Ezekiel 3:8
in Ezekiel 3Behold, I will make your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, I have made thy face hard against their faces, and thy forehead hard against their foreheads.
KJV
Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.
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This verse in Ezekiel 3
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe Lord says to the prophets that he has made their face a brazen city and a stone of adamant and an iron pillar, so that they will not be afraid of the insults of the people but by their stern composure disarm the effrontery of those who sneer at them. A finely strung mind is more readily overcome by insult than by terror.
This site's exposition
unwilling to listen to you
on Ezekiel 3:7-9
The Lord tells Ezekiel why he will go unheard: Israel “will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me.” The whole house is “hard-headed and hard-hearted,” and the Lord answers: “I will make your face as hard as their faces.”
This site's exposition
as hard as their faces
God answers the hard faces of the people by making the face of Ezekiel as hard as theirs. Albert Barnes takes the forehead as a picture from horned animals, a strength greater than theirs. The prophet will meet stubborn people with a firmness God gives.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 8, 9.) Behold, I have made your face stronger than their faces, and your forehead harder than their foreheads. I have made your face like diamond and flint. Do not fear them or be afraid of their presence, for they are a rebellious house." And He said to me, "The house of Israel has a stubborn and defiant forehead, and their heart is as hard as scorpions. Therefore, I have given you an extremely firm countenance and a forehead that cannot be ashamed. From this, we learn that sometimes it is a grace of God to resist impudence, and when circumstances demand it, to confront face-to-face. This, however, is attributed so that our modesty and human decency do not fear the snares of adversaries.
(Verse 8, 9.) Behold, I have made your face stronger than their faces, and your forehead harder than their foreheads. I have made your face like diamond and flint. Do not fear them or be afraid of their presence, for they are a rebellious house." And He said to me, "The house of Israel has a stubborn and defiant forehead, and their heart is as hard as scorpions. Therefore, I have given you an extremely firm countenance and a forehead that cannot be ashamed. From this, we learn that sometimes it is a grace of God to resist impudence, and when circumstances demand it, to confront face-to-face. This, however, is attributed so that our modesty and human decency do not fear the snares of adversaries.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistHomilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 10 · Written before 604.
proposed
"Behold, I have made your face stronger than their faces, and your forehead harder than their foreheads." Just as shame is praiseworthy in evil, so it is blameworthy in good. For to be ashamed of evil is wisdom; but to be ashamed of good is foolishness. Hence it is written: There is a shame that brings sin, and there is a shame that brings glory. For he who is ashamed by repenting of the evils he has done arrives at the freedom of life. But he who is ashamed to do good falls from the state of righteousness and tends toward damnation, as it is said by the Redeemer: Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his majesty. And there are some who already conceive good things in their mind, but do not yet openly contradict evils. These indeed, because they are good in mind but have no authority in speech, are not suited for the defense of truth. For he ought to be a defender of truth who neither fears nor is ashamed to speak what he rightly perceives. Hence now it is promised to the prophet as a great gift: "Behold, I have made your face stronger than their faces, and your forehead harder than their foreheads." But what is a sinner except one who is wounded? And what is a preacher except a physician? If therefore the sinner who lies in his wound is not ashamed, why should the physician be ashamed who provides healing through medicines? Often indeed it happens that a preacher is listened to reverently; but sometimes he is so despised by the perverse as if he were speaking nothing useful to them. Hence it is rightly said now: "I have made your face like adamant and like flint."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Behold, I have made the, face strong against their faces,....
When vice is daring let not virtue be sneaking. And, when God has work to do, he will animate men for it and give them strength according to the day. If there be occasion, God can and will by his grace make the foreheads of faithful ministers as an adamant, so that the most threatening powers shall not dash them out of countenance.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I have made ... thy forehead strong - I have given thee a strength superior to theirs; a metaphor taken from horned animals.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Ezekiel means one "strengthened by God." Such he was in godly firmness, in spite of his people's opposition, according to the divine command to the priest tribe to which he belonged (De 33:9).
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנֵּ֨ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| נָתַ֧תִּי | natati | I make | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| פָּנֶ֛יךָ | paneikha | face your | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| חֲזָקִ֖ים | chazakim | hard | H2389 → | 56 times |
| לְעֻמַּ֣ת | leumat | <to> corresponding to | H5980 → | 32 times |
| פְּנֵיהֶ֑ם | peneihem | faces their | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וְאֶֽת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִצְחֲךָ֥ | mitzchakha | forehead your | H4696 → | 13 times |
| חָזָ֖ק | chazak | hard | H2389 → | 56 times |
| לְעֻמַּ֥ת | leumat | <to> corresponding to | H5980 → | 32 times |
| מִצְחָֽם׃ | mitzcham | forehead their | H4696 → | 13 times |
הִנֵּ֨הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
נָתַ֧תִּיI make
natatiH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
פָּנֶ֛יךָface your
paneikhaH6440 →2123 times
חֲזָקִ֖יםhard
chazakimH2389 →56 times
לְעֻמַּ֣ת<to> corresponding to
leumatH5980 →32 times
פְּנֵיהֶ֑םfaces their
peneihemH6440 →2123 times
וְאֶֽת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
מִצְחֲךָ֥forehead your
mitzchakhaH4696 →13 times
חָזָ֖קhard
chazakH2389 →56 times
לְעֻמַּ֥ת<to> corresponding to
leumatH5980 →32 times
מִצְחָֽם׃forehead their
mitzchamH4696 →13 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
Jeremiah 1:18Now behold, this day I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of…
it leads to
- Isaiah 50:7
Because the Lord GOD helps Me, I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set My face like flint, and I know that I will not be put to shame.
- Ezekiel 3:8–9
Behold, I will make your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.
- Jeremiah 15:20
Then I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save and deliver…
- Jeremiah 6:27
“I have appointed you to examine My people like ore, so you may know and try their ways.
- Micah 3:8–9
As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the LORD, with justice and courage, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
- Isaiah 50:7
Through
Hebrews 11:27By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
- Hebrews 11:13
All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the…
- 2 Corinthians 4:18
Through
1 Kings 21:20When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, “So you have found me out, my enemy.” He replied, “I have found you out because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of…
it leads to
- Romans 7:14
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
- Romans 7:14
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 Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Gregory the Dialogist, Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 10; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, LETTER 66.6; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.