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Ezekiel 3

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The Prophet Internalizes the Word 1–11

1
And he said unto me, Son of man, eat that which thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel. ​
2
So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the roll.
3
And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. ​
4
And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
5
For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel;
6
not to many peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, if I sent thee to them, they would hearken unto thee. ​
7
But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stiff heart. ​
8
Behold, I have made thy face hard against their faces, and thy forehead hard against their foreheads.
9
As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. ​
10
Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thy heart, and hear with thine ears.
11
And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. ​

Ezekiel Transported to the Exiles 12–15

12
Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of Jehovah from his place. ​
13
And I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing.
14
So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of Jehovah was strong upon me. ​
15
Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river Chebar, and to where they dwelt; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days. ​

The Watchman's Mandate 16–21

16
And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
17
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. ​
18
When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand. ​
19
Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
20
Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand. ​
21
Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.

The Prophet Confined and Silenced 22–27

22
And the hand of Jehovah was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. ​
23
Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of Jehovah stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. ​
24
Then the Spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet; and he spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thy house.
25
But thou, son of man, behold, they shall lay bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them: ​
26
and I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house. ​
27
But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house. ​

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

Study Notes for Ezekiel 3

Verse 1

eat this roll — 'That thou findest' uses the verb matsa, as in Jer 15:16, 'Thy words were found, and I did eat them'. The 'roll' (megillah) is the one sent in 2:9. The prophet takes the message in before he is told to 'go speak unto the house of Israel', and v.10 says he is to 'receive in thine heart' and 'hear with thine ears'.

Verse 3

as honey for sweetness — The roll held 'lamentations, and mourning, and woe' (2:10), yet it tastes sweet, as the LORD's words do elsewhere: 'sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb' (Ps 19:10; Ps 119:103). The bitterness follows in v.14. John eats a little book that is 'sweet as honey' and makes his belly bitter (Rev 10:9–10).

Verse 6

strange speech and of an hard language — Literally 'deep of lip and heavy of tongue' (amoq, kaved), as in Isa 33:19, 'a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive'. Foreigners 'would have hearkened'; Christ says of Tyre and Sidon that 'they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes' (Matt 11:21).

Verse 7

will not hearken unto me — 'Will not' is abah, to be willing: they are unwilling to hear. The refusal of the messenger is refusal of the sender, as at 1 Sam 8:7, 'they have rejected me', and Luke 10:16, 'he that despiseth you despiseth me'. 'Impudent' is literally 'strong of forehead' (chazaq, metsach), the pair of words used in v.8.

Verse 9

an adamant harder than flint — Shamir is the hardest stone, 'diamond' in Jer 17:1 and 'an adamant stone' in Zech 7:12, where the people made their hearts like it. 'Flint' is tsor. The prophet's forehead is made firmer than theirs (v.8). In Isa 50:7 the speaker says, 'I set my face like a flint'.

Verse 11

them of the captivity — Golah, the exiles, are the first hearers, 'the children of thy people'; Ezek 1:1–3 places Ezekiel among them by the river Chebar. The command repeats 2:5, 'whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear', and the opening formula 'Thus saith the Lord GOD' of 2:4.

Verse 12

a voice of a great rushing — Ra'ash, 'rushing', is the word elsewhere rendered 'earthquake' (1 Kings 19:11). The 'spirit took me up' returns when he is brought to Jerusalem in vision (Ezek 8:3; 11:1) and when the glory fills the house (Ezek 43:5). The voice says 'Blessed be the glory of the LORD' (barak).

Verse 14

the hand of the LORD was strong upon me — 'Strong' is chazaq, the root of the 'strong' forehead of vv.8–9. 'Bitterness' (mar) and 'heat' (chemah, also anger) describe the prophet's own state as he goes, and the LORD's hand is upon him; 'the hand of the LORD' recurs at Ezek 1:3; 3:22; 33:22; 37:1; 40:1.

Verse 15

astonished among them seven days — Shamem, 'astonished', is the verb of 'desolate' in Lam 5:18. Telabib is on 'the river of Chebar' (Ezek 1:1, 3). Seven days is the length of Joseph's mourning for his father (Gen 50:10) and of the silence of Job's friends, who 'sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights' (Job 2:13).

Verse 17

a watchman — Tsaphah, a lookout, is used again in the fuller charge of Ezek 33:2–7, and the words 'hear the word at my mouth' are repeated there. 'I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet' (Jer 6:17). Zahar, 'give warning', runs through vv.17–21.

Verse 18

his blood will I require at thine hand — 'Thou shalt surely die' is the wording of Gen 2:17. 'Require' is baqash, to seek out; the thought is that of Gen 9:5, 'at the hand of man… will I require the life of man', and Ezek 33:6 repeats the charge to the watchman. Paul says he is 'pure from the blood of all men' (Acts 20:26).

Verse 20

I lay a stumblingblock before him — Mikshol, a thing that trips; it is the 'stumblingblock of their iniquity' that idolaters set before their face (Ezek 14:3–4). The warning that his 'righteousness… shall not be remembered' is stated at length in Ezek 18:24: 'All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned'.

Verse 22

the plain — Biqah is a broad valley or open plain. It is the place where the glory is seen again (Ezek 8:4), and where Ezekiel is carried 'in the midst of the valley which was full of bones' (Ezek 37:1–2). 'The hand of the LORD was there upon me' joins this verse to 1:3.

Verse 23

I fell on my face — 'Stood' is amad, the verb of 'stand upon thy feet' in 2:1: the glory stands and the prophet falls, as at the river Chebar (Ezek 1:28). The glory seen 'as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar' is here in the plain, not by the river, and is seen once more at the temple (Ezek 43:3).

Verse 25

they shall put bands upon thee — Abot are cords or ropes. Ezek 4:8 repeats the sentence in the first person, 'I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another'. Asar, 'bind', is the verb of tying with cords, and he 'shalt not go out among them', so the shutting-in of v.24 is made complete.

Verse 26

thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth — The same words are used of the psalmist's vow, 'let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth' (Ps 137:6). Alam, 'dumb', is not total silence, since he speaks when the LORD gives a word (v.27). 'Reprover' is literally 'a man who reproves'. The dumbness ends in Ezek 24:27 and 33:22.

Verse 27

I will open thy mouth — The mouth is opened only 'when I speak with thee', so he speaks only what the LORD has first spoken to him. 'He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear' sets before the people the choice of 2:5 and 3:11. The opening of his mouth is recorded at Ezek 33:22: 'my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb'.