Ezekiel 3:26
in Ezekiel 3I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house.
KJV
And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.
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This verse in Ezekiel 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAnd again, because of the fault of those subject to them, the voice of preachers is forbidden, as the Lord says to Ezekiel: "I will make your tongue cleave to your palate, and you shall be mute, and not as a man who rebukes, because it is a provoking house." As if he were to say openly: Therefore the word of preaching is taken from you, because while the people provoke me in their actions, they are not worthy to receive the exhortation of truth. From whose fault, therefore, the word is withdrawn from the preacher is not easily known.
This site's exposition
they will tie with ropes
on Ezekiel 3:25-27
Ezekiel will be tied “with ropes” so that he “cannot go out among the people,” and commentators differ over whether the ropes are literal. The Lord will make his “tongue stick to the roof of your mouth,” so he will be “silent.” His mouth opens only when the Lord speaks.
This site's exposition
stick to the roof of your mouth
God will make the tongue of Ezekiel stick to the roof of his mouth, so he cannot rebuke the rebellious house. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call this God's sorest judgment: Israel had rejected the prophets, and now the word is held back from them. The silence is itself a message.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 25, 26.) And you, son of man: behold, chains have been placed upon you, and they will bind you with them, and you shall not go out from among them, and I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth (or throat), and you shall be mute, not speaking as a man who reproaches them: for the house is rebellious.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistHomilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 12 · Written before 604.
proposed
"And I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, and you shall be mute, not like a man who rebukes, because it is a rebellious house." Therefore, the knowledge of the preachers is then compelled to be silent to the reprobate. Hence it is also added here: "And I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, and you shall be mute, and not as a man who rebukes, because it is a provoking house." But because, when Enoch and Elijah preach, many of those who then remain from the Jews in unbelief return to the knowledge of truth, just as it is said of the same Elijah: "Elijah will come, and he will restore all things," who are both called through Zechariah two olive trees, and through John two candlesticks, rightly here also it is added: "But when I shall have spoken to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God." Hence here also it is fittingly added: "And I will make your tongue cling to your palate, and you shall be mute, and not as a man who rebukes, because it is a provoking house." Sometimes indeed the Lord also kindles the hearts of preachers with zeal for Himself against the tongues of those who resist, so that they may not be silent, but may press down the sayings of the deceitful with words of truth. But the words which are immediately added require great consideration: "And I will make your tongue cleave to your palate, and you will be mute, nor like a man rebuking, because it is a provoking house." For we must discern whether the word of preaching is withdrawn only on account of evil hearers, or sometimes also on account of the fault of the one preaching. For this matter, when considered, is distinguished by four qualities. For sometimes the word is taken away from good teachers on account of bad hearers. Sometimes, however, the word is given even to bad teachers on account of good hearers. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He shall not give them instructions and admonitions, for they are lost and thrown away upon them. He is before commanded to speak boldly to them because they are most rebellious ( ch. ii. 7 ); but, since that proves to no purpose, he is now for that reason enjoined silence and shall not speak at all to them.
And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shall be dumb,....
These verses are fitly joined by some translators to the foregoing chapter, as being of a piece with it and a continuation of the same vision. The prophets received the word from God that they might deliver it to the people of God, furnished themselves that they might furnish them with the knowledge of the mind and will of God. Now here the prophet is taught, I.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
I will make my tongue . . . dumb--Israel had rejected the prophets; therefore God deprives Israel of the prophets and of His word--God's sorest judgment (1Sa 7:2;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth - I will not give thee any message to deliver to them. They are so rebellious, it is useless to give them farther warning.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And I will make - Rather, Then will I “make.” One action is the consequence of the other. Because the people would silence the prophet, God to punish them will close his mouth (compare Isa 6:9; Mat 13:14).
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּלְשֽׁוֹנְךָ֙ | uleshonkha | and tongue your | H3956 → | 117 times |
| אַדְבִּ֣יק | ʾadbik | I will make stick | H1692 → | 54 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| חִכֶּ֔ךָ | chikekha | palate your | H2441 → | |
| וְנֶֽאֱלַ֔מְתָּ | veneelamta | and you will be dumb | H481 → | 9 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִֽהְיֶ֥ה | tihyeh | you will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָהֶ֖ם | lahem | to them | ||
| לְאִ֣ישׁ | leish | <into> a person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| מוֹכִ֑יחַ | mokhiach | [who] reproves | H3198 → | |
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | [are] a house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| מְרִ֖י | meri | rebellion | H4805 → | 23 times |
| הֵֽמָּה׃ | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
וּלְשֽׁוֹנְךָ֙and tongue your
uleshonkhaH3956 →117 times
אַדְבִּ֣יקI will make stick
ʾadbikH1692 →54 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
חִכֶּ֔ךָpalate your
chikekhaH2441 →
וְנֶֽאֱלַ֔מְתָּand you will be dumb
veneelamtaH481 →9 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִֽהְיֶ֥הyou will become
tihyehH1961 →3559 times
לָהֶ֖םto them
lahem
לְאִ֣ישׁ<into> a person
leishH376 →1663 times
מוֹכִ֑יחַ[who] reproves
mokhiachH3198 →
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
בֵּ֥ית[are] a house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
מְרִ֖יrebellion
meriH4805 →23 times
הֵֽמָּה׃they
hemahH1992 →553 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 137:6May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!
it leads to
- Psalms 22:15
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death.
- Job 29:10
The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
- Psalms 84:10
For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
- Isaiah 41:17
The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
- Lamentations 4:4
The nursing infant’s tongue clings in thirst to the roof of his mouth. Little children beg for bread, but no one gives them any.
- Psalms 22:15
Through
Ezekiel 24:27On that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you will speak and no longer be mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 33:22
Now the evening before the fugitive arrived, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened…
- Ezekiel 29:21
In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth to speak among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
- Luke 21:15
For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
- Ezekiel 33:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 17; Gregory the Dialogist, Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 12; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.