Ezekiel 4:2

Eze 4:2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set [battering] rams against it round about.

Ver. 2. And lay siege against it.] This to carnal reason seemeth childish and ridiculous; not unlike the practice of boys that make forts of snow; or of the Papists’ St Francis, who made him a wife and children of snow; fair, but soon fading comforts; or of his disciple Massaeus, who is much magnified, because at his master’s command he did - not Diogenes-like, tumble his tub, but - himself tumble up and down as a little one, in reference to that of our Saviour, {a} "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." {Mat 18:3} But it must be considered, that what the prophet did here, he did by the word and command of the most wise God. This made the sacrifices of old, and doth make the sacraments still, to be reverend and tremendous; because holy and reverend is his name who instituted them. It cannot be said so of Popish ceremonies, men’s inventions; they have not God’s image or inscription, and are therefore frivolous and fruitless, worthily cast out of our churches.

{a} Sedulius., lib. iii. cap. 2.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 4:2-3. And lay siege against it — Make a portraiture of a siege, and of such warlike instruments as are used in sieges, figuring every thing just as when an army lies before a place with an intention of taking it. Moreover, take thou an iron pan — Or rather, an iron plate, probably such as cakes were baked on. “This,” says Bishop Newcome, “may denote the strong trenches of the besiegers, or their firmness and perseverance in the siege; or, according to others, that there was an iron wall between the besieged and God, whom the prophet represented;” namely, the sins of the people, which separated between them and God, and prevented him from showing them mercy.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

forth--rather, "watch tower" (Jer 52:4) wherein the besieges could watch the movements of the besieged [GESENIUS]. A wall of circumvallation [Septuagint and ROSENMULLER]. A kind of battering-ram [MAURER]. The first view is best.

a mount--wherewith the Chaldeans could be defended from missiles.

battering-rams--literally, "through-borers." In Eze 21:22 the same Hebrew is translated "captains."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 2. Battering rams] כרים carim. This is the earliest account we have of this military engine. It was a long beam with a head of brass, like the head and horns of a ram, whence its name. It was hung by chains or ropes, between two beams, or three legs, so that it could admit of being drawn backward and forward some yards. Several stout men, by means of ropes, pulled it as far back as it could go, and then, suddenly letting it loose, it struck with great force against the wall which it was intended to batter and bring down. This machine was not known in the time of Homer, as in the siege of Troy there is not the slightest mention of such. And the first notice we have of it is here, where we see that it was employed by Nebuchadnezzar in the siege of Jerusalem, A.M. 3416. It was afterwards used by the Carthaginians at the siege of Gades, as Vitruvius notes, lib. x. c. 19, in which he gives a circumstantial account of the invention, fabrication, use, and improvement of this machine. It was for the want of a machine of this kind, that the ancient sieges lasted so long; they had nothing with which to beat down or undermine the walls.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(2) Lay siege against it.—It must have seemed at this time unlikely that Jerusalem would soon become the subject of another siege. The only power by whom such a siege could be undertaken was Babylon, Egypt having been so thoroughly defeated as to be for a long time out of the question; and Nebuchadnezzar had now, within a few years, thrice completely conquered Judaea, had carried two of its kings, one after the other, captive in chains, and had also taken into captivity 10,000 of the chief of the people, setting up as king over the remnant a creature of his own, who was yet of the royal house of Judah. A fresh siege could only be the result of a fresh rebellion, an act, under the circumstances, of simple infatuation. Yet of this infatuation Zedekiah, through the “anger of the LORD” (2Ki_24:20), was guilty, and thus the prophecy was fulfilled. The prophecy itself is undated, but must have been between the call of Ezekiel in the fifth month of the fifth year (Eze_1:2) and the next date given (Eze_8:1), the sixth month of the sixth year. The siege began, according to Jer_52:4, in the tenth month of the ninth year, so that the prophecy preceded its fulfilment by only about four years.

