The Meaning of Ezekiel 4:3 Explained

Ezekiel 4:3

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.

YLT: And thou, take to thee an iron pan, and thou hast made it a wall of iron between thee and the city; and thou hast prepared thy face against it, and it hath been in a siege, yea, thou hast laid siege against it. A sign it is to the house of Israel.

Darby: And take thou unto thee an iron plate, and put 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.

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 Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Ezekiel 4:3 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Then Ezekiel was to place an iron plate between himself and his model of the city and to lay siege to Jerusalem. This was to be a sign to the people of Israel of what God would do to the real Jerusalem (cf. Deuteronomy 28:52-57). The meaning of the iron plate or pan is also debatable, though it appears to have been a common cooking griddle (Heb. mahabhath). It may have signified the Babylonian army that made escape from the city impossible, [1] God"s determined hostility against Jerusalem, [2] the barrier of sin that the Jews had raised between themselves and God, [3] or Ezekiel"s protection as he acted out his drama. [4] I favor the view that it represented a barrier that existed between the people and God, whom Ezekiel represented, that their sin had erected and that their prayers could not penetrate (cf. Isaiah 58:2; Lamentations 3:44).
Evidently Ezekiel built this model scene without speaking to his audience or explaining what he was doing, and he probably did it just outside his house (cf. Ezekiel 3:24-25).
"The purpose of God in this prophetic act was hardly limited to letting Ezekiel and his countrymen in on the future. More important was their need to see that God was not about to let the sins of the city He had chosen go unpunished." [5]

Chapter Summary: Ezekiel 4

1  Under type of a siege is shown the time from the defection of Jeroboam to captivity
9  By the provision of the siege, is shown the hardness of the famine

What do the individual words in Ezekiel 4:3 mean?

Moreover you take for yourself plate an iron and set it [as] wall between you and the city and Set - your face against it and it shall be besieged and you shall lay siege against it a sign that [will be] to the house of Israel -
וְאַתָּ֤ה קַח־ לְךָ֙ מַחֲבַ֣ת בַּרְזֶ֔ל וְנָתַתָּ֤ה אוֹתָהּ֙ קִ֣יר בֵּינְךָ֖ וּבֵ֣ין הָעִ֑יר וַהֲכִינֹתָה֩ אֶת־ פָּנֶ֨יךָ אֵלֶ֜יהָ וְהָיְתָ֤ה בַמָּצוֹר֙ וְצַרְתָּ֣ עָלֶ֔יהָ א֥וֹת הִ֖יא לְבֵ֥ית יִשְׂרָאֵֽל ס

וְאַתָּ֤ה  Moreover  you 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, second person masculine singular
Root: אַתְּ 
Sense: you (second pers.
קַח־  take 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.
לְךָ֙  for  yourself 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine singular
מַחֲבַ֣ת  plate 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: מַחֲבַת  
Sense: flat plate, pan, griddle.
בַּרְזֶ֔ל  an  iron 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בַּרְזֶל  
Sense: iron.
וְנָתַתָּ֤ה  and  set 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
קִ֣יר  [as]  wall 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: קִיר  
Sense: wall, side.
בֵּינְךָ֖  between  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine singular
Root: בַּיִן 
Sense: between, among, in the midst of (with other preps), from between.
הָעִ֑יר  the  city 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: עִיר 
Sense: excitement, anguish.
וַהֲכִינֹתָה֩  and  Set 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: כּוּן 
Sense: to be firm, be stable, be established.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
פָּנֶ֨יךָ  your  face 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
אֵלֶ֜יהָ  against  it 
Parse: Preposition, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
וְהָיְתָ֤ה  and  it  shall  be 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
בַמָּצוֹר֙  besieged 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מָצֹור 
Sense: siege-enclosure, siege, entrenchment, siege works.
וְצַרְתָּ֣  and  you  shall  lay  siege 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: צוּר 
Sense: to bind, besiege, confine, cramp.
עָלֶ֔יהָ  against  it 
Parse: Preposition, third person feminine singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
א֥וֹת  a  sign 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: אֹות  
Sense: sign, signal.
הִ֖יא  that  [will  be] 
Parse: Pronoun, third person feminine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
לְבֵ֥ית  to  the  house 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל  of  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation