Ezekiel 3:26

I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses Ezekiel immediately after binding him with ropes to prevent movement among the populace. This occurs during a prophetic enactment of Israel's impending judgment and exile.

The words — The Hebrew אַדְבִּיק לְשׁוֹנְךָ אֶל־חִכֶּךָ ('adbiq leshon'kha 'el-chikkekha) literally means "I will make stick your tongue to your palate." The clause וְנֶאֱלַמְתָּ (ve-ne'elamta) follows with "and you will be mute," establishing enforced silence.

The thread — This enforced silence contrasts with the promised vocal restoration in Ezekiel 24:27 and mirrors the covenantal curse in Psalm 137:6 where the tongue clings to the palate. It also stands in direct opposition to the petition for vocal opening in Psalm 51:15.

Why it lands — The text establishes that prophetic speech is strictly governed by divine command, not human readiness. It requires the reader to accept that silence is a deliberate divine instruction until God explicitly opens the mouth to deliver a message.

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

וּלְשֽׁוֹנְךָ֙u./le.shon./Khaand/ tongue/ your אַדְבִּ֣יק'ad.BikI will make stick אֶל־'el-to חִכֶּ֔ךָchi.Ke./khapalate/ your וְנֶֽאֱלַ֔מְתָּve./ne.'e.Lam.taand/ you will be dumb וְלֹא־ve./lo'-and/ not תִֽהְיֶ֥הtih.Yehyou will becomeלָהֶ֖םla./Hemto/ themלְאִ֣ישׁle./'Ish<into>/ a person מוֹכִ֑יחַmo.Khi.ach[who] reproves כִּ֛יkifor בֵּ֥יתbeit[are] a house of מְרִ֖יme.Rirebellion הֵֽמָּה׃He.mahthey

King James Version

And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 24:27 On that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you will speak and no longer be mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD.”
Psalms 51:15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.
Psalms 137:6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!
Amos 8:11 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.
Micah 3:6 Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.
Luke 1:20 And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day this comes to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”
Psalms 36:11 Let not the foot of the proud come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
Isaiah 1:2 Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against 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.
Lamentations 2:9 Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find no vision from the LORD.