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EZEKIEL 3
PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS
| NASB | NKJV | NRSV | TEV | NJB |
| Ezekiel's Commission | Ezekiel Sent to Rebellious Israel (1:28b-3:15) |
The Five Commissions (1:28b-3:27) |
God Calls Ezekiel To Be A Prophet (1:28-3:15) |
The Vision of the Scroll (2:1-3:15) |
| 3:1-3 | 3:1-3 | 3:1-3 | 3:1 | 3:1-3 |
| 3:2-3 | ||||
| 3:4-11 | 3:4-11 | 3:4-11 | 3:4-9 | 3:4-9 |
| 3:10-11 | 3:10-11 | |||
| 3:12-15 | 3:12-15 | 3:12-15 | 3:12-15 | 3:12-15 |
| Ezekiel As Watchman | The Lord Appoints Ezekiel As A Lookout | The Prophet As Watchman | ||
| 3:16-21 | 3:16-21 | 3:16-21 | 3:16-19 | 3:16-21 |
| 3:20-21 | ||||
| Ezekiel Will Be Unable to Talk | Ezekiel Is Struck Dumb | |||
| 3:22-27 | 3:22-27 | 3:22-27 | 3:22 | 3:22-24a |
| 3:23-27 | ||||
| 3:24b-27 |
READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")
FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT PARAGRAPH LEVEL
This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects (reading cycle #3). Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.
WORD AND PHRASE STUDY
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: EZEKIEL 3:1-3
1Then He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." 2So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. 3He said to me, "Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you." Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.
3:1 "Son of man" See note at Ezek. 2:1.
▣ Chapter 3 closes out the literary unit of chapters 1-3, which is Ezekiel's call to the prophetic ministry. This call involves YHWH addressing him in several commands.
3:3 "Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey to my mouth" This conveys the thought that God's word is significant and meaningful even when it is a message of judgment (cf. Ps. 19:10; 119:103; Jer. 15:16; Rev. 10:9, 10). That the holy creator God would be involved with sinful humanity is amazing! God's judgment is really a sign of His parental discipline (cf. Heb. 12:5-13).
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: EZEKIEL 3:4-11
4Then He said to me, "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. 5For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, 6nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you; 7yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate. 8Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house." 10Moreover, He said to me, "Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely. 11Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or not, 'Thus says the Lord God.'"
3:4, 5 "the house of Israel. . .a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language" Ezekiel's primary ministry was to the covenant people in exile. God was not sending him to a foreign people, as He did Jeremiah and Daniel. However, the irony of Ezek. 3:7 is that they (foreign nations with strange languages) would be willing to listen, but Israel would not.
3:7 "the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate" See note at Ezek. 2:4. They will not listen to Moses or the Prophets (i.e., 20:8; Isa. 6:9-13).
SPECIAL TOPIC: STUBBORNNESS (OT)
3:8,9 "hard. . .harder" This word (BDB 305) is a play on the name of Ezekiel (BDB 306), which means "to harden or strengthen." God will equip Ezekiel to face head on the rebellious house of Israel (cf. Ezek. 2:5-6; 3:9,26-27; 12:2-3; 44:6).
| 3:9 | |
| NASB | "emery" |
| NKJV, JPSOA, REB, Peshitta | "adamant stone" |
| NRSV | "the hardest stone" |
| TEV | "as firm as rock" |
| NJB | "a diamond" |
This Hebrew root (BDB 1038) has several meanings.
Context determines meaning! Only #2 fits. Which hard stone is being referenced is uncertain.
▣ "Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them" See note at Ezek. 2:6.
3:10 What an insight into how inspiration worked in this case. The prophet had to listen (i.e., eat the scroll, cf. Ezek. 2:8), receive (i.e., comprehend), and then speak the message to the exiled tribes in Babylon.
3:11 "go to the exiles" This is the specific group that Ezekiel is commissioned to speak YHWH's message to, the exiled tribes in Babylon.
▣ "whether they listen or not" Some will respond, but others will not. There has always been a spiritual divide within national Israel. Some are covenant people by lineage only, but others are trusting, obeying, and heart-felt covenant followers!
