John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 4:4-8

"Moreover lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it; [according to] the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it, thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be unto thee a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And again, when thou hast accomplished these, thou shalt lie on thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it unto thee. And thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with thine arm uncovered; and thou shalt prophesy against it. And, behold, I lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to the other, till thou hast accomplished the days of thy siege." — Ezekiel 4:4-8 (ASV)

We must first consider the scope of this prophecy, and we will then discuss its separate parts more conveniently. It is certain that God intended to oppose the pride of the people, for they thought themselves punished more severely than they deserved.

This is customary with hypocrites. While they dare not acquit themselves entirely, they still murmur as if God afflicted them too severely. Then, they willingly offer something in compensation so that they may free themselves from punishment.

For although they confess themselves guilty, they still do not cease to turn aside and think that if God deals equitably with them, they will either escape or at least be less miserable. Such was the disposition of the ancient people, as is well known. We now only need to repeat what we have said before: that the Jews were more obstinate because God had spared them.

Nor did they think this was only temporary, but they exulted with great freedom, as if they had settled all their business with God.

Meanwhile, the exiles were constantly complaining, first, that God had treated them so severely, and yet had with clemency pardoned the Jews. Then they thought that they had been deceived, and that if they had prudently managed their own affairs, they could have escaped the miseries by which they were oppressed.

Now, therefore, Ezekiel is ordered to come forward into their midst and briefly to show that no other result is possible but that the whole people should receive the reward of their wickedness.

But because simple teaching was not sufficient to stir them up, a vision is added. To this end, the Prophet is ordered to lie on one side for three hundred and ninety days, and on the other side for forty days.

Now the interpretation is added: that days are taken for so many years. But the meaning is that the people, for three hundred and ninety years, carried on war with God because they had never ceased from sin. Hence, the Prophet is ordered to take upon himself the iniquity of so many years; but God appointed him days for years. Then forty years are added, which belong to the people of Judah.

This passage is variously twisted by interpreters. I will not refer to all their comments, for they have tired themselves in vain by inventing arguments that vanish on their own. I will not spend time refuting them, but will only endeavor to discern the genuine meaning.

Some extend the name of Israel to the whole body of the people, but this must be rejected. They begin the three hundred and ninety years from the first revolt, mentioned in the Book of Judges (Judges 2:2). They gather those years during which the Israelites often fell into impiety. Thus, they reckon the three hundred and ninety years, subtracting those periods when religion and the pure worship of God flourished, as under Gideon, Samson for some time, and David and Solomon.

They then subtract those years in which piety flourished among the people, and the remainder reaches about three hundred and ninety years. But it would be absurd to include the tribe of Judah under the name of Israel when a comparison between each kingdom is made. We know, indeed, that all the posterity of Abraham were so named by their father Jacob. Therefore, when the name Israel is used, the twelve or thirteen tribes are included without exception. But when there is a comparison, Israel signifies only the ten tribes, or that adulterous kingdom which set up Jeroboam as king after the death of Solomon (1 Kings 12:20).

Since, then, both Israel and Judah are discussed here, it is by no means suitable for the prophecy to speak of the whole people and mix the tribe of Judah with the rest. Then the event itself dispels many obscurities and removes all room for controversy, for if we count the years from the revolt in Rehoboam’s time, we will find three hundred and ninety years until the siege of Jerusalem.

What then can be easier, and what room is there for conjectures? I am surprised that Jerome, since he relates nothing but mere trifles, still boasts of some wonderful wisdom; for he says he did not do it for the sake of boasting, and truly, he has little cause for it. For if anyone reads his Commentary, he will find nothing but what is puerile (1 Kings 12:28).

But, as I have already said, since the name Israel everywhere signifies the ten tribes, this interpretation is best here: namely, that the obstinacy of the ten tribes continued for three hundred and ninety years. For, as is sufficiently known, Jeroboam erected two altars so that he might turn the people away from the worship of God, because he thought himself not sufficiently established in his kingdom to retain the obedience of the people unless he turned them away from the house of David.

Therefore, he used that artifice—thus the worship of God was corrupted among the Israelites. Here, by idolatry, the Prophet points out the other sins of the people, for from this fountain flowed all other iniquities. After they had once cut themselves off from God, they became forgetful of the whole law.

The Prophet, therefore, includes all their corruptions under this one expression, since by the edict of their king this people had shaken off the yoke of God, for which Hosea reproaches them (Hosea 5:11).

We now understand the three hundred and ninety years of Israel’s iniquity, because the people then rejected the law and followed foreign superstitions, which Jeroboam fabricated with no other intention than that of strengthening the power of his kingdom.

This is just as earthly kings are influenced by no other desire; although they pretend, and even magnificently boast, that they seek God’s glory with the utmost devotion, yet their religion is only a delusion. Provided that they retain the people in obedience and duty, any kind of worship and any mode of worshipping God are the same to them.

Such, therefore, was the cunning of Jeroboam. But his posterity greatly deteriorated, so that the worship of God could never be restored among the Israelites. Circumcision, indeed, remained, in which they imitated what Moses had commanded in the law, but at the same time they had two altars, and those profane ones, instead of only one.

