Ezekiel 4:12

12 And you shall eat the food as you would a barley cake, after you bake it over dried human excrement in the sight of the people.”

Ezekiel 4:12 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 4:12

And thou shalt eat it [as] barley cakes
That is, the bread made of wheat, barley, beans, lentiles, millet, and fitches, was to be made in the form of barley cakes, and to be baked as they; not in an oven, but under ashes; and these ashes not of wood, or straw, or turf, but as follows: and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of men, in their
sight:
the prophet was to take human dung, and dry it, and then cover the cakes or loaves of his mixed bread with it, and burn it over them, and with it bake it; which must be a very disagreeable task to him, and make the food very nauseous, both to himself and to the Jews, in whose sight it was done; and this shows scarcity of fuel, and the severity of the famine; that they had not fuel to bake with, or could not stay till it was baked in an oven, and therefore took this method; as well as points at what they were to eat when carried captive, as follows:

Ezekiel 4:12 In-Context

10 You are to weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day, and you are to eat it at set times.

11 You are also to measure out a sixth of a hin of water to drink, and you are to drink it at set times.

12 And you shall eat the food as you would a barley cake, after you bake it over dried human excrement in the sight of the people.”

13 Then the LORD said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their defiled bread among the nations to which I will banish them.”

14 “Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth.”