Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 4:12

"And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it in their sight with dung that cometh out of man." — Ezekiel 4:12 (ASV)

As barley cakes. — These were commonly cooked in the hot ashes, hence the particular defilement caused by the fuel required to be used. Against this the prophet pleads, not merely as revolting in itself, but as ceremonially polluting (Ezekiel 4:14; Leviticus 7:21), and a mitigation of the requirement is granted to him (Ezekiel 4:15).

In their sight — This is still a part of the vision. The words have been thought to determine that the whole transaction was an actual symbolic act and not a vision; but this does not follow. It need only have been a part of the vision that what was done was done publicly.