Eventually, they did not hesitate openly to adopt the idolatries of the Gentiles. Thus they so mixed God with their inventions that even what they valued under the pretense of piety was an abomination to Him. This is the reason God says that the iniquity of the people of Israel has endured for three hundred and ninety years.

The difficulty in the second clause is greater because the computation does not agree exactly. After the death of Josiah, we will only find twenty-two years until the destruction of the city. But we know that this king, in his eminent piety, ensured that God was sincerely worshipped, for he purged the whole land of all its defilements.

Where, then, will be those forty years? Therefore, it is necessary to take a part of the reign of Manasseh, because then Jerusalem not only revolted from the teaching of the law, but that tyrant also cruelly raged against all the Prophets, and the city was defiled by innocent blood.

Therefore, it will be necessary to omit the reign of Josiah. Then a part of the reign of Manasseh must be taken, because he did not immediately relapse into idolatry. But after he grew up, then, despising the worship of God and the examples of his fathers, he turned aside to strange and fictitious worship, though he did not persist in his impiety to the end of his life.

Eighteen years, then, must be taken and joined to the twenty-two, so that the number which the Prophet uses may be completed, unless, perhaps, anyone would rather take a part of the reign of Josiah (2 Kings 22). For although that pious king did his utmost to uphold the worship of God, yet we know that the people, in their utter wickedness, contended against the goodness of God.

For when the law was found, no reform followed, because the memory of all its doctrine had become obsolete. But when it was placed before the people, they should have been renewed.

But so far from those who had been previously alienated from God returning to wisdom, they revealed their obstinacy more and more.

Since, then, the impiety of the people had been exposed, it is not surprising that the people of Judah are said to have sinned for forty years.

Certainly, this latter explanation pleases me most, because the Prophet refers to continuous years which followed the captivity of the ten tribes. I do not, however, reject the other interpretation, because it reckons those years during which Manasseh exercised his tyranny against God’s servants and endeavored as much as he could to abolish His pure worship and to pollute it with the filth of all the nations.

Now, therefore, we understand the forty years of the iniquity of the tribe of Judah.

As for those interpreters who refer the four hundred and thirty years to the siege of the city, as if God’s vengeance was thus satisfied, I fear this interpretation will not be valid. It does not seem to me to be a suitable explanation. It only signifies that it is not surprising if their enemies besiege the city for so long, since they had provoked God for as many years as the siege continued for in days.

The city was besieged for a whole year and two or three months. The siege, from its start, continued to the end of the half-year; but this phase was completed in three or four months, when Pharaoh endeavored to free the Jews, who were then his allies and confederates, by bringing up his army.

Then Nebuchadnezzar went out to meet him, and the city was relieved for a short time. Now, if we take three hundred and ninety days, we will find a whole year at first, that is, three hundred and sixty-five days. Although at that time there was an intercalary month, and they did not have their year defined as we now have, there will still be three hundred and sixty-five days, which make a complete year.

The two months will make sixty days, so we will have four hundred and twenty days. Now, a month and a half elapsed before the return of Nebuchadnezzar. Then the computation will amount to four hundred and thirty days. But interpreters are satisfied because the siege of the city endured for a time that corresponds to that prescribed to Abraham.

For God entered into a covenant with Abraham four hundred and thirty years before the promulgation of the law. But I do not see why they are so satisfied with this resemblance. Nor is this the meaning of our Prophet. When he speaks of a siege, he certainly especially considers the destruction of the city.

Therefore, I do not think that the days of the siege are counted here as a just punishment, but only that years are compared with days to determine how long the siege should be, and that the end was not to be expected until the whole people perished.

Besides, we see as we proceed that the Prophet lay on his side for three hundred and ninety days; in which passage there is no mention of the forty days, and that part seems to be omitted. Yet this remains certain: because Israel and Judah had been obstinate in their wickedness, therefore the city was besieged until it was utterly taken.

Surely, the punishment of Israel cannot be considered to consist in the overthrow of the holy city, for the ten tribes had already migrated from their country and did not know what was happening in Jerusalem, except by report. Whatever happened, their condition was entirely separate from all the miseries of the people, for they were then quiet in exile.

Since, then, the Prophet is ordered to bear the iniquity of Israel for three hundred and ninety days, this should not be restricted to the siege. God simply means that since so many years had elapsed during which both Israelites and Jews had not ceased to sin, their final destruction was already near.

But we know that at that time the kingdom of Judah was extinguished, and exile was like death to the ten tribes. For this reason, they had perished; nor did the Prophet bear their iniquity as if they were then paying the penalty for their sins. But we know that this is the customary manner of Scripture, because God reckons sins to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 5:9).

When, therefore, God intended the ten tribes to be dragged into exile, He then punished them for their wickedness of three hundred and ninety years.

Afterwards, He was patient with the city of Jerusalem for a certain time and endured a similar impiety in that tribe, so that He would not utterly blot out the memory of the people.

