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Ezekiel 6:2

in Ezekiel 6

“Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy unto them,

KJV

Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,

This verse in Ezekiel 6

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

(Chapter 6, Verses 1 onwards) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, turn your face towards the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. And you shall say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and hills, to the cliffs and valleys. That which is often said in this Prophet as 'Adonai Dominus' seems to be briefly explained for the Greeks and Latins who do not have knowledge of the Hebrew language.

This site's exposition

the word of the LORD came

on Ezekiel 6:1-3

The word is spoken to the land itself: “O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD!” It reaches “the mountains and hills,” “the ravines and valleys,” with a sword against them. Gill compares Deuteronomy 32:1, where Moses calls on the heavens and the earth to hear.

This site's exposition

set your face against the mountains of Israel

Ezekiel is told to set his face against the mountains of Israel and to prophesy against them. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown compare the prophet who spoke to Jeroboam's altar in 1 Kings 13:2. The hills held Israel's high places.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Son of man, set thy face towards the mountains of Israel,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

That which is threatened in this prophecy is the utter destruction of the idols and the idolaters, and both by the sword of war. God himself is commander-in-chief of this expedition against the mountains of Israel.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Set thy face toward the mountains of Israel - This is a new prophecy, and was most probably given after the four hundred and thirty days of his lying on his left and right side were accomplished. By Israel here, Judea is simply meant; not the ten tribes, who had long before been carried into captivity. Ezekiel uses this term in reference to the Jews only. The mountains may be addressed here particularly, because it was on them the chief scenes of idolatry were exhibited.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The mountains are addressed by personification; implying that the Israelites themselves are incurable and unworthy of any more appeals; so the prophet sent to Jeroboam did not deign to address the king, but addressed the altar (1Ki 13:2). The mountains are specified as being the scene of Jewish idolatries on "the high places" (Eze 6:3;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

And the word of nevuah from before Hashem was with me, saying:
Targum · Targum Jonathan on Ezekiel 6:1, via Sefaria, Sefaria Community Translation

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. 4 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

9 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • בֶּן־O son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • אָדָ֕םhumankind

    ʾadamH120 →551 times

  • שִׂ֥יםset

    simH7760 →584 times

  • פָּנֶ֖יךָface your

    paneikhaH6440 →2123 times

  • אֶל־against

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הָרֵ֣י[the] mountains of

    hareiH2022 →546 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וְהִנָּבֵ֖אand prophesy

    vehinave'H5012 →115 times

  • אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃against them

    ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Ezekiel 34:14

    I will feed them in good pasture, and the lofty mountains of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in a good grazing land; they will feed in rich pasture…

    it leads to

    • John 10:9

      I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.

    • Jeremiah 31:25

      for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.”

    • Psalms 23:1–2

      The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

    • Jeremiah 31:12–14

      They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and…

  • Through

    Ezekiel 20:46

    “Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against it, and prophesy against the forest of the Negev.

    it leads to

    • Amos 7:16

      Now, therefore, hear the word of the LORD. You say: ‘Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.’

    • Ezekiel 21:2

      “Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel

    • Jeremiah 13:19

      The cities of the Negev have been shut tight, and no one can open them. All Judah has been carried into exile, wholly taken captive.

  • Through

    Ezekiel 19:9

    With hooks they caged him and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into captivity so that his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel.

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 36:6

      Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jehoiakim and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.

About Ezekiel

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.