1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
Jerome · AD 420 (Chapter 4, Verses 1-2.) And you, son of man, take a brick for yourself and set it before you, and portray on it the city of Jerusalem. Build siege works against it, build a siege mound against it, raise a ramp against it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams against it all around.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 "And you, son of man, take a brick for yourself, and place it before you, and draw upon it the city of Jerusalem." In these words, indeed, what else is designated according to history but the siege and destruction of the city of Jerusalem, and what else is expressed but the affliction of a sinful people? It is called a provoking house.
2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 "And you shall set the siege against it, and you shall build fortifications, and you shall heap up a mound, and you shall set camps against it, and place battering rams around it." Therefore the teacher must vigilantly make known to the progressing soul what temptations follow it, so that it may be able to prepare itself cautiously against the snares of the malignant spirit.
3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
Jerome · AD 420 (Ver. 3.) And you shall take for yourself an iron pan: and you shall place it as an iron wall between you and the city, and you shall set your face against it, and it shall be for a siege, and you shall surround it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 "And take to yourself an iron frying pan, and you shall place it as an iron wall between yourself and the city, and you shall set your face firmly against it, and it shall be under siege, and you shall surround it.
4 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.
Jerome · AD 420 (Ver. 4 seqq.) And you shall lie on your left side, and you shall bear the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity. For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 Ezekiel was to lie down on his right side for 40 days and 150 on his left, to dig through a wall and flee, portraying in himself the captivity. Another time Ezekiel is to sharpen a sword to a point, shave his head with it and divide the hair four ways and assign a part here, a part there, without listing it all.
5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 7.) And you shall turn your face towards the siege of Jerusalem, and your arm shall be extended, and you shall prophesy against it. LXX: And you shall set your face towards the siege of Jerusalem, and you shall strengthen your arm, and you shall prophesy over it.
8 And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 8.) Behold, I have surrounded you with chains, and you will not turn from one side to the other, until the days of your siege (or conclusion) are completed. The left side, because it was without a temple and knowledge of God, is assigned to the Israelites; the right side, to the Jews, in whom (or where) the worship and religion of God reside.
9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat
Jerome · AD 420 (Vrs. 9 ff.) And you will take for yourself wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt; and you will put them into one vessel, and you will make for yourself breads according to the number of days on which you will sleep on your side: three hundred and ninety days you will eat it.
10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat
Philoxenus of Mabbug · AD 523 And the prophet Ezekiel also, when he was about to receive the revelation of the prophecy of the uprooting of the city and the overthrowing of the temple, did the word of God bring into severe tribulations to eat bread by weight, and to drink water by measure, and to sleep upon his side in affliction, and then he arrived at the vision of prophecy.
11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 13 and following) And the Lord said: Thus will the sons of Israel eat their polluted bread among the nations to which I will drive them out. And I said, ah, ah, ah, O Lord God: Behold, my soul is not polluted, and I have not eaten carrion or torn flesh from beasts from my youth until now, and all unclean flesh has not entered into my mouth.
14 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 I have recalled that the prophet Ezekiel too says something similar, when the Lord had commanded him to cook loaves for himself "in human dung". For he answered the Lord and said: "O Lord, never has my soul been defiled, and carrion or anything unclean has not entered into my mouth. But neither has yesterday's flesh entered into my mouth".
15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread
16 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 16, 17.) And he said to me: Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and with dismay; so that when bread and water are lacking, each one shall stumble to his brother, and they shall waste away in their iniquities.
17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.