4 "As for you, lie down on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; you shall bear their iniquity for the number of days that you lie on it. 5 "For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity , three hundred and ninety days ; thus you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel . 6 "When you have completed these , you shall lie down a second time , but on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah ; I have assigned it to you for forty days , a day for each year .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 4:4-6
Commentary on Ezekiel 4:1-8
(Read Ezekiel 4:1-8)
The prophet was to represent the siege of Jerusalem by signs. He was to lie on his left side for a number of days, supposed to be equal to the years from the establishment of idolatry. All that the prophet sets before the children of his people, about the destruction of Jerusalem, is to show that sin is the provoking cause of the ruin of that once flourishing city.