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: EZEKIEL 3:12-15
12Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, "Blessed be the glory of the Lord in His place." 13And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound. 14So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the Lord was strong on me. 15Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them.
3:12 "the Spirit lifted me up" There is some doubt about to whom "spirit" refers in Ezek. 1:12,20,21, but here and in Ezek. 2:2 it obviously refers to the active presence of God. It may be true that a full-blown Trinitarian understanding of God is absent from the OT. There are still texts (such as this one) that point toward a plurality in God.
There are several places in Ezekiel where this phrase is used implying that it is a literary way of introducing revelation (cf. Ezek. 2:2; 3:12,14,24; 8:3; 11:1,24; 37:1; 43:5). Ezekiel is receiving active, personal revelation in the form of visions and words.
SPECIAL TOPIC: PERSONHOOD OF THE SPIRIT
SPECIAL TOPIC: SPIRIT IN THE BIBLE
SPECIAL TOPIC: WAYS OF REVELATION
| NASB | "a great rumbling" |
| NKJV | "a thunderous voice" |
| NRSV | "the sound of loud rumbling" |
| TEV | "the loud roar of a voice" |
| NJB | "a great vibrating sound" |
| JPSOA | "a great roaring sound" |
| LXX | "the voice as of a great earthquake" |
| REB | "a fierce rushing sound" |
| Peshitta | "a great rushing" |
This NOUN (BDB 950, KB 1272) can refer to
In this context (cf. Ezek. 3:13) it was the sound of YHWH's throne chariot lifting up and moving. Somehow the "lifting up" of the Spirit is equated with the lifting up of the throne chariot (cf. Ezek. 1:12,20-21). With the sound of the movement of the throne chariot was a vocal statement of the attending angelic being, "Blessed by the glory of the Lord in/from His place." This is similar to the Seraphim of Isa. 6:3.
| ▣ | |
| NASB, NKJV, NJB, LXX, Peshitta | "blessed by the glory of the Lord in His place" |
| NRSV, REB | "the glory of the Lord rose from its place" |
| TEV | "Praise the glory of the Lord in heaven above" |
| JPSOA (footnote emendation) | "as the Presence of the Lord rose from where it stood" |
Ezekiel heard a sound (vv. 12-13) and saw an event, just before the Spirit carried him away.
▣ "glory" SPECIAL TOPIC: GLORY (kabod, OT)
3:14 "and I went embittered in rage of my spirit" This is a very difficult phrase. It has been translated in one of two ways:
I think theory 2 fits the context much better.
▣ "the hand of the Lord" Notice the different ways the presence of YHWH is alluded to.
The anthropomorphic imagery denotes the reception of divine revelation (cf. Ezek. 1:3; 3:14,22; 8:1; 33:22; 37:1; 40:1).
SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD DESCRIBED AS HUMAN (anthropomorphism).
3:15 "Tel-abib" This is also the name of one of the Canaanite months, which was the month of the Exodus/Passover. Here it is a settlement by the Grand Canal close to the city of Nippur.
The Hebrew word abib (BDB 1) means "green ears of grain." "Tel" (BDB 1068) means "mound."
| NASB | "I sat there seven days where they were living, |
| causing consternation among them" | |
| NKJV, Peshitta | "I sat where they sat, and remained there |
| astonished among them seven days" | |
| NRSV, JPSOA | "I sat there among them, stunned for seven days" |
| TEV | "I came. . .and for seven days I stayed there, |
| overcome by what I had seen and heard" | |
| NJB | "I came. . .and there I stayed with them |
| in a stupor for seven days" | |
| LXX | "I sat there seven days, conversant in the midst of them" |
The Hebrew VERB (BDB 1030, KB 1563, Hiphil PARTICIPLE) means "appalled," "awestruck," "devastated." But to whom does it refer?
SPECIAL TOPIC: SYMBOLIC NUMBERS IN SCRIPTURE, #4
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: EZEKIEL 3:16-21
16At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17"Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. 18When I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die', and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. 20Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself."
