Ezekiel 3:6

Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
many	רַבִּ֗ים ra.Bim	H7227	abundant (in quantity · adjective, masculine plural absolute
people	עַמִּ֣ים 'a.Mim	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
strange	עִמְקֵ֤י 'im.Kei	H6012	deep (literally or figuratively) · adjective, masculine plural construct
speech	שָׂפָה֙ sa.Fah	H8193	the lip (as a natural boundary) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
hard	וְכִבְדֵ֣י ve.khiv.Dei	H3515	heavy · conjunction + adjective, masculine plural construct
language	לָשׁ֔וֹן la.Shon	H3956	the tongue (of man or animals) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
words	דִּבְרֵיהֶ֑ם div.rei.Hem	H1697	a word · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
understand	תִשְׁמַ֖ע tish.Ma'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
sent	שְׁלַחְתִּ֔יךָ she.lach.Ti.kha	H7971	to send away · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
hearkened	יִשְׁמְע֥וּ yish.me.'U	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural

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

Jonah 3:5-10 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
Matthew 11:20-24 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:
Matthew 12:41-42 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and,…
Luke 11:30-32 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
Romans 9:30-33 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness wh…
Acts 27:28 And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 3:1-15

These verses are fitly joined by some translators to the foregoing chapter, as being of a piece with it and a continuation of the same vision. The prophets received the word from God that they might deliver it to the people of God, furnished themselves that they might furnish them with the knowledge of the mind and will of God. Now here the prophet is taught, I. How he must receive divine revelation himself, Eze 3:1. Christ (whom he saw upon the throne, Eze 1:26) said to him, "Son of man, eat this roll, admit this revelation into thy understanding, take it, take the meaning of it, understand it aright, admit it into thy heart, apply it, and be affected with it; imprint it in thy mind, rumina…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 3:6

many people--It would have increased the difficulty had he been sent, not merely to one, but to "many people" differing in tongues, so that the missionary would have needed to acquire a new tongue for addressing each. The after mission of the apostles to many peoples, and the gift of tongues for that end, are foreshadowed (compare Co1 14:21 with Isa 28:11). had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened-- (Mat 11:21, Mat 11:23).

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 3:5

Thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech - I neither send thee to thy adversaries, the Chaldeans, nor to the Medes and Persians, their enemies. Even these would more likely have hearkened unto thee than thy own countrymen.

John Gill on Ezekiel 3:6

Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language,.... The prophet was sent, not to different nations, of different languages; but to one nation of the same language; indeed several of his prophecies concern other nations, as the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Tyrians, Philistines, Egyptians, and Assyrians; but then these had a relation to the, people of Israel, and were chiefly on their account; and therefore he was not sent to those nations to deliver his prophecies unto them, but to the people of Israel only; and so had no difficulty on his part concerning their language, which he would have had, had he been sent to the barbarous nations; whose words, thou canst not understa…

The Church Fathers

"And if you were sent to them, they would listen to you." The obedience of the Gentiles is clearly declared, who would one day follow the voices of the preachers without delay. But the unknown tongue of the Gentiles caused no delay in obeying, although it was foreign to the speech of the law.
— Gregory the Dialogist, Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 10

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

Language · Of some nations difficult — Of some nations difficult
Rebellion Against God · Ministers: Sent to those guilty of — Ministers: Sent to those guilty of

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 3:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 3:1-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 3:6

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 3:5

John Gill on Ezekiel 3:6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ezekiel 3:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 3:1-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 3:6

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 3:5

John Gill on Ezekiel 3:6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Ezekiel 3:4-7

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezekiel 3:1–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ezekiel 3:4-7

Rashi on Ezekiel 3:6