Yehezkiel 3:2-15

3:2 So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll.

3:3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving to you.” So I ate it, ¹  and it was sweet like honey in my mouth.

3:4 He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. 3:5 For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech ²  and difficult language, ³  but ⁴  to the house of Israel – 3:6 not to many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand ⁵  – surely if ⁶  I had sent you to them, they would listen to you! 3:7 But the house of Israel is unwilling to listen to you, ⁷  because they are not willing to listen to me, ⁸  for the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. ⁹ 

3:8 “I have made your face adamant ¹⁰  to match their faces, and your forehead hard to match their foreheads. 3:9 I have made your forehead harder than flint – like diamond! ¹¹  Do not fear them or be terrified of the looks they give you, ¹²  for they are a rebellious house.”

3:10 And he said to me, “Son of man, take all my words that I speak to you to heart and listen carefully. 3:11 Go to the exiles, to your fellow countrymen, ¹³  and speak to them – say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ whether they pay attention or not.”

Ezekiel Before the Exiles

3:12 Then a wind lifted me up ¹⁴  and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me as the glory of the Lord rose from its place, ¹⁵  3:13 and the sound of the living beings’ wings brushing against each other, and the sound of the wheels alongside them, a great rumbling sound. 3:14 A wind lifted me up and carried me away. I went bitterly, ¹⁶  my spirit full of fury, and the hand of the Lord rested powerfully ¹⁷  on me. 3:15 I came to the exiles at Tel Abib, ¹⁸  who lived by the Kebar River. ¹⁹  I sat dumbfounded among them there, where they were living, for seven days. ²⁰ 

Yehezkiel 3:17-21

3:17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman ²¹  for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. 3:18 When I say to the wicked, “You will certainly die,” ²²  and you do not warn him – you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked deed and wicked lifestyle so that he may live – that wicked person will die for his iniquity, ²³  but I will hold you accountable for his death. ²⁴  3:19 But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life. ²⁵ 

3:20 “When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle ²⁶  before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death. 3:21 However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he ²⁷  does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.”

Yehezkiel 20:46-47

20:46 “Son of man, turn toward ²⁸  the south, ²⁹  and speak out against the south. ³⁰  Prophesy against the open scrub ³¹  land of the Negev, 20:47 and say to the scrub land of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ³²  I am about to start a fire in you, ³³  and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The flaming fire will not be extinguished, and the whole surface of the ground from the Negev to the north will be scorched by it.

Yehezkiel 21:2

21:2 “Son of man, turn toward ³⁴  Jerusalem ³⁵  and speak out against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel

Yehezkiel 25:2

25:2 “Son of man, turn toward ³⁶  the Ammonites ³⁷  and prophesy against them.

Yesaya 58:1

The Lord Desires Genuine Devotion

58:1 “Shout loudly! Don’t be quiet!

Yell as loud as a trumpet!

Confront my people with their rebellious deeds; ³⁸ 

confront Jacob’s family with their sin! ³⁹ 

Hosea 6:5

6:5 Therefore, I will certainly cut ⁴⁰  you into pieces at the hands of the prophets; ⁴¹ 

I will certainly kill you ⁴²  in fulfillment of my oracles of judgment; ⁴³ 

for ⁴⁴  my judgment ⁴⁵  will come forth like the light of the dawn. ⁴⁶ 

Hosea 8:1

God Will Raise Up the Assyrians to Attack Israel

8:1 Sound the alarm! ⁴⁷ 

An eagle ⁴⁸  looms over the temple of the Lord!

For they have broken their covenant with me, ⁴⁹ 

and have rebelled against my law.

[3:3]  ¹ tc Heb “I ate,” a first common singular preterite plus paragogic he (ה). The ancient versions read “I ate it,” which is certainly the meaning in the context, and indicates they read the he as a third feminine singular pronominal suffix. The Masoretes typically wrote a mappiq in the he for the pronominal suffix but apparently missed this one.

