Ezekiel 4:17

Study note

Setting — God addresses Ezekiel to announce the imminent deprivation of bread and water in Jerusalem. The message targets the house of Israel, framing the coming famine as a direct consequence of their covenant failure.

The words — The Hebrew יַחְסְר֖וּ (yach.se.ru) means "they will lack," directly governing לֶ֣חֶם (lechem, "bread") and מָ֑יִם (mayim, "water"). The verb וְ/נָמַ֖קּוּ (ve./na.ma.ku) translates literally to "and they will waste away," describing the physical decay of individuals facing one another.

The thread — This judgment language appears in Leviticus 26:39, Ezekiel 24:23, and Ezekiel 33:10. Each passage uses the same motif of wasting away in iniquity to trace physical decay back to moral failure.

Why it lands — The text records that covenant violation produces measurable starvation and mutual despair before any theological inference is drawn. It requires the reader to accept that spiritual rebellion yields concrete, inescapable consequences.

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.