Ezekiel 4:3

3 et tu sume tibi sartaginem ferream et pones eam murum ferreum inter te et inter civitatem et obfirmabis faciem tuam ad eam et erit in obsidionem et circumdabis eam signum est domui Israhel

Ezekiel 4:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 4:3

Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan
Which Kimchi thinks, for its metal, represented the hardness of the hearts of the people of Israel; and, for its colour, the blackness of their sins: though others are of opinion, this being a pan in which things are fried, it may signify the miseries of the Jews in captivity; the roasting of Ahab and Zedekiah in the fire, and particularly the burning of the city: others, the wrath of God against them, and his resolution to destroy them: but rather, since the use of it was as follows, and set it [for] a wall of iron between thee and the city,
it seems to represent all such things as are made use of by besiegers to screen them from the besieged; such as are now used are trenches, parapets, bastions for the prophet in this type is the besieger, representing the Chaldean army secure from the annoyance of those within the walls of the city: and set thy face against it;
with a firm resolution to besiege and take the city; which denotes both the settled wrath of God against this people, and the determined purpose of the king of Babylon not to move from it until he had taken it: and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it;
as an emblem of the army of the Chaldeans besieging it, which is confirmed by the next clause: this [shall be] a sign to the house of Israel;
of the city of Jerusalem being besieged by the Babylonians; this was a sign representing it, and giving them assurance of it.

Ezekiel 4:3 In-Context

1 et tu fili hominis sume tibi laterem et pones eum coram te et describes in eo civitatem Hierusalem
2 et ordinabis adversus eam obsidionem et aedificabis munitiones et conportabis aggerem et dabis contra eam castra et pones arietes in gyro
3 et tu sume tibi sartaginem ferream et pones eam murum ferreum inter te et inter civitatem et obfirmabis faciem tuam ad eam et erit in obsidionem et circumdabis eam signum est domui Israhel
4 et tu dormies super latus tuum sinistrum et pones iniquitates domus Israhel super eo numero dierum quibus dormies super illud et adsumes iniquitatem eorum
5 ego autem dedi tibi annos iniquitatis eorum numero dierum trecentos et nonaginta dies et portabis iniquitatem domus Israhel
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.