Ezekiel 2:4
in Ezekiel 2They are obstinate and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the children are impudent and stiffhearted: I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah.
KJV
For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God.
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This verse in Ezekiel 2
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 4.) And they are sons with a fierce face and an untamed heart, to whom I send you. This is not found in the Septuagint. It is of great mercy to send God to such people and not to despair of their salvation; and it is prophetic confidence that he is not afraid to go to such people as well. But we must understand that with an untamed heart and a fierce face, we should accept what is said to the sinner: Your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead is bronze (Isaiah 48:6).
This site's exposition
a rebellious nation that has rebelled
on Ezekiel 2:3-5
The Lord names the audience before the message: “a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me,” and “they and their fathers have rebelled against Me.” No hearing is promised, only this outcome: “whether they listen or refuse to listen,” “they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
This site's exposition
obstinate and stubborn children
God calls the people obstinate and stubborn children. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown give the first word as hard-faced, as in Ezekiel 3:7 and 9, and see the children walking in their fathers' steps. The prophet is sent to them all the same.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistHomilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 9 · Written before 604.
proposed
"Their fathers have transgressed my covenant unto this day, and the sons are of hard face and indomitable heart, to whom I send you." Behold, there is one fault of pride, because they have transgressed the covenant. Behold, another of obstinacy, because even unto this day. Behold, in the iniquity of the sons there is the grave fault of imprudence, because they are of a hard face, since they no longer blush at the evils they do, and never return to repentance even after their faults, because they are of an untamable heart. But when those to whom the prophet is sent are of such great depravity and such great obstinacy, who does not already see that the person of the prophet can be despised by such perverse men? But behold, authority is given to his person, when it is added: "And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God." As if it were openly said: Because you will be despised on your own account, it is necessary that you speak from my voice. Lest you yourself who are sent be held in contempt; bringing forth my words, show who sent you.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
15 ); they are pricking briers and grieving thorns. The best of them is as a brier, and the most upright sharper than a thorn-hedge, Mic. vii. Thorns and briers are the fruit of sin and the curse, and of equal date with the enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
For they are impudent children,....
Note, Christ gives the means of grace to many who he knows will not make a good use of those means, puts many a price into the hand of fools to get wisdom, who not only have no heart to it, but have their hearts turned against it. Thus he will magnify his own grace, justify his own judgment, leave them inexcusable, and make their condemnation more intolerable.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
impudent--literally, "hard-faced" (Eze 3:7, 9). children--resumptive of "they" (Eze 2:3); the "children" walk in their "fathers'" steps. I . . . send thee--God opposes His command to all obstacles. Duties are ours; events are God's.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord - Let them know that what thou hast to declare is the message of the Lord, that they may receive it with reverence. Every preacher of God’s word should take heed that it is God’s message he delivers to the people. Let him not suppose, because it is according to his own creed or confession of faith, that therefore it is God’s word. False doctrines and fallacies without end are foisted on the world in this way.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And the sons Since He says, “their fathers rebelled against Me,” and these sons of theirs are brazen- faced.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And they whether they listen or whether they forbear from listening.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהַבָּנִ֗ים | vehabanim | and the children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| קְשֵׁ֤י | keshei | [are] stern of | H7186 → | |
| פָנִים֙ | fanim | face | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וְחִזְקֵי־ | vechizkei- | and hard of | H2389 → | 56 times |
| לֵ֔ב | lev | heart | H3820 → | 595 times |
| אֲנִ֛י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| שׁוֹלֵ֥חַ | sholeach | [am] sending | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אוֹתְךָ֖ | ʾotkha | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֑ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כֹּ֥ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֖ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֥י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהֹוִֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
וְהַבָּנִ֗יםand the children
vehabanimH1121 →4930 times
קְשֵׁ֤י[are] stern of
kesheiH7186 →
פָנִים֙face
fanimH6440 →2123 times
וְחִזְקֵי־and hard of
vechizkei-H2389 →56 times
לֵ֔בheart
levH3820 →595 times
אֲנִ֛יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
שׁוֹלֵ֥חַ[am] sending
sholeachH7971 →845 times
אוֹתְךָ֖<obj.> you
ʾotkhaH853 →10935 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֑םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
וְאָמַרְתָּ֣and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֔םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
כֹּ֥הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֖רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֥י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהֹוִֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 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
Isaiah 48:4For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.
it leads to
- Acts 7:51
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Exodus 32:9
The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
- Zechariah 7:11–12
But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
- Proverbs 29:1
A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.
- Ezekiel 3:4–9
Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.
- Acts 7:51
Through
Psalms 95:8do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, in the day at Massah in the wilderness,
it leads to
- Exodus 17:7
He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
- Hebrews 3:8–9
do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,
- Numbers 20:13
These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and He showed His holiness among them.
- Exodus 17:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Gregory the Dialogist, Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 9; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.