Hierosolymae super terrain Israel, Panem snare in anxietate comedent, et aquas
EZEKIEL
PRAYER.
Grant, Almighty God, since thou declarest to us by so many proofs the formidable nature of thine anger, especially against the obstinate and rebellious, who reject thy word familiarly spoken to them: Grant, I say, that we may embrace what is proposed to us in thy name with the humility and reverence becoming' to thy children, so that we may repent of our sins, and obtain their pardon, until at length we are freed from all corruptions of the flesh, and become partakers of that eternal and celestial glory which thy only-begotten Son has purchased for us by his blood. --- Amen.
Lecture Thirty third
Ezekiel 12:17-19
17. Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
17. Et fuit sermo Iehovae ad me dicendo,
18. Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness;
18. Fili hominis, panem tuam in tremore comede, et aquas tuas in tumultu et dolore 258 bibe;
19. And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein.
19. Et dices ad populum terrae, Sic dicit Dominator Iehovah habitatoribus 259
Hierosolymae super terrain Israel, Panem snare in anxietate 260 comedent, et aquas suds in desolatione bibent, ut vastetur 261 terra a sua plenitudine, propter violentiam omnium qui habitant in ea.
The Prophet is now ordered to represent the famine which awaited the Jews in both the siege and exile. But this prophecy ought to be especially referred to the time of the siege; for the Jews were in continual fear, and thought that by means of their garrison they would be impregnable. But as the Lord had often removed this trust from them, so he does now: hence therefore that miserable anxiety and fear, so that they never ate their bread but in fear, nor drank their water but in confusion.
For a besieged city always fears for itself, and then the enemy so harasses them that fatigue at length compels the besieged to surrender. And it is probable, since the army of the Chaldees could often attempt to take the city with ease and without any great loss, that the Jews would daily be subject to fresh terrors, so that they could neither eat bread nor drink water except in anxiety and confusion. But because simple and unadorned teaching would not have been effective among the ten tribes and the Jews, hence an outward symbol is added. The Prophet therefore is the image of the besieged people, and hence he is ordered to eat his bread with trembling, that the spectacle might the more affect these slow and slothful men. By and bye the application follows, thou shalt say to the people of the land I do not doubt that he here means the ten tribes: hence the land signifies Chaldea, and those regions through 258Either "torture," or, "anxiety." — Calvin. 259Or, "inhabitants." — Calvin. 260Either "torture," or, "pain," for he repeats the same word. — Calvin. 261Or, "be made desolate." — Calvin.