John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 4:14-15

"Then said I, Ah Lord Jehovah! behold, my soul hath not been polluted; for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn of beasts; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth. Then he said unto me, See, I have given thee cow`s dung for man`s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread thereon." — Ezekiel 4:14-15 (ASV)

The Prophet here includes the answer he received to his request that God would relax His severe command. It was detestable to eat meat cooked with human dung, not only because of the stench but also because religion forbade it. Although the Prophet did not consider the taste, he objected that it was not lawful for him, and he recounts how carefully he had abstained from all polluted food throughout his entire life.

For if he had previously dared to eat all sorts of food indiscriminately, he could not now pray as he does against being compelled to eat polluted bread; rather, he shows here that he had abstained from all polluted food throughout his entire life.

My soul, he says, was never polluted; for “soul” is often used to mean the belly. Then he adds, I have never tasted a carcass or what has been torn in pieces. By the figure of speech, “a part for the whole,” he refers to all unclean meats, which were unlawful food according to the commandments of the Law (Leviticus 9).

For, because a carcass is mixed with blood, God forbade them to touch the flesh of an animal that died by itself, because it had not been strangled. Then, if a wild beast tore a sheep or an ox, that cruelty was to be detestable to people.

Therefore, since both a carcass and torn or lacerated flesh are unclean food, the Prophet here says that from his childhood until that time he had kept God’s commands with his utmost effort. Consequently, as I have said, he obtains some concession.

Yet he is compelled to eat his bread cooked with ox dung. This was done in a vision, as I said yesterday. However, God did not, in the meantime, change what He had determined concerning the people: namely, that they should eat their bread polluted among the Gentiles.

For a cake cooked with ox dung was unclean according to the Law. Thus, God shows His own decree was firmly established: that the Israelites would be mixed among the Gentiles, so that they would contract pollution from their impurity.