Ezekiel 3:8

8 But I'll make you as hard in your way as they are in theirs.

Ezekiel 3:8 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 3:8

Behold, I have made the, face strong against their faces
Not that the prophet should have the same sort of impudence and confidence they had; but that God would "give" ^F14 him such a face, as it is in the Hebrew text, such spirit and courage, that he should neither be ashamed of the words of the Lord, nor afraid to speak them to this people; so that he should be a match for them; they should not be able to outface him, or look him out of countenance; he should behave with an undaunted spirit, and with great intrepidity, amidst all opposition made to him: the Lord fits his ministers for the people he sends them to, and gives them courage and strength proportionate to the opposition they meet with; as their day is, their strength is; and all that invincible courage, boldness, and strength, with which they are endowed, it is all from the Lord, and a gift of his: and thy forehead strong against their foreheads;
which is the same thing in different words.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 (Kynp ta yttn) "dedi faciem tuam", V. L. Vatablus, Cocceius, Starckius.

Ezekiel 3:8 In-Context

6 If I had sent you to such people, their ears would have perked up and they would have listened immediately.

7 "But it won't work that way with the family of Israel. They won't listen to you because they won't listen to me. They are, as I said, a hard case, hardened in their sin.

8 But I'll make you as hard in your way as they are in theirs.

9 I'll make your face as hard as rock, harder than granite. Don't let them intimidate you. Don't be afraid of them, even though they're a bunch of rebels."

10 Then he said, "Son of man, get all these words that I'm giving you inside you. Listen to them obediently. Make them your own.