Ezekiel 3:8

8 But look, I have made you as obstinate and hard-hearted 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.


FOOTNOTES:

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

Ezekiel 3:8 In-Context

6 No, I am not sending you to people with strange and difficult speech. If I did, they would listen!
7 But the people of Israel won’t listen to you any more than they listen to me! For the whole lot of them are hard-hearted and stubborn.
8 But look, I have made you as obstinate and hard-hearted as they are.
9 I have made your forehead as hard as the hardest rock! So don’t be afraid of them or fear their angry looks, even though they are rebels.”
10 Then he added, “Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.