14 Then said I, Ah, Lord Jehovah! behold, my soul hath not been defiled, and from my youth up even until now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or of that which is torn; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
And it came to pass, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! wilt thou destroy all the remnant of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
And I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?
who sit down among the graves, and lodge in the secret places; who eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things [is in] their vessels;
-- And ye shall be holy men unto me; and ye shall not eat flesh torn in the field: ye shall cast it to the dog.
And every soul that eateth of a dead carcase, or of that which was torn, be it one home-born, or a stranger, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the even: then he shall be clean.
And if any beast which is to you for food die, he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even. And he that eateth of its carcase shall wash his garments, and be unclean until the even: he also that carrieth its carcase shall wash his garments, and be unclean until the even.
And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is an unclean thing: it shall not be accepted.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 4
Commentary on Ezekiel 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 4
Ezekiel was now among the captives in Babylon, but they there had Jerusalem still upon their hearts; the pious captives looked towards it with an eye of faith (as Daniel 6:10), the presumptuous ones looked towards it with an eye of pride, and flattered themselves with a conceit that they should shortly return thither again; those that remained corresponded with the captives, and, it is likely, bouyed them up with hopes that all would be well yet, as long as Jerusalem was standing in its strength, and perhaps upbraided those with their folly who had surrendered at first; therefore, to take down this presumption, God gives the prophet, in this chapter, a very clear and affecting foresight of the besieging of Jerusalem by the Chaldean army and the calamities which would attend that siege. Two things are here represented to him in vision:-
Eze 4:1-8
The prophet is here ordered to represent to himself and others by signs which would be proper and powerful to strike the fancy and to affect the mind, the siege of Jerusalem; and this amounted to a prediction.
Eze 4:9-17
The best exposition of this part of Ezekiel's prediction of Jerusalem's desolation is Jeremiah's lamentation of it, Lam. 4:3, 4, etc., and v. 10, where he pathetically describes the terrible famine that was in Jerusalem during the siege and the sad effects of it.