Bible Strands
Ezekiel 2:7
But speak My words to them, whether they listen or refuse to listen, for they are rebellious.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — YHWH commands Ezekiel, addressed as "son of man," to deliver a message to the exiled Israelites amid a context of danger and spiritual resistance. This occurs immediately after a warning not to fear the surrounding "briers and thorns" or the "rebellious house" (Ezekiel 2:6).
The words — The Hebrew דִּבַּרְתָּ (dibbartā, "you will speak") and דְּבָרַי (dəḇārāy, "My words") form the core command, while יֶחְדָּלוּ (yechdālû, "they will refrain") describes the audience's anticipated refusal.
The thread — This mandate echoes Jeremiah 1:7, where YHWH commands the prophet to speak whatever He sends regardless of the audience's status, and aligns with Ezekiel 2:5, which explicitly ties the prophet's message to the people's eventual recognition of divine authority.
Why it lands — The text commands unwavering proclamation regardless of human response, establishing that the prophet's duty is delivery, not outcome. The audience's rebellious nature does not nullify the message but confirms the need for unflinching obedience.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 23:28 Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 1:7 But the LORD told me: “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ For to everyone I send you, you must go, and all that I command you, you must speak.
- Ezekiel 2:5 And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.
- Ezekiel 3:10 “Son of man,” He added, “listen carefully to all the words I speak to you, and take them to heart.
- Ezekiel 3:17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.
- Jeremiah 1:17 Get yourself ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them, or I will terrify you before them.
- Jeremiah 26:2 “This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard of the house of the LORD and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all the cities of Judah who come to worship there. Do not omit a word.
- Jonah 3:2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
- Matthew 28:20 and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”