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 and lay it before you. Engrave on it a city, Jerusalem. 2Lay siege against it, build earthworks against it, raise an assault ramp against it; pitch camps against it and place battering rams all around it. 3Then take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it so that it is under siege. So you will lay siege against it. This will 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

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 a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take balances to weigh and divide the hair.
• Ezekiel 12:3You, son of man, prepare supplies for exile. Go into exile by day in their sight, go away as if into exile from your home to another place in their sight—perhaps they will recognize that they are a rebellious house.
• 1 Samuel 15:27As Samuel turned about to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.
• 1 Kings 11:30Then Ahijah seized the new cloak that was on him, tore it into twelve pieces,
• Isaiah 20:2at that time Adonai spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz saying, “Go, remove the sackcloth from your loins and your sandals from your feet.” So he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
• Jeremiah 13:1Thus Adonai said to me: “Go, and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, and do not put it in water.”
• Jeremiah 18:2“Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.”
• Jeremiah 19:1Thus said Adonai: “Go, buy a potter’s clay jar, take some elders of the people, some elders of the kohanim,
• Jeremiah 25:15For thus says Adonai, the God of Israel, to me: “Take this cup of the wine of fury from My hand, and make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink it.
• Jeremiah 27:2thus says Adonai to me—“Make straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck.
• Hosea 1:2When Adonai first spoke with Hosea, Adonai said to Hosea: “Go, get yourself a prostitute as a wife and children with a prostitute! For the land is an unfaithful prostitute, far from following after Adonai.”
• Hosea 3:1Then Adonai said to me: “Go again! Love a woman who is loved by a companion and committing adultery—just as Adonai has loved the Bnei-Yisrael, while they were turning to other gods and loving raisin cakes.”
• Hosea 12:10“Yet I have been Adonai your God, since the land of Egypt. I will yet again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the moed.

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