Bible Strands
Ezekiel 4:4
Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh commands Ezekiel to perform a prophetic sign act during the siege of Jerusalem. The instruction follows the placement of an iron plate and precedes the assignment of a specific number of days.
The words — שְׁכַב (she.Khav) means "lie down," and עָוֹן ('a.Von) denotes "iniquity" or guilt. The text explicitly orders the prophet to physically rest on his left side while transferring Israel's iniquity onto his own body.
The thread — This motif of bearing iniquity appears in Leviticus 16:22, where a scapegoat carries Israel's guilt into the wilderness. It also surfaces in Leviticus 10:17 and Numbers 18:1 regarding priests bearing the guilt of offerings and the sanctuary.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that covenant failure carries a tangible, divinely assigned weight. It requires the reader to confront the reality that sin must be borne before it can be addressed, not dismissed or minimized.
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
Lie thou also 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.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 16:22 The goat will carry on itself all their iniquities into a solitary place, and the man will release it into the wilderness.
- Leviticus 10:17 “Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt of the congregation by making atonement for them before the LORD.
- Numbers 18:1 So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood.
- Isaiah 53:11 After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.
- Ezekiel 4:8 Now behold, I will tie you up with ropes so you cannot turn from side to side until you have finished the days of your siege.
- Numbers 14:34 In keeping with the forty days you spied out the land, you shall bear your guilt forty years—a year for each day—and you will experience My alienation.
- 2 Kings 17:21 When the LORD had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin.
- Ezekiel 4:5 For I have assigned to you 390 days, according to the number of years of their iniquity. So you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
- Matthew 8:17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”
- Hebrews 9:28 so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.