But the Jews did not repent, as we also see from Isaiah, who, in comparing them with the Israelites, states that they became worse (Isaiah 18:1, 7, 8 [sic]). Micah reproves them for following the statutes of Omri (Micah 6:16), so it is not surprising if the punishment they endure should correspond to the wickedness in which they had involved themselves.

We will also see that the same subject is repeated by our Prophet in Ezekiel 16.

Overall, then, God intended to show the people that they had abused His forbearance too much and too long, since they did not desist from sinning even up to the four hundred and thirtieth year.

The Israelites indeed began to turn aside from the true worship of God while the Temple still remained pure, but eventually the tribe of Judah, by degenerating, became guilty of the same impiety. Now we understand the intention of the Holy Spirit.

I pass on to the words. Thou, He says, shalt lie upon thy left side. We must remark that this was not actually completed, because Ezekiel did not lie for three hundred and ninety days on his side, but only in a vision, so that he might afterwards relate to the people what God had revealed.

As for the opinion of those commentators who think the ten tribes are meant by the left side because Samaria was situated to the left, I do not think it is applicable. I do not doubt that God intended to prefer the tribe of Judah to the kingdom of Israel; for although the ten tribes excelled in the number, opulence, and strength of men, yet God always esteemed the kingdom of Judah more highly.

For here was the seat of David; and the ten tribes were the posterity of Abraham only according to the flesh. The promise remained with Jerusalem, and there also the lamp of God shone, as we have said in many places. Hence, the right side signifies that dignity with which God always intended to adorn the kingdom of Judah. But the ten tribes are marked by the left side because, as I have said, they did not enjoy equal glory with the kingdom of Judah, although they were more numerous, more courageous, and more abundant in all good things.

It must now be observed that the burden of bearing their iniquity was imposed on the Prophet; not because God transferred the iniquity of the people to him, as some here invent an allegory and say that the Prophet was a type of Christ, who bore upon Himself the iniquity of the people.

However, an expiation is not described here. We know that God uses His servants for different purposes. Thus, in one instance, the Prophet is ordered to oppose Jerusalem as if he were the king of Babylon; therefore, he represents King Nebuchadnezzar when he opposes the city of brick, of which we spoke yesterday.

Now he represents other characters, namely those of the ten tribes and the kingdom of Judah, when he lies upon his left side three hundred and ninety days, and on his right side forty days. For this reason also it is said, I have appointed to thee the years of this iniquity, according to the number of the days, etc.; that is, when I order you to lie on your right side for so many days, I represent years to you.

For it would have been absurd to demand that the Prophet lie on one side for four centuries, so God accommodates Himself in these figures to our human standard. It is contrary to nature for a man to lie down for four centuries, and because that is absurd, God changes years into days. This is the reason why days are said to be substituted for years.

Afterwards it is added, when thou shalt have fulfilled those years, then thou shalt afterwards lie upon thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. Here God shows the tribe of Judah that when it should have been frightened by the punishment of the kingdom of Israel, it still persisted in its wickedness; therefore, the Jews could not possibly escape the punishment of the Israelites.

It is added, and towards the siege of Jerusalem thou shalt set or establish thy face. Either meaning can be accepted: either directing and ordering, or establishing and strengthening, although I prefer the word ‘directing’ or ‘ordering’ in this place. He had said, indeed, before, “You shall direct your face until Jerusalem shall be besieged”; but in my opinion, God simply orders His Prophet here to be intent on the overthrow of the city.

And thine arm shall be made bare; that is, for swift action. For we know that Eastern peoples use flowing tunics and long robes, so that they cannot carry out any task without adjusting their garments. Therefore, the Prophet is ordered here to make bare his arm, just as if anyone were to take his coat half off and throw it over the other side, so that he might have one arm free.

Such was the dress of the Prophet, but in a vision, as I have said. Afterwards it is added, that thou, shalt prophesy against it. Again, God repeats what we saw yesterday, for nothing would have been more pointless than for the Prophet to make bare his arm and direct his face towards the siege of a painted city.

If the picture had been only an empty one, the spectacle might be justly condemned. But God adds the meaning to the symbols, so that the prophecy may have more force, as if He had said, “I see that these signs are not of themselves of much importance, and you might object to Me, ‘Why do You concern Yourself with these trifles?’”

“But whatever you do shall be a certain seal of prophecy.”

Now we see why God joins the word “prophecy.” Then He adds, “Behold, I will place ropes upon thee, so that thou canst not turn from side to side, until thou hast completed the days of thy siege.”

God here signifies that His decree concerning the siege of Jerusalem was inviolable. For as He held His servant so bound, the firmness of His decree was thereby shown, because the Jews thought that they could extricate themselves by their deceits.

For we know that they always flattered themselves when the Prophets threatened them.

Therefore, God signifies that the siege of the city was certain until it was taken, because the Prophet was to be bound with cords and was not to move himself nor turn from one side to the other.

And thus we understand, from the symbol used here, that the Jews would suffer the same punishments as the ten tribes.

It is just as if God were saying that the time determined for the destruction of the kingdom of Israel had come, and that the same end would happen to the Jews; for in whatever direction they might escape, yet the same execution of God’s judgment would arrive, as if the matter had been already determined. Now it follows: