Ezekiel 3:27

27 But when I shall speak to thee, I shall open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord saith these things, He that heareth, hear, and he that resteth, rest; for it is an house stirring to wrath. (But when I shall speak to thee, I shall open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord saith these things, He who shall listen, listen, and he who shall not listen, do not listen; for it is a house stirring me to anger.)

Ezekiel 3:27 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 3:27

But when I speak with thee
Either when I have made an end of speaking to thee, when I have told thee all my mind, and have given thee all the instructions and prophecies thou art to deliver out; or when I shall speak to thee again, and give thee orders to speak: I will open thy mouth;
loose thy tongue, cause thee to break silence, and thou shall speak freely and fully all that I command thee; fulness of matter, and freedom of speech, are both from the Lord; liberty and opportunity of speaking are at his pleasure; and when he speaks his servants must prophesy, ( Amos 3:8 ) ; and thou shalt say unto them, thus saith the Lord God;
so and so, whatsoever he is pleased to order to be spoken; not that the following words are what were to be said to the people; but they are said to the prophet for his own use, that he might not be uneasy at the unfruitfulness and failure of his ministry: he that heareth, let him hear;
if any will hearken to what is sent to them, as few of them will, it is very well: and he that forbeareth, let him forbear;
or, "he that ceaseth, let him cease" ^F25; he that ceaseth from hearing, let him do so, do not mind it, or be discouraged at it: for they [are] a rebellious house; (See Gill on Ezekiel 2:5). The Targum is,

``he that receiveth, let him receive instruction; and he that ceaseth, let him cease from sinning, for it is a rebellious people.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 (ldxy ldxhw) "et qui cessat cesset", Pagninus, Tigurine version, Starckius; "qui desistere volet desistat", Piscator; "qui desistit [audire], desistet". So some in Vatablus.

Ezekiel 3:27 In-Context

25 And thou, son of man, lo! bonds be given on thee (And thou, son of man, lo! bonds be put upon thee), and they shall bind thee with those, and thou shalt not go out in(to) the midst of them.

26 And I shall make thy tongue to cleave to the roof of thy mouth, and thou shalt be dumb, and thou shalt not be as a man rebuking; for it is an house stirring to wrath. (And I shall make thy tongue to cleave to the roof of thy mouth, and thou shalt be dumb, and thou shalt not rebuke them; though it is a house stirring me to anger.)

27 But when I shall speak to thee, I shall open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord saith these things, He that heareth, hear, and he that resteth, rest; for it is an house stirring to wrath. (But when I shall speak to thee, I shall open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord saith these things, He who shall listen, listen, and he who shall not listen, do not listen; for it is a house stirring me to anger.)