[3:3]  sn I ate it. A similar idea of consuming God’s word is found in Jer 15:16 and Rev 10:10, where it is also compared to honey and may be specifically reminiscent of this text.

[3:5]  ² tn Heb “deep of lip” (in the sense of incomprehensible).

[3:5]  ³ tn Heb “heavy of tongue.” Similar language occurs in Exod 4:10; Isa 33:19.

[3:5]  ⁴ tn The conjunction “but” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied from the context.

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “hear.”

[3:6]  ⁶ tc The MT reads “if not” but most ancient versions translate only “if.” The expression occurs with this sense in Isa 5:9; 14:24. See also Ezek 34:8; 36:5; 38:19.

[3:7]  ⁷ sn Moses (Exod 3:19) and Isaiah (Isa 6:9-10) were also told that their messages would not be received.

[3:7]  ⁸ sn A similar description of Israel’s disobedience is given in 1 Sam 8:7.

[3:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “hard of forehead and stiff of heart.”

[3:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “strong, resolute.”

[3:9]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “diamond” is parallel to “iron” in Jer 17:1. The Hebrew uses two terms which are both translated at times as “flint,” but here one is clearly harder than the other. The translation “diamond” attempts to reflect this distinction in English.

[3:9]  ¹² tn Heb “of their faces.”

[3:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “to the sons of your people.”

[3:12]  ¹⁴ sn See note on “wind” in 2:2.

[3:12]  ¹⁵ tc This translation accepts the emendation suggested in BHS of בְּרוּם (bÿrum) for בָּרוּךְ (barukh). The letters mem (מ) and kaph (כ) were easily confused in the old script while בָּרוּךְ (“blessed be”) both implies a quotation which is out of place here and also does not fit the later phrase, “from its place,” which requires a verb of motion.

[3:14]  ¹⁶ tn The traditional interpretation is that Ezekiel embarked on his mission with bitterness and anger, either reflecting God’s attitude toward the sinful people or his own feelings about having to carry out such an unpleasant task. L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:13) takes “bitterly” as a misplaced marginal note and understands the following word, normally translated “anger,” in the sense of fervor or passion. He translates, “I was passionately moved” (p. 4). Another option is to take the word translated “bitterly” as a verb meaning “strengthened” (attested in Ugaritic). See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 152.

[3:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the hand of the Lord was on me heavily.” The “hand of the Lord” is a metaphor for his power or influence; the modifier conveys intensity.

[3:14]  sn In Ezekiel God’s “hand” being on the prophet is regularly associated with communication or a vision from God (1:3; 3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1).

[3:15]  ¹⁸ sn The name “Tel Abib” is a transliteration of an Akkadian term meaning “mound of the flood,” i.e., an ancient mound. It is not to be confused with the modern city of Tel Aviv in Israel.

[3:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “canal.”

[3:15]  ²⁰ sn A similar response to a divine encounter is found in Acts 9:8-9.

[3:17]  ²¹ tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24; 2 Kgs 9:17.

[3:18]  ²² sn Even though the infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the warning, the warning is still implicitly conditional, as the following context makes clear.

[3:18]  ²³ tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and v. 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”

[3:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “his blood I will seek from your hand.” The expression “seek blood from the hand” is equivalent to requiring the death penalty (2 Sam 4:11-12).

[3:19]  ²⁵ tn Verses 17-19 are repeated in Ezek 33:7-9.

[3:20]  ²⁶ tn Or “stumbling block.” The Hebrew term refers to an obstacle in the road in Lev 19:14.

[3:21]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the righteous man.”

[20:46]  ²⁸ tn Heb “set your face toward.” This expression occurs as well in Ezek 6:2; 13:17.

[20:46]  ²⁹ tn Or “the way toward the south,” or “the way toward Teman.” Teman is in the south and may be a location or the direction.

[20:46]  ³⁰ tn Or “toward Darom.” Darom may mean the south or a region just north of southern city of Beer Sheba. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:417-18.

