Ezekiel 4:1
New International Version
“Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.

New Living Translation
“And now, son of man, take a large clay brick and set it down in front of you. Then draw a map of the city of Jerusalem on it.

English Standard Version
“And you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem.

Berean Standard Bible
“Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you, and draw on it the city of Jerusalem.

King James Bible
Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:

New King James Version
“You also, son of man, take a clay tablet and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, Jerusalem.

New American Standard Bible
“Now you, son of man, get yourself a brick, place it before you, and inscribe a city on it—Jerusalem.

NASB 1995
“Now you son of man, get yourself a brick, place it before you and inscribe a city on it, Jerusalem.

NASB 1977
“Now you son of man, get yourself a brick, place it before you, and inscribe a city on it, Jerusalem.

Legacy Standard Bible
“Now as for you, son of man, get yourself a brick, set it before you, and inscribe a city on it, Jerusalem.

Amplified Bible
“Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you and inscribe on it [a diagram of] the city of Jerusalem.

Christian Standard Bible
“Now you, son of man, take a brick, set it in front of you, and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Now you, son of man, take a brick, set it in front of you, and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.

American Standard Version
Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it a city, even Jerusalem:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“But you, son of man, take for yourself a brick and set it in front of you and trace on it the city Jerusalem

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And thou, son of man, take thee a brick, and thou shalt set it before thy face, and shalt portray on it the city, even Jerusalem.

Contemporary English Version
Ezekiel, son of man, find a brick and sketch a picture of Jerusalem on it.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And thou, O son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee: and draw upon it the plan of the city of Jerusalem.

English Revised Version
Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it a city, even Jerusalem:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
[The LORD said,] "Son of man, take clay, put it in front of you, and draw a map of Jerusalem on it.

Good News Translation
God said, "Mortal man, get a brick, put it in front of you, and scratch lines on it to represent the city of Jerusalem.

International Standard Version
"And now Son of Man, you are to take a brick, set it in front of you, and inscribe on it the outline of the city—that is, Jerusalem.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and trace upon it a city, even Jerusalem;

Literal Standard Version
“And you, son of man, take a brick for yourself, and you have put it before you, and have carved a city on it—Jerusalem,

Majority Standard Bible
“Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you, and draw on it the city of Jerusalem.

New American Bible
You, son of man, take a clay tablet; place it in front of you, and draw on it a city, Jerusalem.

NET Bible
"And you, son of man, take a brick and set it in front of you. Inscribe a city on it--Jerusalem.

New Revised Standard Version
And you, O mortal, take a brick and set it before you. On it portray a city, Jerusalem;

New Heart English Bible
"You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem:

Webster's Bible Translation
Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem;

World English Bible
“You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem.

Young's Literal Translation
'And thou, son of man, take to thee a brick, and thou hast put it before thee, and hast graven on it a city -- Jerusalem,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
A Sign of Jerusalem's Siege
1“Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you, and draw on it the city of Jerusalem. 2Then lay siege against it: Construct a siege wall, build a ramp to it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it on all sides.…

Cross References
Isaiah 20:2
the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, "Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet." And Isaiah did so, walking around naked and barefoot.

Jeremiah 13:1
This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water."

Jeremiah 18:2
"Go down at once to the potter's house, and there I will reveal My message to you."

Jeremiah 19:1
This is what the LORD says: "Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take some of the elders of the people and leaders of the priests,

Ezekiel 5:5
This is what the Lord GOD says: 'This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.

Ezekiel 21:19
"Now you, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost where the road branches off to each city.


Treasury of Scripture

You also, son of man, take you a tile, and lay it before you, and portray on it the city, even Jerusalem:

take

Ezekiel 5:1
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's rasor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

Ezekiel 12:3
Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house.

1 Samuel 15:27,28
And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent…

a tile.

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Brick City Clay Front Graven Inscribe Jerusalem Lay Picture Portray Tablet Trace
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Brick City Clay Front Graven Inscribe Jerusalem Lay Picture Portray Tablet Trace
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














IV.

(1) Take thee a tile.--The use of tiles for such purposes as that here indicated was common both in Babylonia and in Nineveh. When intended for preservation the writing or drawing was made upon the soft and plastic clay, which was afterwards baked. It is from the remains of great libraries prepared in this way that most of our modern knowledge of Nineveh and Babylon has been derived. It is, of course, quite possible that Ezekiel may have drawn in this way upon a soft clay tile; but from the whole account in this and the following chapters it is more likely that he simply described, rather than actually performed, these symbolical acts.

Verse 1. - The first sign in this method of unspoken prophecy was to indicate to the exiles of Tel-Abib that which they were unwilling to believe The day of uncertain hopes and fears, of delusive dreams and promises (Jeremiah 27:16; Jeremiah 28:1-3; Jeremiah 29:21), was nearly over. The siege of Jerusalem in spite of Zedekiab's Egyptian alliance, was a thing decreed. Four years before it came - we are now between the fourth month of the fifth year (Ezekiel 1:2) and the sixth month of the sixth year (Ezekiel 8:1) of Zedekiah. and the siege began in the ninth year (2 Kings 25:1) - Ezekiel, on the segnius irritant principle, brought it, as here narrated, before the eyes of the exiles. That he did so implies a certain artistic culture, in possessing which he stands alone, so far as we know, among the prophets of Israel, and to which his residence in the land of the Chaldees may have contributed. He takes a tile, or tablet of baked clay, such as were used in Babylon and Assyria for private contracts, historical inscriptions, astronomical observations (Pliny, 'Hist. Nat.,' 7:57), and the like, which were, in fact, the books of that place and time, and of which whole libraries have been brought to light in recent excavations (Layard, 'Nineveh and Babylon,' ch. 22) and engraves upon it the outlines of "a city" (Revised Version), in which the exiles would at once recognize the city of their fathers, the towers which they had once counted (Isaiah 33:18; Psalm 48:12), the temple which had been their glory and their joy. Bricks with such scenes on them were found among the ruins of Nimroud, now in the British Museum (Layard, ut supra, ch. 7, p. 167). It is not difficult to picture to ourselves the wondering curiosity with which Ezekiel's neighbours would watch the strange proceeding. In this case the sign would be more impressive than any spoken utterance.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Now you,
וְאַתָּ֤ה (wə·’at·tāh)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

son
בֶן־ (ḇen-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of man,
אָדָם֙ (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

take
קַח־ (qaḥ-)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

a brick,
לְבֵנָ֔ה (lə·ḇê·nāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 3843: Brick, tile

place
וְנָתַתָּ֥ה (wə·nā·ṯat·tāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

it
אוֹתָ֖הּ (’ō·w·ṯāh)
Direct object marker | third person feminine singular
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

before you,
לְפָנֶ֑יךָ (lə·p̄ā·ne·ḵā)
Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6440: The face

and draw
וְחַקּוֹתָ֥ (wə·ḥaq·qō·w·ṯā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 2710: To hack, engrave, to enact, prescribe

on it
עָלֶ֛יהָ (‘ā·le·hā)
Preposition | third person feminine singular
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the city
עִ֖יר (‘îr)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5892: Excitement

of Jerusalem.
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ (yə·rū·šā·lim)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3389: Jerusalem -- probably 'foundation of peace', capital city of all Israel


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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 4:1 You also son of man take (Ezek. Eze Ezk)
Ezekiel 3:27
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