Bible Strands
Ezekiel 4:11
You are also to measure out a sixth of a hin of water to drink, and you are to drink it at set times.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Ezekiel during a prophetic enactment of Jerusalem's siege. The command follows instructions for daily food rationing and precedes details about baking that food. The words — בְּמִשְׂרָה (bi/m.su.Rah) translates as "by measure" or "at set times," and מֵעֵת עַד־עֵת (me./'Et ... 'et) literally means "from time to time," establishing strict temporal limits on consumption. The thread — This measured rationing continues in Ezekiel 4:16 with the cutting off of Jerusalem's food supply, and Isaiah 5:13 connects such starvation to exile for lacking understanding. Why it lands — The text describes survival under judgment as strictly calculated portions of water, leaving no room for comfort or spontaneity.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 5:13 Therefore My people will go into exile for their lack of understanding; their dignitaries are starving and their masses are parched with thirst.
- Ezekiel 4:16 Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure.
- John 3:34 For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.