Ezekiel 4:16

Ezekiel 4:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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:
• New International Version (NIV)He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair,
• English Standard Version (ESV)Moreover, he said to me, "Son of man, behold, I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, surely I will cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and with dread,

Context of Ezekiel 4:16

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.’ 15So God said to me, ‘I will allow you to use dung from cows instead of from humans. You may use that to make the fire to cook your bread.’ Then God said to me, ‘Son of man, I will soon take away the bread in Jerusalem. The people will have to measure the food that they eat. And they will have to measure the water that they drink. They will worry and be afraid. 17They will not have enough food or water. Everyone will be very upset. Their bodies will become very thin when I punish them for their sins.’

Ezekiel 4:16 word by word

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֗י בֶּן־אָדָם֙ הִנְנִ֨י שֹׁבֵ֤ר מַטֵּה־לֶ֙חֶם֙ בִּיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם וְאָכְלוּ־לֶ֥חֶם בְּמִשְׁקָ֖ל וּבִדְאָגָ֑ה וּמַ֕יִם בִּמְשׂוּרָ֥ה וּבְשִׁמָּמ֖וֹן יִשְׁתּֽוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Moreover he saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• unto me, Sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• of manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• behold, I will breakשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
• the staffמַטֶּהmaţţeh maţţâh · tribe: supplyH4294
• of breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · food: breadH3899
• in Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
• and they shall eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• by weightמִשְׁקָלmishqâl · weightH4948
• and with careדְּאָגָהde'âgâh · anxietyH1674
• and they shall drinkשָׁתָהshâthâh · to drinkH8354
• waterמַיmayim · waterH4325
• by measureמְשׂוּרָהmeώûrâh · capacityH4884
• and with astonishmentשִׁמָּמוֹןshimmâmôn · horrorH8078

Cross-references for Ezekiel 4:16

• Ezekiel 5:16I will take away your bread so that famine kills more and more of you. It will seem that I am shooting arrows at you to destroy you.
• Ezekiel 14:13‘Son of man, the people of a whole nation may choose not to obey me. Then I would punish them because of their sins. I might stop the people getting any food to eat. Then there would be a famine that kills both people and animals.
• Leviticus 26:26The people will not have any food. A woman will bake one loaf for ten families. They will weigh it to give one part to each family. When a person eats his piece of bread, he will still be hungry.
• Psalms 105:16The Lord sent a famine to the land of Canaan, so that his people had no food left to eat.
• Isaiah 3:1Listen to this! I will show you what the Lord, the Almighty Lord, will do. He will remove from Jerusalem and Judah everything that people trust to help them. He will take away even their food and their water.
• Ezekiel 4:10You should eat 220 grams of food each day. Eat it at the same time each day.
• Ezekiel 12:18‘Son of man, shake with fear while you eat your food or you drink your water.
• Psalms 60:3You have given your people a time of difficult trouble. You have given us strong wine to drink, that has made us fall like drunk people.
• Lamentations 1:11Jerusalem's people are making sad noises. They are sad as they look for food. They sell things that they love. They use them to buy food. That way, they can keep themselves alive. ‘Lord, see what is happening. Think about me, because nobody else does,’ the people pray.
• Lamentations 4:9Our enemies have killed many people with long knives. It is better for those dead people than for the people who have no food. They are very hungry. And they die slowly because they have nothing to eat.
• Lamentations 5:9We meet danger when we work in the fields. Enemies are everywhere and they want to kill us.

Commentaries on Ezekiel 4:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16I will break the staff of bread - They shall be besieged till all the bread is consumed, till the famine becomes absolute; see 2 Kings 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 2 Kings 25:6; observes: "This number of years will take us back, with sufficient exactness, from the year in…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16The 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.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. 9-17The near-starvation diet of eight ounces of food and a jar of water each day represents siege rations. This reflects a desperate situation where there was not enough of any one type of grain to make a whole loaf.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. staff of bread--bread by which life is supported, as a man's weight is by the staff he leans on (Le 26:26; Psa 105:16; Is 3:1). by weight, and with care--in scant measure (Eze 4:10).Read the comment

Topics related to Ezekiel 4:16

• Bread
• Famine
• Instruction
• Symbols and Similitudes

In the dictionaries

• Jerusalem
• Son of man
• Care
• Cherub
• Living creatures
• Agabus
• Break
• Care; Carefulness; Careful
• Hosea
• Measure; Measures

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