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Ezekiel 2

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Ezekiel Commissioned by the Spirit 1–2

1
And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak with thee. ​
2
And the Spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet; and I heard him that spake unto me. ​

Mission to Rebellious Israel 3–5

3
And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to nations that are rebellious, which have rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me even unto this very day. ​
4
And the children are impudent and stiffhearted: I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah. ​
5
And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear (for they are a rebellious house), yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. ​

Do Not Fear the Rebellious House 6–8

6
And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. ​
7
And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious.
8
But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that which I give thee. ​

The Scroll of Judgment 9–10

9
And when I looked, behold, a hand was put forth unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; ​
10
and he spread it before me: and it was written within and without; and there were written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 2

Verse 1

Son of man — Ben adam is literally 'son of Adam', a man as one of the human race. It is God's usual address to Ezekiel (Ezek 3:1, 17), set beside the glory before which he 'fell upon my face' (Ezek 1:28). Daniel is addressed the same way (Dan 8:17), and Christ takes the title for himself (Matt 16:13).

Verse 2

the spirit entered into me — Ruach is spirit, wind or breath. It comes 'when he spake unto me', so the word and the Spirit act together, and the prophet who fell on his face is set 'upon my feet'. The same words are used when the Spirit enters him again: 'the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet' (Ezek 3:24).

Verse 3

a rebellious nation — Marad, to rebel, stands twice, as 'rebellious' and 'hath rebelled'. 'Even unto this very day' is literally 'unto the bone of this day' (etsem), the word of 'selfsame day' in Gen 7:13. The charge runs back through 'their fathers', as in 1 Sam 8:8, 'even unto this day'.

Verse 4

impudent children and stiffhearted — Literally 'hard of face' (qasheh, panim) and 'strong of heart' (chazaq, lev). The LORD answers them in kind: 'I have made thy face strong against their faces' (Ezek 3:8). 'Lord GOD' joins Adonai with the divine name; 'Thus saith the Lord GOD' is the formula for delivering the word.

Verse 5

a prophet among them — The sending does not wait on the hearing, 'whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear' (chadal, to cease). They 'shall know' (yada) that a prophet has been there; Ezek 33:33 says when: 'then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them'. 'Rebellious house' recurs at Ezek 3:9, 26, 27.

Verse 6

briers and thorns… scorpions — Sarab, 'briers', is found only here; sillon, 'thorns', is found again at Ezek 28:24, where the LORD promises 'no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel'. 'Scorpions' (aqrab) are named among the wilderness dangers (Deut 8:15) and as a scourge (1 Kings 12:11). 'Looks' is 'faces', as in Jer 1:8.

Verse 8

open thy mouth, and eat — He must first 'hear', then receive. The roll is shown in v.9 and eaten in Ezek 3:1–3, where 'it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness'. 'Be not thou rebellious' sets him against the people's meri; Isaiah could say 'I was not rebellious' (Isa 50:5). Jeremiah ate God's words (Jer 15:16), and John a little book (Rev 10:9–10).

Verse 9

a roll of a book — Megillah is a rolled scroll, as in Jer 36:2, 'Take thee a roll of a book', and Ps 40:7, 'the volume of the book'. The hand 'was sent' (shalach), the verb for Ezekiel's own sending in vv.3–4: the scroll is sent as the prophet is sent.

Verse 10

written within and without — Literally 'front and back' (panim, achor), as the tables of the testimony were 'written on both their sides' (Ex 32:15). The contents are three words: 'lamentations' (qinah, the dirge Ezekiel is later told to 'take up', Ezek 19:1), 'mourning' (hegeh, a low murmuring) and 'woe' (hi, found only here).