Ezekiel 4:11 · Bible study
Ezekiel 4:11 Commentary: The Symbol of Measured Water
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
God commands Ezekiel to drink only a sixth of a hin of water daily, symbolizing desperate scarcity during Jerusalem's siege and exile.
Research Summary
- Meaning: A prophetic sign of water scarcity during Jerusalem's siege and exile, symbolizing judgment for sin.
- Key words: 'By measure, the sixth part of a hin', a deliberately tiny ration. 'From time to time', set intervals, reinforcing the discipline of deprivation.
- Main debate: The exact volume of a sixth of a hin (estimates range from less than a pint to about 1.5 pints).
- Theological theme: Covenant curse, sin brings scarcity of life's essentials.
- Best use: Preaching on judgment, repentance, or the cost of prophetic witness.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
You are also to measure out a sixth of a hin of water to drink, and you are to drink it at set times.
WEB World English Bible 2000
You shall drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin. From time to time you shall drink.
KJV King James Version 1769
Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
`And water by measure thou dost drink, a sixth part of the hin; from time to time thou dost drink it .
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time thou shalt drink it,
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y beberás el agua por medida, la sexta parte de un hin: de tiempo á tiempo beberás.
Também beberás a água por medida: a sexta parte de um him; de tempo em tempo beberás.
L’ eau que tu boiras aura la mesure d’ un sixième de hin; tu boiras de temps à autre.
Das Wasser sollst du auch nach dem Maß trinken, nämlich das sechste Teil vom Hin, und sollst solches auch von einer Zeit zur andern trinken.
Gij zult ook water naar zekere maat drinken, het zesde deel van een hin; van tijd tot tijd zult gij het drinken.
Berrai pure dell’acqua a misura: la sesta parte d’un hin; la berrai di tempo in tempo.
Także wodę pod miarą pić będziesz; szóstą część hynu od czasu do czasu pić będziesz.
И воду пей мерою, по шестой части гина пей; от времени до времени пей так.
你喝 水 也要按制子，每日喝一欣 六分之一，按時 而喝。
And you are to take water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: you are to take it at regular times.
Verse in Context
Scholars' Consensus
All consulted commentators agree that the measured water in this verse functions as a prophetic symbol of desperate scarcity. Barnes ties it to the 'water of affliction' mentioned in 1 Kings 22:27 and Isaiah 30:20. The Cambridge Bible notes that the rationing represents 'great scarcity and straitness during the siege.' Gill estimates the daily allowance at roughly a pint of water, a meager amount for a grown man. Keil and Delitzsch specify the quantity as less than a pint, intended to be the sole liquid for the day, taken 'at the hours appointed for eating.' Matthew Henry reads the passage as part of the 'coarse fare and short commons' that Ezekiel must endure, paralleling the famine that would strike Jerusalem itself (Lam. 4:4). The consistent emphasis is on the severity of God's judgment: the measured water is not a test of the prophet's devotion but a dramatized warning that Israel's sin would lead to water shortage, a direct reversal of the land's promised abundance.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The water measure symbolises severe scarcity during Jerusalem's siege and exile as a consequence of sin, with all traditions agreeing on this basic meaning.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose of the water measure | All traditions see it as a symbol of severe scarcity during the siege and exile. | Some emphasize the siege conditions (Keil, Barnes) while others also highlight the ongoing pollution of exile (Cambridge). |
| Exact volume of a hin | The amount is small, a fraction of a gallon. | Estimates vary: Barnes gives 6/10 or 9/10 pint; Gill says about a pint; Jamieson-Fausset-Brown says about 1.5 pints. |
| Role of the prophet's personal suffering | Ezekiel's obedience underscores the seriousness of the message. | Matthew Henry sees it as the prophet entering into the people's affliction; others focus more on the sign itself than the prophet's experience. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Ezekiel 4:11 belongs to a sequence of symbolic actions that the prophet performed while already living among the exiles in Babylon (Ezekiel 1:1-3). The larger sign involved lying on his side for 390 days bearing the guilt of Israel (v.4-5), with his face set toward a model of besieged Jerusalem (v.7). The measured food and water were part of this street-level prophecy. The immediate historical backdrop is the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem (588-586 BC), which would bring catastrophic famine. Lamentations 4:4-10 later testifies to the reality of such thirst: children begging for water, tongues sticking to the roof of the mouth.
The hin was a standard liquid measure in Israelite culture, approximately equivalent to a gallon by some calculations. The sixth part of a hin, about a pint or less per day, was a drastically reduced ration for an adult male, especially given the physical demands of the prophet's own activity. The phrase 'from time to time' signals that this meager portion was taken at set intervals, likely twice daily with meals, imposing a rhythm of deprivation that would have been both humbling and wearisome.
