Ezekiel 4:3
in Ezekiel 4Then take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
KJV
Moreover take thou unto thee 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 besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 4
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
An iron pan - Another figure in the coming siege. On Assyrian sculptures from Nimroud and Kouyunjik there are sieges of cities with “forts, mounts, and rams;” and together with these we see a kind of shield set up on the ground, behind which archers are shooting. Such a shield would be represented by the “flat plate” (margin). Ezekiel was directed to take such a plate (part of his household furniture) and place it between him and the representation of the city.
This site's exposition
take a brick
on Ezekiel 4:1-3
Ezekiel is to “take a brick,” “draw on it the city of Jerusalem,” and set against it “a siege wall.” He turns his face toward the city to “besiege it.” The act is named before any word explains it: “This will be a sign to the house of Israel.”
This site's exposition
an iron wall between yourself and the city
An iron plate stands as a wall between Ezekiel and the drawn city, with his face set toward it. Albert Barnes compares Assyrian carvings of sieges that show a shield set on the ground with archers behind it. The whole scene is a sign to the house of Israel.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Ver. 3.) And you shall take for yourself an iron pan: and you shall place it as an iron wall between you and the city, and you shall set your face against it, and it shall be for a siege, and you shall surround it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistHomilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 12 · Written before 604.
proposed
"And take to yourself an iron frying pan, and you shall place it as an iron wall between yourself and the city, and you shall set your face firmly against it, and it shall be under siege, and you shall surround it. It is a sign for the house of Israel." Because iron is a strong metal, and food is fried in a frying pan, what is signified by the iron frying pan except the strong frying of spiritual zeal? For all spiritual zeal fries the soul of a teacher, because he is greatly tormented when he sees any weak persons abandoning eternal things and taking delight in temporal things. How well Paul had taken up the iron frying pan, when, tormented by zeal for souls, he said: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not burned?" His own heart, which he had set on fire with zeal for souls—what else had he made it but a frying pan, in which he burned with love of virtues against vices? For the fact that he was burned was the frying pan. For he was inflamed and he cooked, because he was set on fire with bitterness, yet from his afflicted thought he prepared the nourishment of virtues. But what does it mean that the prophet places the same frying pan as an iron wall between himself and the city, except that the same strong zeal which is now exercised in the mind of the teacher will be a witness between him and the soul for which he is zealous against vices on the day of the final judgment? So that even if the one being taught refuses to listen, the teacher nevertheless, because of the zeal he displays, will not be held guilty for the negligence of his hearer. Therefore he places an iron wall between himself and the city, because at the time of vengeance the teacher is fortified from the danger of damnation by that very thing through which he now suffers the frying of his heart through zealous watchfulness. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Or the prophet made use of signs for the same reason that Christ made use of parables, that hearing they might hear and not understand, and seeing they might see and not perceive, Matt. xiii. They would not understand what was plain, and therefore shall be taught by that which is difficult; and herein the Lord was righteous.
He was ordered to lie upon his side before it, as it were to surround it, representing the Chaldean army lying before it to block it up, to keep the meat from going in and the mouths from going out. He was to lie on his left side 390 days (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
His instrument of separating them from him, as one impossible to burst through. set . . . face against it--inexorably (Ps 34:16). The exiles envied their brethren remaining in Jerusalem, but exile is better than the straitness of a siege.
Take thou unto thee an iron pan - מחבת machabath, a flat plate or slice, as the margin properly renders it: such as are used in some countries to bake bread on, called a griddle or girdle, being suspended above the fire, and kept in a proper degree of heat for the purpose. A plate like this, stuck perpendicularly in the earth, would show the nature of a wall much better than any pan could do. The Chaldeans threw such a wall round Jerusalem, to prevent the besieged from receiving any succours, and from escaping from the city. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel - This shall be an emblematical representation of what shall actually take place.
The words behind it
24 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַתָּ֤ה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| קַח־ | kach- | take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| לְךָ֙ | lekha | <for> yourself | ||
| מַחֲבַ֣ת | machavat | a baking tray of | H4227 → | |
| בַּרְזֶ֔ל | barzel | iron | H1270 → | 76 times |
| וְנָתַתָּ֤ה | venatatah | and you will make | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אוֹתָהּ֙ | ʾotah | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| קִ֣יר | kir | a wall of | H7023 → | 75 times |
| בַּרְזֶ֔ל | barzel | iron | H1270 → | 76 times |
| בֵּינְךָ֖ | beinekha | between you | H996 → | 407 times |
| וּבֵ֣ין | uvein | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| הָעִ֑יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וַהֲכִינֹתָה֩ | vahakhinotah | and you will direct | H3559 → | 217 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| פָּנֶ֨יךָ | paneikha | face your | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אֵלֶ֜יהָ | ʾeleiha | to it | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וְהָיְתָ֤ה | vehayetah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בַמָּצוֹר֙ | vamatzor | in <the> state of siege | H4692 → | 25 times |
| וְצַרְתָּ֣ | vetzarta | and you will lay siege | H6696 → | |
| עָלֶ֔יהָ | ʾaleiha | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| א֥וֹת | ʾot | [will be] a sign | H226 → | 80 times |
| הִ֖יא | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לְבֵ֥ית | leveit | for [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ ס | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וְאַתָּ֤הand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
קַח־take
kach-H3947 →966 times
לְךָ֙<for> yourself
lekha
מַחֲבַ֣תa baking tray of
machavatH4227 →
בַּרְזֶ֔לiron
barzelH1270 →76 times
וְנָתַתָּ֤הand you will make
venatatahH5414 →2011 times
אוֹתָהּ֙<obj.> it
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
קִ֣ירa wall of
kirH7023 →75 times
בַּרְזֶ֔לiron
barzelH1270 →76 times
בֵּינְךָ֖between you
beinekhaH996 →407 times
וּבֵ֣יןand between
uveinH996 →407 times
הָעִ֑ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
וַהֲכִינֹתָה֩and you will direct
vahakhinotahH3559 →217 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
פָּנֶ֨יךָface your
paneikhaH6440 →2123 times
אֵלֶ֜יהָto it
ʾeleihaH413 →5510 times
וְהָיְתָ֤הand it will be
vehayetahH1961 →3559 times
בַמָּצוֹר֙in <the> state of siege
vamatzorH4692 →25 times
וְצַרְתָּ֣and you will lay siege
vetzartaH6696 →
עָלֶ֔יהָon it
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
א֥וֹת[will be] a sign
ʾotH226 →80 times
הִ֖יאit
hi'H1931 →1879 times
לְבֵ֥יתfor [the] house of
leveitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ סIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 8:18Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
it leads to
- Hebrews 2:13–14
And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And once again: “Here am I, and the children God has given Me.”
- Luke 2:34
Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary: “Behold, this Child is appointed to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken…
- Zechariah 8:3
This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts will be…
- Psalms 71:7
I have become a portent to many, but You are my strong refuge.
- Isaiah 53:10
Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days,…
- Hebrews 2:13–14
Through
Isaiah 20:3Then the LORD said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush,
it leads to
- Isaiah 8:18
Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 8:18
Through
Ezekiel 12:11You are to say, ‘I am a sign to you.’ Just as it happened here, so will it be done to them; they will go into exile as captives.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 15:2
If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword;…
- Jeremiah 52:15
Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and…
- Jeremiah 15:2
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Gregory the Dialogist, Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 12; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.