Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Ezekiel 2:3 - 2:3

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Ezekiel 2:3 - 2:3


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The calling of the prophet begins with the Lord describing to Ezekiel the people to whom He is sending him, in order to make him acquainted with the difficulties of his vocation, and to encourage him for the discharge of the same. Eze 2:3. And He said to me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to the rebels who have rebelled against me: they and their fathers have fallen away from me, even until this very day. Eze 2:4. And the children are of hard face, and hardened heart. To them I send thee; and to them shalt thou speak: Thus says the Lord Jehovah. Eze 2:5. And they - they may hear thee or fail (to do so); for they are a stiff-necked race - they shall experience that a prophet has been in their midst. Eze 2:6. But thou, son of man, fear not before them, and be not afraid of their words, if thistles and thorns are found about thee, and thou sittest upon scorpions; fear not before their words, and tremble not before their face; for they are a stiff-necked race. Eze 2:7. And speak my words to them, whether they may hear or fail (to do so); for they are stiff-necked.

The children of Israel have become heathen, no longer a people of God, not even a heathen nation (גֹּוי, Isa 1:4), but גֹּויִם, “heathens,” that is, as being rebels against God. הַמֹּורְדִים (with the article) is not to be joined as an adjective to גֹּויִם, which is without the article, but is employed substantively in the form of an apposition. They have rebelled against God in this, that they, like their fathers, have separated themselves from Jehovah down to this day (as regards פָּשַׁע בְּ, see on Isa 1:2; and עֶצֶם הַיֹּום הַזֶּה, as in the Pentateuch; cf. Lev 23:14; Gen 7:13; Gen 17:23, etc.). Like their fathers, the sons are rebellious, and, in addition, they are קְשֵׁי פָנִים, of hard countenance” = חִזְקֵי, “of hard brow” (Eze 3:7), i.e., impudent, without hiding the face, or lowering the look for shame. This shamelessness springs from hardness of heart. To these hardened sinners Ezekiel is to announce the word of the Lord. Whether they hear it or not (אִם־וְאִם, sive-sive, as in Jos 24:15; Ecc 11:3; Ecc 12:14), they shall in any case experience that a prophet has been amongst them. That they will neglect to hear is very probable, because they are a stiff-necked race (בַּיִת, “house” = family). The Vau before יָדְעוּ (Eze 2:5) introduces the apodosis. הָיָה is perfect, not present. This is demanded by the usus loquendi and the connection of the thought. The meaning is not: they shall now from his testimony that a prophet is there; but they shall experience from the result, viz., when the word announced by him will have been fulfilled, that a prophet has been amongst them. Ezekiel, therefore, is not to be prevented by fear of them and their words from delivering a testimony against their sins. The ἁπάξ λεγόμενα, סָרָבִים and סַלֹּונִים, are not, with the older expositors, to be explained adjectively: “rebelles et renuentes,” but are substantives. As regards סַלֹּון, the signification “thorn” is placed beyond doubt by סִלֹּון in Eze 28:24, and סָרָב in Aramaic does indeed denote “refractarius;” but this signification is a derived one, and inappropriate here. סָרָב is related to צָרַב, “to burn, to singe,” and means “urtica,” “stinging-nettle, thistle,” as Donasch in Raschi has already explained it. אֹותָךְ is, according to the later usage, for אִתָּךְ, expressing the “by and with of association,” and occurs frequently in Ezekiel. Thistles and thorns are emblems of dangerous, hostile men. The thought is strengthened by the words “to sit on (אֶל for עַל) scorpions,” as these animals inflict a painful and dangerous wound. For the similitude of dangerous men to scorpions, cf. Sir. 26:10, and other proof passages in Bochart, Hierozoic. III. p. 551f., ed. Rosenmüll.