Ezekiel 4:13

13 Then the LORD said, "Thus will the sons of Israel eat their bread 1unclean among the nations where * I will banish them."

Ezekiel 4:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 4:13

And the Lord said, even thus shall the children of Israel,
&c.] Not the ten tribes only, or those who were among the other two, but all the Jews in captivity: eat the defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them;
so called, not because mixed, but baked in the above manner; which was a symbol of the defilements which they should contract upon various accounts, by dwelling among the Gentiles; so that this foretells their captivity; their pollution among the nations of the world; and that they should not be the holy people to the Lord they had been, and had boasted of. The Jews F11 cite this passage to prove that he that eats bread without drying his hands is as if he ate defiled bread.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 T. Bab. Sota, fol, 4. 2.

Ezekiel 4:13 In-Context

11 "The water you drink shall be the sixth part of a hin by measure; you shall drink it from time to time.
12 "You shall eat it as a barley cake, having baked it in their sight over human dung ."
13 Then the LORD said, "Thus will the sons of Israel eat their bread unclean among the nations where I will banish them."
14 But I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I have never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has any unclean meat ever entered my mouth."
15 Then He said to me, "See, I will give you cow's dung in place of human dung over which you will prepare your bread."

Cross References 1

  • 1. Daniel 1:8; Hosea 9:3
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