Ezekiel 4:14

14 So I said, "Ah, Lord God! Indeed I have never defiled myself from my youth till now; I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has abominable flesh ever come into my mouth."

Ezekiel 4:14 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 4:14

Then said I, ah, Lord God!
&c.] The interjection "ah" is expressive of sighing and groaning, as Jarchi; or of deprecation, as the Targum, which paraphrases it,

``"and I said", receive my prayer, O Lord God:''

behold, my soul hath not been polluted;
not meaning that his soul had not been polluted with sin, or with an evil thought, as Kimchi interprets it; but by his soul he means the inward part of his body, his stomach and belly; which had not been defiled by taking in meats which were unclean by the law, as follows: for from my youth up, even till now, have I not eaten of that which
dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces;
these were forbidden to be eaten by the law; and such that did were defiled, and obliged to bathing in water, ( Leviticus 17:15 Leviticus 17:16 ) ; and from those the priests more especially were careful to abstain, as Kimchi observes; and such an one was the prophet; see ( Acts 10:14 ) ; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth;
corrupt or, putrefied, or whatsoever was unclean by law, as swine's flesh, or any other. The argument is, that since he had never eaten of anything forbidden by the law of God, he could by no means think of eating that which was abhorrent to nature; as bread baked with men's dung was.

Ezekiel 4:14 In-Context

12 And you shall eat it as barley cakes; and bake it using fuel of human waste in their sight."

13 Then the Lord said, "So shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, where I will drive them."

14 So I said, "Ah, Lord God! Indeed I have never defiled myself from my youth till now; I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has abominable flesh ever come into my mouth."

15 Then He said to me, "See, I am giving you cow dung instead of human waste, and you shall prepare your bread over it."

16 Moreover He said to me, "Son of man, surely I will cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and with dread,