New English Translation
Ezekiel 4:12
12And you must eat the food like you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human excrement.”
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
10The food you eat will be eight ounces a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed times. 11And you must drink water by measure, a pint and a half; you must drink it at fixed times. And you must eat the food like you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human excrement.” 13And the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their unclean food among the nations where I will banish them.” 14And I said, “Ah, sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat has never entered my mouth.”
Read all of Ezekiel 4Ezekiel 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
In the dictionaries
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries