Ezekiel 4:16

“Moreover he said unto me, son of man, &c.] What follows opens the design, and shows what was intended by the symbol of the miscellany bread, baked with cow dung, the prophet was to eat by measure, as, well as drink water by measure: namely, the sore famine that should be in Jerusalem at the time of the siege: behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: that is, take away bread, which is the staff of life, the support of it, and which strengthens man’s heart; and also the nourishing virtue and efficacy from what they had. The sense is, that the Lord would both deprive them of a sufficiency of bread, the nourishment of man; and not suffer the little they had to be nourishing to them;…”

“staff of bread--bread by which life is supported, as a man's weight is by the staff he leans on (Lev 26:26; Psa 105:16; Isa 3:1). by weight, and with care--in scant measure (Eze 4:10).”

“The staff of bread - Bread is so called because it is that on which the support of life mainly depends. With astonishment - With dismay and anxiety at the calamities which are befalling them. return to 'Top of Page' Footnotes: Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliographical Information Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Ezekiel 4". "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bnb/ezekiel-4.html. 1870. StudyLight.org © 2001-2026 Powered by Lightspeed Technology”

“I will: Eze 5:16, Eze 14:13; Lev 26:26; Psa 105:16; Isa 3:1 eat: The prophet was allowed each day only twenty shekels weight, or about ten ounces, of the coarse food he had prepared, and the sixth part of a hin, scarcely a pint and a half, of water; all of which was intended to shew that they should be obliged to eat the meanest and coarsest food, and that by weight, and their water by measure. Eze 4:10, Eze 4:11, Eze 12:18, Eze 12:19; Psa 60:3; Lam 1:11, Lam 4:9, Lam 4:10, Lam 5:9 Ezekiel 4:17”