Ezekiel 4:1

1 Thou also, son of man, take a tile and lay it before thee and portray upon it the city of Jerusalem

Ezekiel 4:1 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 4:1

Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile
Or "brick" ^F26. The Targum renders it, a "stone"; but a tile or brick, especially one that is not dried and burned, but green, is more fit to cut in it the figure of a city. Some think that this was ordered because cities are built of brick; or to show the weakness of the city of Jerusalem, how easily it might be demolished; and Jerom thinks there was some design to lead the Jews to reflect upon their making bricks in Egypt, and their hard service there; though perhaps the truer reason may be, because the Babylonians had been used to write upon tiles. Epigenes ^F1 says they had celestial observations of a long course of years, written on tiles; hence the prophet is bid to describe Jerusalem on one, which was to be destroyed by the king of Babylon; and lay it before thee:
as persons do, who are about to draw a picture, make a portrait, or engrave the form of anything they intend: and portray upon it the city; [even] Jerusalem;
or engrave upon it, by making incisions on it, and so describing the form and figure of the city of Jerusalem.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F26 (hnbl) "laterem", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus. Piscator.
F1 Apud Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56.

Ezekiel 4:1 In-Context

1 Thou also, son of man, take a tile and lay it before thee and portray upon it the city of Jerusalem

2 and lay siege against it and build a fort against it and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.

3 And take an iron pan and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city; and set thy face against it and it shall be for an encompassment, and thou shalt lay siege against the city. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

4 Thou shalt sleep upon thy left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it, thou shalt bear their iniquity.

5 For I have summed up for thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.