“Then I said.
‘Yahweh God!
I have never
Defiled myself.
From my youth
Up until now,
I have never eaten
What died of itself
Or was torn by animals.
Carrion decaying flesh
Has never
Come into my mouth.’
Then he said to me.
‘See!
I will let you have
Cow’s dung
Instead of human dung.
You can prepare
Your bread on that.’”
Ezekiel was upset about eating unclean bread. He complained to Yahweh that he had never defiled himself from his youth on. He had never eaten anything that died of itself or any torn up animals. This meant that he ate only slaughtered animals. He had never touched decaying or the carrion flesh of dead animals. We might call it road kill animals. Yahweh responded that he would let him cook his barley cakes on animal dung, which was not considered unclean. Human excrement, however, was considered unclean. This was an indication of the obsession of later Israelites about touching and eating clean and unclean animals.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 