Ezekiel 4:13

13 And Jehovah saith, `Thus do the sons of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations whither I drive them.'

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 `And water by measure thou dost drink, a sixth part of the hin; from time to time thou dost drink [it].

12 A barley-cake thou dost eat it, and it with dung -- the filth of man -- thou dost bake before their eyes.

13 And Jehovah saith, `Thus do the sons of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations whither I drive them.'

14 And I say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah, lo, my soul is not defiled, and carcase, and torn thing, I have not eaten from my youth, even till now; nor come into my mouth hath abominable flesh.'

15 And He saith unto me, `See, I have given to thee bullock's dung instead of man's dung, and thou hast made thy bread by it.'