severe (in various applications) · adjective, masculine plural construct
children
וְהַבָּנִ֗יםve.ha.ba.Nim
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
stiffhearted
וְחִזְקֵיve.chiz.kei-
H2389
strong (usu. in a bad sense · conjunction + adjective, masculine plural construct
send
שׁוֹלֵ֥חַsho.Le.ach
H7971
to send away · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
say
וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ve.'a.mar.Ta
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
saith
אָמַ֖ר'a.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Lord
אֲדֹנָ֥י'a.do.Nai
H136
the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
GOD
יְהֹוִֽהYah.weh
H3069
YHWH · proper noun, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ezekiel 3:7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhear…
Psalms 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Isaiah 48:4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
Jeremiah 5:3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refuse…
Jeremiah 6:15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fal…
Deuteronomy 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
Deuteronomy 31:27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and…
1 Kings 22:14 And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 2:1-5
The title here given to Ezekiel, as often afterwards, is very observable. God, when he speaks to him, calls him, Son of man (Eze 2:1, Eze 2:3), Son of Adam, Son of the earth. Daniel is once called so (Dan 8:17) and but once; the compellation is used to no other of the prophets but to Ezekiel all along. We may take it, 1. As a humble diminishing title. Lest Ezekiel should be lifted up with the abundance of the revelations, he is put in mind of this, that sill he is a son of man, a mean, weak, mortal creature. Among other things made known to him, it was necessary he should be made to know this, that he was a son of man, and therefore that it was wonderful condescension in God that he was plea…
impudent--literally, "hard-faced" (Eze 3:7, Eze 3:9).
children--resumptive of "they" (Eze 2:3); the "children" walk in their "fathers'" steps.
I . . . send thee--God opposes His command to all obstacles. Duties are ours; events are God's.
Thus saith the Lord God--God opposes His name to the obstinacy of the people.
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 2:4
Thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord - Let them know that what thou hast to declare is the message of the Lord, that they may receive it with reverence.
Every preacher of God's word should take heed that it is God's message he delivers to the people. Let him not suppose, because it is according to his own creed or confession of faith, that therefore it is God's word. False doctrines and fallacies without end are foisted on the world in this way. Bring the creed first to the Word of God, and scrupulously try whether it be right; and when this is done, leave it where you please; take the Bible, and warn them from God's word recorded there.
John Gill on Ezekiel 2:4
For they are impudent children,.... "Hard of face" (w); as is commonly said of impudent persons, that they are brasen faced; they had a whore's forehead, and refused to be ashamed, and made their faces harder than a rock, Jeremiah 3:3; they declared their sin as Sodam, and hid it not; they sinned openly, and could not blush at it:
and stiffhearted; or, "strong of heart" (x); whose hearts were like an adamant stone, and harder than the nether millstone; impenitent, obdurate, and inflexible; they were not only stiff-necked, as Stephen says they were in his time, and always had been; but stiff-hearted; they were not subject to the law of God now, nor would they submit to the Gospel and ordinan…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 4.) And they are sons with a fierce face and an untamed heart, to whom I send you. This is not found in the Septuagint. It is of great mercy to send God to such people and not to despair of their salvation; and it is prophetic confidence that he is not afraid to go to such people as well. But we must understand that with an untamed heart and a fierce face, we should accept what is said to the sinner: Your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead is bronze (Isaiah 48:6). And those who are accused of having a heart of stone in their subsequent actions, God says that He will uproot them and restore them with a heart of flesh, so that they may receive God's commands through His gentleness.
"Their fathers have transgressed my covenant unto this day, and the sons are of hard face and indomitable heart, to whom I send you." Behold, there is one fault of pride, because they have transgressed the covenant. Behold, another of obstinacy, because even unto this day. Behold, in the iniquity of the sons there is the grave fault of imprudence, because they are of a hard face, since they no longer blush at the evils they do, and never return to repentance even after their faults, because they are of an untamable heart. But when those to whom the prophet is sent are of such great depravity and such great obstinacy, who does not already see that the person of the prophet can be despised by such perverse men? But behold, authority is given to his person, when it is added: "And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God." As if it were openly said: Because you will be despised on your own account, it is necessary that you speak from my voice. Lest you yourself who are sent be held in contempt; bringing forth my words, show who sent you.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Character Of The Wicked · Impudent — Impudent
Heart, Character Of The Unrenewed · Stiff — Stiff
Nation · Chastised — Chastised
Rebellion Against God · Ministers: Sent to those guilty of — Ministers: Sent to those guilty of
Reproof · Ministers should give: Fearlessly — Ministers should give: Fearlessly
Sins, National · Ministers should: Testify against — Ministers should: Testify against
Titles And Names Of The Wicked · Impudent children — Impudent children
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Ezekiel 2:4-5
4. For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.
4. Et filii duri fade, et robusti corde: ergo mitto to ad eos. et dices illis, Sic dieit Dominator Iehovah.
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.
5. Et ipsi sive audiant sive desistant quoniam domus rebellionis ipsi: et [60] scient quod propheta fuerit inter ipsos.
God proceeds in the same discourse, but expresses in other words the great rebellion of the people, for they were not only obstinate and unbending in heart, but…
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 proph…
Israel was stubborn and hard-hearted—they would not heed Ezekiel, whose message would bear little immediate fruit. However, they would know that they had a prophet among them who was speaking God’s word.
Rashi on Ezekiel 2:4
And the sons Since He says, “their fathers rebelled against Me,” and these sons of theirs are brazen- faced.
