Ezekiel 3:8

8 Yet, I will make you as stubborn and as hardheaded as they are.

Ezekiel 3:8 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 3:8

Behold, I have made the, face strong against their faces
Not that the prophet should have the same sort of impudence and confidence they had; but that God would "give" ^F14 him such a face, as it is in the Hebrew text, such spirit and courage, that he should neither be ashamed of the words of the Lord, nor afraid to speak them to this people; so that he should be a match for them; they should not be able to outface him, or look him out of countenance; he should behave with an undaunted spirit, and with great intrepidity, amidst all opposition made to him: the Lord fits his ministers for the people he sends them to, and gives them courage and strength proportionate to the opposition they meet with; as their day is, their strength is; and all that invincible courage, boldness, and strength, with which they are endowed, it is all from the Lord, and a gift of his: and thy forehead strong against their foreheads;
which is the same thing in different words.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 (Kynp ta yttn) "dedi faciem tuam", V. L. Vatablus, Cocceius, Starckius.

Ezekiel 3:8 In-Context

6 I am not sending you to nations whose language is hard to understand, difficult to speak, or whose words you cannot understand. If I send you to those nations, they will certainly listen to you.

7 But the people of Israel will refuse to listen to you because they refuse to listen to me. All the people of Israel are very stubborn and hardheaded.

8 Yet, I will make you as stubborn and as hardheaded as they are.

9 I will make you as hard as a diamond, harder than stone. Don't be afraid of them. Don't be terrified in their presence, even though they are rebellious people."

10 He also said to me, "Son of man, take to heart everything I have spoken to you, and listen closely.