a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
man
אָדָ֔ם'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · noun, common masculine singular absolute
set
נְתַתִּ֖יךָne.ta.Ti.kha
H5414
to give · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
watchman
צֹפֶ֥הtzo.Peh
H6822
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
house
לְבֵ֣יתle.Veit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
hear
וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֤ve.sha.ma'.Ta
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
word
דָּבָ֔רda.Var
H1697
a word · noun, common masculine singular absolute
mouth
מִפִּי֙mi.Pi
H6310
the mouth (as the means of blowing) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
warn
וְהִזְהַרְתָּ֥ve.hiz.har.Ta
H2094
to gleam · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
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
Jeremiah 26:2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’s hou…
Ezekiel 3:17-21 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
Ezekiel 2:7-8 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
Acts 5:20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.
Hebrews 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may d…
Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep no…
Jeremiah 1:17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound th…
1 Thessalonians 4:1-2 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to plea…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 33:1-9
The prophet had been, by express order from God, taken off from prophesying to the Jews, just then when the news came that Jerusalem was invested, and close siege laid to it, Eze 24:27. But now that Jerusalem is taken, two years after, he is appointed again to direct his speech to them; and there his commission is renewed. If God had abandoned them quite, he would not have sent prophets to them; nor, if he had not had mercy in store for them, would he have shown them such things as these. In these verses we have,
I. The office of a watchman laid down, the trust reposed in him, the charge given him, and the conditions adjusted between him and those that employ him, Eze 33:2, Eze 33:6. 1. It i…
I have set thee a watchman--application of the image. Ezekiel's appointment to be a watchman spiritually is far more solemn, as it is derived from God, not from the people.
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 33:2
Son of man - if the people of the land take a man - The first ten verses of this chapter are the same with Eze 3:17-22; and to what is said there on this most important and awful subject I must refer the reader. Here the People choose the watchman; there, the Lord appoints him. When God chooses, the people should approve.
John Gill on Ezekiel 33:7
So thou, O son of man,.... Here begins the application of the parable to the prophet himself, describing his office and his duty:
I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; which is repeated from Ezekiel 3:17; see Gill on Ezekiel 3:17. The Targum is,
"I have appointed thee a teacher;''
a spiritual watchman; so pastors, teachers, ministers of the Gospel, are watchmen, 2 Timothy 4:5,
therefore thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me. The Targum is,
"thou shalt receive the word from my Word, and warn them from sinning before me.''
Keil & Delitzsch
The Church Fathers
In all this he thought of himself as a watchman set by the Lord over the house of Israel; he preached the word in season and out of season, convincing, exhorting, rebuking and teaching with unfailing patience and taking special care to teach in turn those fitted for teaching others. When asked by some to take a hand in their temporal concerns, he wrote letters to various persons for them, but he regarded this occupation as a kind of forced labor that took him away from more important things. His real delight was to speak of the things of God, whether in public addresses or at home in familiar converse with his brothers.
However, we can discuss this passage in three ways: as the land that appoints a watchman for itself, either according to the literal sense, that is, the land of Judea, or according to the spiritual interpretation, the Church, which often chooses a watchman for the last things of its people, namely the one whom the Apostle, writing to the Corinthians, takes as a judge (1 Corinthians 15), or certainly the soul of the believer, which sets its mind and reason above the people and crowd of its thoughts, so that it does not accept all the incentives of thoughts, but judges and discerns what should be followed by itself and what should be avoided. A watchman of the land of Judea, either a king, or a prophet: a watchman of the Church, either a bishop, or a presbyter, because he is chosen by the people, and knowing the reading of the Scriptures, and foreseeing what is to come, he announces to the people and corrects the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is greatly to be feared that we approach this office unworthy and chosen by the people, giving ourselves to neglect and idleness: and what is worse, serving pleasures, the belly, and laziness, we think that we have received honor, not ministry. For indeed the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister (Matthew 20:28); and he washed the disciples' feet (John 13), to show that all filth and vices must be washed and purged from the masters in the disciples.
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
Ezekiel, Book of — Consists mainly of three groups of prophecies. After an account of his call to the prophetical office (1-3:21), Ezekiel (1) utters words of denunciation against the Jews (3:22-24), warning them of…
Watches — The periods into which the time between sunset and sunrise was divided. They are so called because watchmen relieved each other at each of these periods. There are frequent references in Scripture to…
Ministers · When unfaithful: Shall be punished — When unfaithful: Shall be punished
Opportunity · THE MEASURE OF RESPONSIBILITY — THE MEASURE OF RESPONSIBILITY
Responsibility · ACCORDING TO PRIVILEGE — ACCORDING TO PRIVILEGE
Titles And Names Of Ministers · Watchmen — Watchmen
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).
on Ezekiel 33:1-9
Calling of the Prophet for the Future - Ezekiel 33:1-20
The prophet's office of watchman. Eze 33:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 33:2. Son of man, speak to the sons of thy people, and say to them, When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their company and set him for a watchman, Eze 33:3. And he seeth the sword come upon the land, and bloweth the trumpet, and warneth the people; Eze 33:4. If, then, one should hear the blast of the trumpet and not take warning, so that the sword should come and take him away, his blood would come upon his own head. Eze 33:5. He heard the blast of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood will come up…
Ezekiel’s message encouraged the people of Israel even now to repent so that they might live and not die. The Lord had said that he would bring an army against their country, and this was evidently what was now happening. Ezekiel had been faithful to his calling as a watchman; no one who had heard his prophecy thus far could say that he did not warn the people of the coming judgment. However, the people had not heeded the warning; without a change of heart they would die in their sins.
Rashi on Ezekiel 33:7
I have made you a lookout Like that lookout, who is appointed to give warning so that no soul be lost, so have I appointed you to warn Israel.