Build a fort against it.—Rather, a tower. The several acts of a siege are graphically described. First the city is invested; then a tower is built, as was customary, of sufficient height to overlook the walls and thus obtain information of the doings of the besieged. Instruments for throwing stones or darts were also sometimes placed in such towers; next is “cast a mound against it,” a common operation of the ancient siege (comp. Isa_37:33; Jer_32:24), in which a sort of artificial hill was built to give the besiegers an advantage; then the camps (not merely camp) are set round the city to prevent ingress and egress; and finally “the battering rams” are brought against the walls. These last were heavy beams, headed with iron, and slung in towers, so that they could be swung against the walls with great force. They are frequently to be noticed in the representations of sieges found in the ruins of Nineveh. The practice of forming the end of the beam like a ram’s head belongs to the Greeks and Romans; but the instrument itself was much older.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. a fort against it] The word is always used in the sing., though sometimes rightly rendered forts (2Ki_25:1), as the term is the name of a class of offensive siege works. The work was probably a species of tower, of which a number might be erected “round about” the walls (2Ki_25:1), and was used as a station for archers, or to discharge projectiles from (cf. LXX. ch. Eze_17:17). Towers of this kind, manned by archers are seen on the Assyrian bas-reliefs. Layard, Nin. and Bab. p. 149.

cast a mount] The “mount” or mound was an embankment raised till the besiegers standing on it were on a level with the top of the wall and able to command the streets of the city, cf. Lam_4:18. See Isa_37:33; Jer_6:6; Jer_32:24.

set the camp] set camps, detachments of soldiery.

battering rams] These were beams of wood with a head of iron, suspended by chains or ropes from a cross plank, and swung with great force by a number of men against the walls to batter them down. The term “round about” indicates that they were applied to different parts of the wall, perhaps where it might be thought weakest. It is not probable that the siege works were also engraved upon the brick. The latter rather by its elevation above the ground represented the city, and the siege works would be upon the ground, if we are to suppose them anywhere. But as the whole is a creation of the imagination it may be doubtful if the prophet was so precise or consistent as to put to himself the question where the siege works were placed.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And lay siege against it,.... In his own person, as in Eze 4:3; or draw the form of a siege, or figure of an army besieging a city; or rather of the instruments and means used in a siege, as follows:

and build a fort against it: Kimchi interprets it a wooden tower, built over against the city, to subdue it; Jarchi takes it to be an instrument by which stones were cast into the city; and so the Arabic version renders it, "machines to cast stones"; the Targum, a fortress; so Nebuchadnezzar in reality did what was here only done in type, Kg2 25:1; where the same word is used as here:

and cast a mount about it; a heap of earth cast up, in order to look into the city, cast in darts, and mount the walls; what the French call "bastion", as Jarchi observes:

set the camp also against it; place the army in their tents about it:

and set battering rams against it round about; a warlike instrument, that had an iron head, and horns like a ram, with which in a siege the walls of a city were battered and beaten down. Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, interpret the word of princes and generals of the army, who watched at the several corners of the city, that none might go in and out; so the Targum seems to understand it (b). The Arabic version is, "mounts to cast darts"; See Gill on Eze 21:22.

(b) So R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 50. 9.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Lay siege against it - The prophet is represented as doing that which he portrays. The leading features of a siege are depicted. See the Jer 6:6 note.

The camp - Encampments. The word denotes various hosts in various positions around the city.

Fort - It was customary in sieges to construct towers of vast height, sometimes of 20 stories, which were wheeled up to the walls to enable the besiegers to reach the battlements with their arrows; in the lower part of such a tower there was commonly a battering-ram. These towers are frequently represented in the Assyrian monuments.

