the east; and with this, for want of wood and coals, they are obliged to prepare their food. Indeed, dried excrement of every kind is gathered. Here, the prophet is to prepare his bread with dry human excrement. And when we know that this did not come in contact with the bread, and was only used to warm the plate, (see Ezekiel 4:3;), on which the bread was laid over the fire, it…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12In eastern countries where fuel is scarce the want is supplied by dried cow-dung laid up for the winter. Barley cakes were (and are) baked under hot ashes without an oven. The dung here is to be burned to ashes, and the ashes so employed.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-17Verses 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. Thus was figured the extremity to which the Jews were to be reduced during the siege and captivity. Ezekiel does not plead, Lord, from my youth I have been brought up delicately, and never used to any thing like this; but that he had been brought up…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-13Cooking with human excrement (human waste) would make the bread ceremonially unclean. This means it would be unfit for worship according to the law of Moses. If Ezekiel ate it, he would become unclean. This act was a sign of what would happen to the Israelites in exile. In a foreign land, it would be very hard to follow the kosher dietary laws (the food laws God gave to Israel). As a result, they would eat food that was unclean. Because of this, they…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. dung--as fuel; so the Arabs use beasts' dung, wood fuel being scarce. But to use human dung so implies the most cruel necessity. It was in violation of the law (De 14:3; 23:12-14); it must therefore have been done only in vision.Read the comment

Topics related to Ezekiel 4:12

• Bread
• Instruction
• Prayer
• Symbols and Similitudes

In the dictionaries

• Care
• Cherub
• Dung
• Fuel
• Living creatures
• Agabus
• Barley
• Dung; Dung Gate
• Hosea
• 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