Ezekiel 3:7
in Ezekiel 3But the house of Israel will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stiff heart.
KJV
But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
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This verse in Ezekiel 3
Commentary
3 notes on this verse(Verse 7.) But the house of Israel does not want to listen to you, because they do not want to listen to me. For the entire house of Israel is stubborn and hard-hearted. Do not be dismayed, he says, if they do not want to listen to you. For this reason, they will not listen to you: because they will despise listening to me: as the Savior also said: Whoever does not receive you, does not receive me (Ibid., X, 40) . In which it is clearly shown that there is free will.
This site's exposition
will not hearken unto thee
on Ezekiel 3:7-9
The refusal is traced to its root before it happens: they will not hear Ezekiel because they will not hear the Lord himself, so the prophet's coming failure is not a verdict on his skill. Against that hardness the Lord matches an equal hardness in the messenger, a face made strong against their faces and a forehead like adamant, harder than flint, against theirs. Keil reads the imagery as protective rather than combative, armor fitted to the exact shape of the resistance Ezekiel is about to meet, not a call to fight fire with fire.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Impudent and hard-hearted - “Stiff of forehead, and hard of heart.” - Margin. The marginal readings on several verses here are very nervous and very correct.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבֵ֣ית | uveit | and [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֹאבוּ֙ | yovu | they will be willing | H14 → | 54 times |
| לִשְׁמֹ֣עַ | lishmoa' | to listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֵלֶ֔יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵינָ֥ם | ʾeinam | not they | H369 → | 789 times |
| אֹבִ֖ים | ʾovim | [are] willing | H14 → | 54 times |
| לִשְׁמֹ֣עַ | lishmoa' | to listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֵלָ֑י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כִּ֚י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| חִזְקֵי־ | chizkei- | [are] hard of | H2389 → | 56 times |
| מֵ֥צַח | metzach | forehead | H4696 → | 13 times |
| וּקְשֵׁי־ | ukeshei- | and stern of | H7186 → | |
| לֵ֖ב | lev | heart | H3820 → | 595 times |
| הֵֽמָּה׃ | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
וּבֵ֣יתand [the] house of
uveitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יֹאבוּ֙they will be willing
yovuH14 →54 times
לִשְׁמֹ֣עַto listen
lishmoa'H8085 →1159 times
אֵלֶ֔יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֵינָ֥םnot they
ʾeinamH369 →789 times
אֹבִ֖ים[are] willing
ʾovimH14 →54 times
לִשְׁמֹ֣עַto listen
lishmoa'H8085 →1159 times
אֵלָ֑יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
כִּ֚יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
חִזְקֵי־[are] hard of
chizkei-H2389 →56 times
מֵ֥צַחforehead
metzachH4696 →13 times
וּקְשֵׁי־and stern of
ukeshei-H7186 →
לֵ֖בheart
levH3820 →595 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
Luke 10:16Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
it leads to
- John 13:20
Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever receives the one I send receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me.”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:8
Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit.
- Matthew 10:40
He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me.
- John 13:20
Through
Luke 13:34O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you…
it leads to
- Matthew 23:37–39
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you…
- Deuteronomy 32:11–12
As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions.
- Isaiah 30:15
For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence—but you were not willing.”
- Matthew 23:37–39
Through
1 Samuel 8:7And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as…
it leads to
- Luke 10:16
Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
- 1 Samuel 10:19
But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions, and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the…
- Luke 10:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel and Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel.