Battering rams - Better than the translation in the margin. Assyrian monuments prove that these engines of war are of great antiquity. These engines seem to have been beams suspended by chains generally in moveable towers, and to have been applied against the walls in the way familiar to us from Greek and Roman history. The name “ram” was probably given to describe their mode of operation; no Assyrian monument yet discovered exhibits the ram’s head of later times.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Cast up. The ditch would be about three feet deep, and the earth being thrown up, people might approach the town with less danger. (Worthington) --- The besieged were thus also prevented from going out, 4 Kings xxv. 1. Forts or towers were erected to overlook and clear the walls. --- Rams. This is the first time we find them mentioned. Homer is silent about them; (Calmet) and the ancient sieges lasted so long, because people had not found out the art of demolishing the walls. (Diodorus ii.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Draw the figure of a siege about the city; raise a tower and bulwarks which may annoy the besieged, and defend the besiegers, from which may be shot either darts against men, or mighty stones against the walls and towers of the city.

Cast a mount; which made large, high, and strong, and near as they can, might thence by help of galleries get over the walls and enter the city. Lay out the ground also for the army of the Chaldeans to pitch their tents in, and to form their camp.

Rams; the Chaldee paraphrast understands the captains and chief leaders among the soldiers, but it is better understood of those engines wherewith besiegers did batter the walls and towers of a besieged city; an engine of great use in days of old among all warlike nations, invented, say some, in the siege of Troy.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Lay siege… build a fort… cast a mount — All of these ordinary acts of a besieging army are so acted out in the picture-sermon of the dumb prophet that his hearers are made to understand the calamity which must soon fall upon their national capital. The “fort” was supposed to be occupied by archers, the “mount” was built in order that the besiegers might overlook the walls of the city and command the streets (Isa_37:33; Jer_6:6; Jer_32:24).

The camp — Literally, camps. The besieging army is represented as divided into encampments which guard the city at all points. How the prophet represented these soldiers, battering-rams, etc., we do not know. They hardly seem to be a part of the picture engraved upon his unbaked brick.

Battering-rams — It has been doubted by a recent writer (Havet) whether battering-rams were invented as early as Ezekiel’s day, but the Assyrian monuments show pictures of them in use centuries earlier. There was usually a battering-ram in the lower part of each fort — or movable tower. The Hebrew word (kar) does not indicate that this “batterer” must have had a ram’s head upon it. The Assyrian “ram” often had a spear-shaped head.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lay siege against it, etc. The wonder would increase as the spectators looked on what followed. Either tracing the scene on the tablet, or, more probably, as ver. 3 seems to indicate, constructing a model of the scene, the prophet brings before their eyes all the familiar details of a siege, such as we see on numerous Assyrian bas-reliefs: such also as the narratives of the Old Testament bring before us. There are

(1) the forts (as in 2Ki_25:1; Jer_52:4; Eze_17:17 Eze_21:22 Eze_26:8) or, perhaps, the wall of circumvallation, which the besiegers erected that they might carry on their operations in safety;

(2) then the mount, or mound (the English of the Authorized Version does not distinguish between the two) of earth from which they plied the bows or catapults; (Jer_6:6 Jer_32:24 Jer_33:4; Ezekiel, ut supra )

(3) the camps (plural in the Hebrew and Revised Version), or encampments, in which they were stationed in various positions found the city;

(4) the battering rams. Here the history both of the word and the thing has a special interest. The primary meaning of the Hebrew word is "lamb" (Deu_32:14; 1Sa_15:9, et al., Revised Version) or, better, "full grown wethers or rams" (Furst). Like the Greek kriov (Xen., "Cyrop.," 7:4:1 RAPC 2Ma 12:15), and the Latin aries (Livy, 21:12; 31:32, et al. ), it was transferred to the engine which was used to "butt," like a ram, against the walls of a besieged city, and which, in Roman warfare, commonly terminated in a ram"s head in bronze or iron. Ezekiel is the only Old Testament writer who, here and in Eze_21:22, uses the word, for which the LXX gives belosta) and the Vulgate arietes. The margin of the Authorized Version in both places gives "chief leaders," taking "rams" in another figurative sense; but, in the face of the LXX and Vulgate, there is no reason for accepting this. Battering rams frequently appear in Assyrian bas-reliefs of a much earlier date than Ezekiel"s time, at Nimroud (Vaux, "Nineveh and Persepolis," p. 456), Konyunyik Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 14:0, and elsewhere. They were hung by chains near the bottom of the besiegers" towers, and were propelled against the walls.

