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

Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: 2And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about. 3Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to 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

• 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 5:1And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.
• Ezekiel 12:3Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house.
• 1 Samuel 15:27And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
• 1 Kings 11:30And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:
• Isaiah 20:2At the same time spake Yhwh by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
• Jeremiah 13:1Thus saith Yhwh unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
• Jeremiah 18:2Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
• Jeremiah 19:1Thus saith Yhwh, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;
• Jeremiah 25:15For thus saith Yhwh God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
• Jeremiah 27:2Thus saith Yhwh to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
• Hosea 1:2The beginning of the word of Yhwh by Hosea. And Yhwh said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from Yhwh.
• Hosea 3:1Then said Yhwh unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of Yhwh toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.
• Hosea 12:10I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of 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