And the spirit of the Lord fell upon me
In an extraordinary manner, and afresh, and enlightened his mind, and showed him things that should come to pass; and filled him with boldness and courage to declare them. The Targum interprets it of the spirit of prophecy: and said unto me, speak;
what I shall show and put into thy mouth, that speak out; be not afraid, but boldly declare all that I give thee in commission to say: thus saith the Lord, thus have ye said, O house of Israel;
as in ( Ezekiel 11:3 ) ; which perhaps was said in secret, and spoken privately, but known by the Lord; and it was not only the princes that said it, but the whole body of the people joined in with it, and agreed to it; though it is very probable they were influenced by the former: for I know the things that come into your mind, [everyone of] them;
not only their scoffing words, but the thoughts of their hearts; not one of them escaped the knowledge of God; the consideration of which should command an awe on men, and engage them to a watchfulness over their thoughts, words, and actions.