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Ver. 2. Siege.

By the remarkable symbolism described in this chapter, Ezekiel was himself assured that the metropolis of his country was about to endure the horrors of a siege, and his action was intended for a sign to the house of Israel. Jerusalem, like many of the ruinous cities of antiquity, and indeed of modern times, underwent the calamity again and again. It was probably the siege by Nebuchadnezzar which was foretold by the symbol of the tile and the iron pan. To be besieged was a not uncommon incident of warfare. But the prophet of God treated this approaching catastrophe, not merely as a fact of history, but as a moral and Divine lesson.

I THE GENERAL LESSONS VIVIDLY PRESENTED BY A CITY ENDURING A STATE OF SIEGE.

1. Community in civic life. Every city always has its own social characteristics. Citizens take a pride in the prosperity and glory of their city, especially if it be the metropolis of the nation. In our own time Paris was besieged by the German army, and its unity was never so realized as when thus encompassed by the enemy.

2. Community in resistance and hostility. Distinctions of rank and of social position almost vanish when a common danger threatens every class alike. Each man takes his share in the defence of the city, in bearing the common burden. All are drawn together by their community in dread or in defiance of the foe.

3. Community in the experience of suffering. Hunger and thirst, privation and want of rest, are shared by all the citizens of a beleaguered city. Men who partake the same calamity are drawn together by their common experience. The annals of a siege will usually be found to contain the record of remarkable cases of heroic unselfishness and public devotion.

II THE SPECIAL LESSONS PRESENTED BY THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. There may well have been manifested a community in spiritual discipline and profit.

1. The vanity of human pride and ambition was strikingly exhibited. TheJews were a vain glorious people; they possessed many distinctive marks of superiority raising them above the heathen, and their knew and boasted that it was so. They took credit to themselves for much for which they ought to have offered thanks to God. Their self-confidence and glorying were rebuked in the most emphatic manner when their fair and famed metropolis was besieged and threatened with destruction. This lesson is impressed upon their countrymen with unsparing faithfulness by the ancient Hebrew prophets.

2. Equally pointed was the lesson conveyed as to the utter vanity of merelyhuman help. The Jews did indeed sometimes seek alliances which might befriend and assist them in their distress; but against such alliances they were repeatedly warned by the prophets, whose duty it was to assure their countrymen of the vanity of the help of man. Especially were they rebuked for seeking friendship and aid from Egypt against, the forces of the Eastern foe; and they found such friendship hollow, and such aid ineffectual.

3. The inhabitants of Jerusalem and the people of Judah generally were, bythe siege of the city, directed to seek Divine deliverance. The city might fall; its walls might be levelled with the dust; its defenders might be slain; its inhabitants decimated. But all this might be overruled for the nation"s real and lasting good, should calamity and humiliation lead to repentance, should Divine favour be entreated, and a way of salvation be opened up to the remnant of the people. T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lay siege - Draw the figure of a siege about the city. Build - Raise a tower and bulwarks.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

a stone-throwing catapult Heb. דיק, mangonel in Old French, [mangonneau in modern French], with which they cast stones upon the city.

a siege mound Heb. סֹלְלָה, he would pour earth and press upon it (סֹלְלָה) and beat it down with sticks, and make a high mound on which to stand and look into the city and shoot arrows.

סֹלְלָה is bastion in Old French, rampart.

and place villages around it Heb. כָּרִים. Jonathan rendered: אֶפְרוֹרְוָן, which are villages that his armies make, and [the armies] dwell in tents on [all] sides of the city, so that no man could come or go. Another explanation is that כָּרִים are officers appointed over the army; this one guards on this side, and that one on that side.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.