Ezekiel 33:31

31 So they come to you as people do, and they sit before you as my people. They listen to your words, but they refuse to do them. Though they speak of their longing for me, they act out of their own interests and opinions.

Ezekiel 33:31 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 33:31

And they come unto thee as the people cometh
As the people of God, who came to the prophets's house to hear him preach the word, and explain it for their spiritual profit and edification these came when they did, and as early and constantly, and with seeming pleasure: and they sit before thee as my people;
with great decency and reverence, and very gravely and demurely, and with seeming devotion, and stay the time out till the whole service is over; as scholars sit at the feet of their masters, to hear and learn their doctrines. So the Targum,

``and they come unto thee as the men the disciples come:''

and they hear thy words, but they will not do them;
they gave him the hearing, and seemed attentive, but did not understand what they heard, at least did not put it in practice; they were only hearers, and not doers of the word, and like to the foolish man in ( Matthew 7:26 Matthew 7:27 ) : for with their mouth they show much love:
by the motions of their lips while hearing, and other gestures, as well as by what they said afterwards, they seemed pleased and delighted with what they heard; made huge encomiums upon it, and spoke much in the praise of the preacher. The Targum is the reverse,

``they made game with their mouth.''

But their heart goeth after their covetousness;

``after the money they had taken away by force,''

as the Targum; after the world, and the things of it; after their secular affairs, so that they wished the sermon over, that they might be at them; or, however, did not so diligently attend to what was said, but the cares of the world choked the word, and made it unfruitful to them; these were like the seed that fell among thorns, the thorny ground hearers, ( Matthew 13:22 ) ( Amos 8:5 ) .

Ezekiel 33:31 In-Context

29 They will know that I am the LORD when I make the land an uninhabitable waste because of all their detestable practices.

30 As for you, human one, your people talk about you beside the walls and in their doorways. One by one, they say to each other, "Let's go hear what sort of message has come from the LORD."

31 So they come to you as people do, and they sit before you as my people. They listen to your words, but they refuse to do them. Though they speak of their longing for me, they act out of their own interests and opinions.

32 To them you are like a singer of love songs with a lovely voice and skilled technique. They listen to your words, but no one does them.

33 When this comes—and it is certainly coming—they will know that a prophet has been among them.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or love songs