Ezekiel 3:25

25 And you, O son of man, behold, ¹cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people.

Ezekiel 3:25 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 3:25

But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon
thee
Or, "bands shall be put upon thee"; either visionally, or really; not by angels, but by the Jews, who, taking the prophet for a madman by his motions and gestures; would bind him, and keep him within doors: or figuratively this may be understood of the sins of the people, their rebellion and obstinacy, which hindered the prophet from prophesying among them as yet; and so this is observed to conciliate his mind to the divine order, to shut up himself for a while in his own house, and be silent: or else by these bonds may be meant the divine order itself, which restrained him from doing his office as yet. So the Targum,

``behold, I have appointed the words of my mouth upon thee, as a band of ropes with which they bind;''

and shall bind thee with them;
which some think is emblematical of the Jews being bound by the Chaldeans: and thou shall not go out among them;
to converse with them, or prophesy unto them. The Septuagint version renders it, "shall not go out from the midst of them"; as if he should be taken out of his own house by the Jews, and be bound by them, and kept among them, and not able to get away from them; but it is to be understood of his being bound in his own house, and not able to go out of that to them; and may signify, that in like manner the Jews should not be able to go out of Jerusalem when besieged by the Chaldeans.

Ezekiel 3:25 In-Context

23 So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, like the glory that I had seen by the Chebar canal, and I fell on my face.

24 But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, "Go, shut yourself within your house.

25 And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people.

26 And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house.

27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD.'He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

Cross References

• 1. Ezekiel 4:8