Ezekiel 4:15

15 And he said to me, "See I will give you {cattle manure} in the place of the feces of a human, and you may prepare your food on it."

Ezekiel 4:15 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 4:15

Then he said to me
The Lord hearkened to the prophet's prayer and argument, and makes some abatement and alteration in the charge he gave him: lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung:
that is, allowed him to make use of the one instead of the other, in baking his mingled bread: thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith;
having gathered cow's dung, and dried it, he was to burn it, and bake his bread with it, which is meant by preparing it. In some parts of our nation, where fuel is scarce, cow's dung is made use of; it is gathered and plastered on the walls of houses, and, being dried in clots, is taken and burnt.

Ezekiel 4:15 In-Context

13 And Yahweh said, "Thus shall the {Israelites} eat their unclean food among the nations {where I will scatter them}."

14 And I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh! Look! I have not been defiling myself, and a dead body and mangled carcass I have not eaten from my childhood until now, and {unclean meat} has not come into my mouth!"

15 And he said to me, "See I will give you {cattle manure} in the place of the feces of a human, and you may prepare your food on it."

16 And he said to me, "Son of man, look, I [am] going to break the {supply} of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight, {anxiously}, and {rationed water}, and they will drink with horror,

17 so that they will lack food and water, and they will be appalled {with one another}, and they will waste away because of their guilt.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "the manure of cattle"