Ezekiel 4:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

You are to gather wheat, barley, millet, and spelt for yourself. You are to drink water in measured amounts, a sixth of an hin. This was intended so that the people might perceive the unseen God through the visible Prophet. Just as the Prophet endured poor nourishment and occasionally drank small quantities of water, suffering for three hundred and ninety days without changing sides, so too did God bear the iniquities of Judah and Israel for four hundred and thirty years. Indeed, the transgressions of Judah and Israel were tolerated by the Lord for this entire duration. From the very first year of Solomon's reign, when the temple's foundation was established, until the eleventh year of Zedekiah, when the temple was destroyed, three hundred and thirty-three and a half years passed.

This also illustrates the severe shortage resulting from the siege. The Jews had a measurement, of which a sixth, as translated by the Syrian interpreter, equaled half a xestus. The Prophet was instructed to consume this measure as a sign of the impending lack of essential goods due to the siege.