This command echoes covenant curses found in Deuteronomy 28:48, where disobedience results in hunger and thirst. It also foreshadows Ezekiel 4:16, where the Lord himself declares he will 'break the staff of bread in Jerusalem.' The water measure, then, is not simply an abstract warning; it is a living picture of the curse coming into effect. For the exiles watching, the prophet's thirsty obedience would have made the consequences of sin visible, tangible, and unforgettable.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Ezekiel 4:11. The Hebrew text is consistent across the major manuscripts.
Reception History
This verse has been read across church history as a stark reminder of judgment and a call to repentance. Reformation-era commentators like Matthew Henry connected it to the famine described in Lamentations, emphasizing the historical reality behind the symbol. Earlier rabbinic interpretations also saw the measured water as a fulfillment of covenant curses. In more recent centuries, the passage has been used to illustrate the cost of prophetic witness and the seriousness with which God communicates his displeasure. The image of rationed water continues to resonate in contexts of drought or forced scarcity, reminding readers that physical lack often carries spiritual meaning.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The command: God gives Ezekiel a specific daily ration of water, a sixth of a hin, to be drunk at set times.
- The context: This ration occurs within a larger sign of siege and exile, pointing to the actual deprivation Jerusalem would suffer.
- The message: Sin brings scarcity. God uses the prophet's own body to show what life looks like when his protective hand withdraws.
Five-point outline
- Prophetic obedience: Ezekiel follows a difficult, humiliating instruction (v.11).
- The small measure: A sixth of a hin, less than a pint, symbolizes extreme want.
- The set times: Drinking 'from time to time' adds a rhythm of discipline to the deprivation.
- The link to exile: Verse 13 explains that this points to eating defiled bread among the nations.
- The call to repent: The siege is not permanent; it is meant to turn hearts back to God.
Illustration hooks
- Drought rationing: In places like California or sub-Saharan Africa, families often receive a fixed amount of water per day. The feeling of counting every drop helps modern listeners grasp the verse's urgency.
- Hospital liquid restrictions: A patient on a fluid restriction, perhaps 1 liter per day, knows the frustration of thirst and the importance of every sip. That controlled lack mirrors the prophet's experience.
- Camping with limited supply: When hiking and water runs low, each ration feels precious. That shared memory can make the sixth of a hin tangible.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why would God ask his own prophet to suffer this way?
- What does this say about the seriousness of sin?
- Does this passage still have meaning for us today, or is it only historical?
Leading a Discussion
This verse shows God using a physical action to communicate a spiritual reality. As you reflect, consider how scarcity reveals what we truly depend on. The measured water may seem like a small detail, but it carries the weight of judgment, and the hope that judgment is not the final word.
Discussion questions
- What does the verse tell you about Ezekiel's daily life during this symbolic siege?
- Why do you think God chose such a small, specific measure (a sixth of a hin) rather than simply saying 'little water'?
- How do the surrounding verses (4:9-17) help explain the meaning of the measured water?
- In what ways does scarcity, of water, food, or comfort, reveal a person's true condition of heart?
- What does it mean for us that God communicated through such a vivid, embodied sign? How might that shape the way we understand prophecy today?
- Where in your own life might God be using limits or shortages to teach dependence on him?
- How does knowing the eventual restoration in Ezekiel 47 (the river from the temple) change how you read this passage of judgment?
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Isaiah 5:13 | Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honorable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst. |
| Ezekiel 4:16 | Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness. They will drink water by measure, and in dismay; |
| John 3:34 | For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure. |
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
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What the Commentators Say
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes connects the phrase water by measure to the water of affliction mentioned elsewhere in Scripture. He then notes that the measure, a hin, is estimated between six-tenths and nine-tenths of a pint, with the smaller amount fitting this context better.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The cake baked on human dung symbolizes both the severe hunger during Jerusalem's siege and the pollution Jews would face eating unclean food in exile. The rare word "abomination" in this passage specifically means carrion, as used in Leviticus and Isaiah.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note emphasizes the severe rationing of water as a sign of judgment: only the sixth part of a hin, measured out and taken at set intervals. This detail underscores the extreme scarcity God imposes on Jerusalem during the siege, where even basic necessities become strictly limited.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill draws attention to the extremely small water ration Ezekiel was commanded to drink — about a pint per day. He calculates this from the biblical measure of a sixth of a hin and notes it was water, not wine, signaling the severe scarcity that would come during Jerusalem's siege.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB clarifies the measurement in the original text, explaining that a sixth of a hin equals about a pint and a half. This note gives the modern reader a concrete sense of the quantity involved.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch emphasises that the mixture of cheap grains and legumes, normally used only when wheat was scarce, signals extreme deprivation. The daily ration of nine ounces of bread and less than a pint of water was deliberately half of what a person needed, eaten in small portions so hunger was never fully satisfied. The unclean fuel used for baking adds the dimension of ritual pollution to the hunger.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry sees Ezekiel's command to eat coarse bread baked with dung as a living parable: the prophet must endure scarcity and defiled food to make the coming famine real for the people. Their future suffering is acted out in advance.