3:17 "I have appointed you a watchman" This is expanded in Ezekiel 33. It is a concept used often in the prophets (cf. Isa. 56:10; Jer. 6: 17; Hosea 9:8). Remember the prophets functioned as God's covenant enforcers for the Mosaic covenant. Israel's obedience determined her destiny. The prophets reminded Israel of the consequences of disobedience (cf. Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28). How the people responded to the prophets' message (i.e., repentance or hardness) determined their future.
3:18-19 This is a major theological truth of both Jeremiah and Ezekiel, which deals with individual responsibility. The full theological discussion is in Ezekiel 18 and 33.
3:18 "You shall surely die" This is a Qal INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and a Qal IMPERFECT of the same VERB (BDB 559, KB 562), which denotes emphasis. In this setting it refers to physical death. This same phrase occurs in Gen. 2:17! Disobedience has consequences in time and eternity!
SPECIAL TOPIC: WHERE ARE THE DEAD?
▣ "but his blood I will require at your hand" Being called to serve God is a great honor, but it also carries great responsibilities. If I know God's message and do not speak, it brings spiritual consequences, as does ignoring the message once given (cf. Ezek. 3:20; 33:6,8).
The term "blood" (BDB 196) is imagery of death. The ancients knew that as the blood flowed away, so too, life. Therefore, the life was in the blood (cf. Gen. 9:5-6; Lev. 17:11,14).
3:20 "a righteous man" See SPECIAL TOPIC: RIGHTEOUSNESS
▣ "I place an obstacle before him" God tests all those who belong to Him (cf. Gen. 22:1; Exod. 15:25; 16:4; 20:20; Deut. 8:2,16; 13:3; Jdg. 2:22; 2 Chr. 32:31; Matt. 4:1; Heb. 12:5-13).
Ezekiel uses the imagery of a stone or obstacle placed on the road (i.e., life's path) as a way of denoting judgment (cf. Jer. 6:21). The fact that God tests humans demands that humans have a God-given "free will" (cf. Gen. 1:26-27). If there is no personal responsibility there can be no ethical consequences! The interpersonal relationship desired by God of His human creatures demands a free will.
Ezekiel also emphasizes an individual aspect to faith and obedience that is unique in the prophets who usually address national Israel (cf. Ezek. 3:20-21; 14:12-20; 18:5-32; 33:12-20).
SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD TESTS HIS PEOPLE
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE PATH, THE WAY
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: EZEKIEL 3:22-27
22The hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, "Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you." 23So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. 24The Spirit then entered me and made me stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, "Go, shut yourself up in your house. 25As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. 26Moreover, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house. 27But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God.' He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house."
3:22 "The hand of the Lord" See notes at Ezek. 3:14.
▣ This is similar to Ezek. 2:1. YHWH is initiating contact and preparing to communicate revelation.
3:23 "I got up and went out on the plain and behold the glory of the Lord was standing there" This experience was a major theological revelation. God's glory and presence were not limited to Palestine or the temple. The exiles needed to know this. He is the God of all the earth, of all creation!
Notice how "glory" is personified as "standing." The term "glory" stands for the personal presence of YHWH.
SPECIAL TOPIC: GLORY (kabod, OT)
3:24 "The Spirit then entered me" This is the same "spirit" that controlled the living being of chapter 1 (cf. Ezek. 1:12,20-21). It is the same "spirit" that entered Ezekiel and caused him to stand in Ezek. 2:1-2. It is a way of referring to God Himself. Notice "He spoke with me" and the obvious antecedent is "the Spirit."
The Spirit of God is active in the OT in equipping humans to perform divine tasks or assignments.
▣ "Go, shut yourself up in your house" Notice how specific God's message is. Ezekiel is claiming that his dramatic acts are direct commands from YHWH.
3:25 The question is, who does the PRONOUN "they" refer to?
Whatever the exact meaning, it is clear from the context that there will be opposition to Ezekiel's message (cf. Ezek. 3:26-27). Ezekiel is declaring the complete destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and the exile, which was not a popular message.
3:26 "I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth" In context this is highly unusual, since God is commanding him to tell the message, but it may communicate the truth that the prophet is only to speak when God speaks. There will be a specific content and time to speak (cf. Ezek. 24:27; 33:22). This reference to a divine silence is seen again in chapter 24:27: 29:21; 33:22.
3:27 This verse concludes with two commands.
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