Ezekiel 4:5

Verse 5. Three, and so forth S. Jerom says some “Vulgate,” ( Bible.) Latin, ( Calmet.) or rather incorrect Greek ( Bible.) copies read 100, others 150. See Origen, and so forth Calmet.—The Alex. copy has the former, ( Bible.) the Rom. edit. the latter number; and is followed by Theodoret and Maldonat. Calmet.—But the more accurate Septuagint agree with the Hebrew and so forth The captivity of Israel must be dated from Phacee, (4 Kennicott. 15:29) to the end of the reign of Darius Memnon, who espoused Esther, and granted liberty “to all the Jews;” or rather from Manathem, (4 Kennicott. 15:19) to the 28th of the same king Assuerus. Thus God’s “grace, we think, and we may so speak without arrogance, has enabled us to explain this difficulty, which no other has done.” Saint Jerome—Many confound the duration of the iniquity of Israel with that of Juda, forming 430 years; and they explain it of the time during which the nation had prevaricated. But this seems unnatural. We may rather conclude, that the prophet speaks of a separate judgment, and dates from the destruction of Samaria and of Jerusalem. The former city was taken A. 3283. If we add 390 years, we shall find the year 3673 the very year when Alexander overcame Darius, and soon after granted the Jews full liberty to return, or live according to their own laws. This he granted to those in Babylon, and to the Israelites ( Calmet.) in Media. Jos. Ant. xi. ult. & c. Ap. i.—Philadelphus afterwards liberated many in Egypt, (Jos. Ant. xii. 2.) as Osee (11:11) had foretold. The chastisement of Juda must be dated from the destruction of Jerusalem under Sedecias, till Darius, the Mede, favoured the Jews about forty years afterwards. Calmet.—S. Jerom only allows forty years to have elapsed from the first of Jechonias till the first of Cyrus. The want of an exact chronology gives rise to many such difficulties. Bible.—It is very hard to explain how the ten tribes were 390 and the two tribes 40 years in captivity, as it is certain that the latter were seventy year banished from their own country. Worthington.—Perhaps during the last thirty their condition was greatly ameliorated, after the decree of Cyrus, though the liberation was only perfect under Hystaspes and Esther. Bible.—The iniquity of Israel, from Solomon to Salmanasar, lasted 390 years; and that of Juda, under the reign of Manasses, was most abominable for the space of forty years; (Tournemine) or it continued so long from the 18th of Josias till the 4th, after the city was destroyed, and the land became a desert. Usher, A. 3380 to 3420.—But how shall the reign of the virtuous Josias be included in this period? Bible.—The action of the prophet lying 430 days, denoted the length of the siege of Jerusalem, during which extreme scarcity should be felt, and also the captivity of the people. Some have thought that he could not remain 390 days on one side, and that all passed in spirit. But what impression would that make upon the people? He was chained down, ( Calmet.) to represent their miserable condition. Bible.—Prædo saw a fool who lay tied in one posture for above fifteen years. Calmet.—The remaining so long in one posture must have been painful to the prophet. Tirinus.