Ezekiel 4:13

13 The Lord said, "This represents the way the Israelites will have to eat food which the Law forbids, when I scatter them to foreign countries."

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Ezekiel 4:13 In-Context

11 You will also have a limited amount of water to drink, two cups a day.

12 You are to build a fire out of dried human excrement, bake bread on the fire, and eat it where everyone can see you."

13 The Lord said, "This represents the way the Israelites will have to eat food which the Law forbids, when I scatter them to foreign countries."

14 But I replied, "No, Sovereign Lord! I have never defiled myself. From childhood on I have never eaten meat from any animal that died a natural death or was killed by wild animals. I have never eaten any food considered unclean."

15 So God said, "Very well. I will let you use cow dung instead, and you can bake your bread on that."

Footnotes

• [a]. food which the law forbids: [The Law of Moses prohibited the eating of certain foods as being ritually unclean (see Lv 11).]