[20:46]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew term can also mean “forest,” but a meaning of uncultivated wasteland fits the Negev region far better. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:418.

[20:47]  ³² tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[20:47]  ³³ tn Fire also appears as a form of judgment in Ezek 15:4-7; 19:12, 14.

[21:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “set your face toward.”

[21:2]  ³⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[25:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “set your face toward.”

[25:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the sons of Ammon.” Ammon was located to the east of Israel.

[58:1]  ³⁸ tn Heb “declare to my people their rebellion.”

[58:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and to the house of Jacob their sin.” The verb “declare” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[6:5]  ⁴⁰ tn The two suffix conjugation verbs חָצַבְתִּי (khatsavti, Qal perfect 1st person common singular from חָצַב, khatsav, “to cut into pieces”) and הֲרַגְתִּים (haragtim, Qal perfect 1st person common singular + 3rd person masculine plural suffix from הָרַג, harag, “to kill”) are used in reference to future-time events. These are examples of the so-called “prophetic perfect” which emphasizes the certainty of the future event (e.g., Num 24:17; Josh 10:19; Isa 8:23; 9:1). For this function of the perfect, see IBHS 480-81 §30.1d. Most English versions, however, render these as past tenses.

[6:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “by the prophets” (so KJV, NRSV). The prophets are pictured as the executioners of Israel and Judah because they announced their imminent destruction. The prophetic word was endowed with the power of fulfillment.

[6:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “them.” The shift from the 2nd person masculine singular referents (“your” and “you”) in 6:4-5 to the 3rd person masculine plural referent (“them”) is an example of enallage, a poetic device used for emphasis.

[6:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “with the words of my mouth” (so NIV); TEV “with my message of judgment and destruction.”

[6:5]  ⁴⁴ tn The disjunctive vav prefixed to the noun (וּמִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ, umishpatekha) has an explanatory function.

[6:5]  ⁴⁵ tc The MT reads וּמִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ אוֹר יֵצֵא (umishpatekha ’or yetse’, “and your judgments [are] a light [which] goes forth”) which is enigmatic and syntactically awkward (cf. KJV, NASB). The LXX reads καὶ τὸ κρίμα μου ὡς φώς (kai to krima mou {ws fos, “my judgment goes forth like light”) which reflects וּמִשְׁפָּטִי כָאוֹר יֵצֵא (umishpati kha’or yetse’, “my judgment goes forth like the light”) and posits only a simple misdivision of words. This is reflected in the Syriac Peshitta and Aramaic Targum and is followed by the present translation (so also NCV, NRSV). See D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:238.

[6:5]  ⁴⁶ tn The noun אוֹר (’or, “light”) is used here in reference to the morning light or dawn (e.g., Judg 16:2; 19:26; 1 Sam 14:36; 25:34, 36; 2 Sam 17:22; 23:4; 2 Kgs 7:9; Neh 8:3; Job 24:14; Prov 4:18; Mic 2:1; cf. CEV, NLT) rather than lightning (cf. NIV). This continues the early morning imagery used throughout 6:2-5.

[6:5]  sn In 6:3 unrepentant Israel uttered an over-confident boast that the Lord would rescue the nation from calamity as certainly as the “light of the dawn” (שַׁחַר, shakhar) “comes forth” (יֵצֵא, yetse’) every morning. Playing upon the early morning imagery, the Lord responded in 6:4 that Israel’s prerequisite repentance was as fleeting as the early morning dew. Now in 6:5, the Lord announces that he will indeed appear as certainly as the morning; however, it will not be to rescue but to punish Israel: punishment will “come forth” (יֵצֵא) like the “light of the dawn” (אוֹר).

[8:1]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “A horn unto your gums!”; NAB “A trumpet to your lips!”

[8:1]  ⁴⁸ tn Or perhaps “A vulture.” Some identify the species indicated by the Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) as the griffon vulture (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[8:1]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “my covenant” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “the covenant I made with them.”