Ezekiel 12 9

Ezekiel 12:9 kjv

Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou?

Ezekiel 12:9 nkjv

"Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, 'What are you doing?'

Ezekiel 12:9 niv

"Son of man, did not the Israelites, that rebellious people, ask you, 'What are you doing?'

Ezekiel 12:9 esv

"Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, 'What are you doing?'

Ezekiel 12:9 nlt

"Son of man, these rebels, the people of Israel, have asked you what all this means.

Ezekiel 12 verses

Ezekiel 12 9 Meaning

Ezekiel 12:9 records God foretelling that the "house of Israel," whom He calls "the rebellious house," would question the prophet Ezekiel about his strange, symbolic actions. This inquiry, "What are you doing?", indicates their spiritual dullness, lack of understanding, and inherent resistance to accepting the divine message embedded in his performance regarding Jerusalem's impending judgment and exile.

Ezekiel 12 9 Context

Ezekiel chapter 12 vividly describes a series of dramatic, symbolic actions performed by the prophet, illustrating the impending exile of Jerusalem's inhabitants, the city's destruction, and the flight of its last king, Zedekiah. These actions included Ezekiel digging through a wall, carrying out his belongings at dusk, having his face covered, trembling as he ate and drank, and bearing his luggage openly.

Verse 9 serves as a crucial bridge within this narrative. Before Ezekiel delivers God's direct explanation of these mysterious acts, this verse reveals God's anticipation of the exiles' reaction: they would question the meaning of his bizarre performance. This prophetic foresight highlights the people's spiritual insensitivity and reluctance to grasp the seriousness of God's message, as they clung to false hopes for a swift return to Jerusalem. The immediate historical context is the Babylonian exile, where many of the exiles in Babylon maintained a delusion that Jerusalem would not fall, despite Jeremiah's consistent warnings and Ezekiel's own prophetic witness. God's message through these actions and the subsequent interpretation was to shatter these false hopes and prepare them for the harsh reality.

Ezekiel 12 9 Word analysis

• Son of man (בֶן־אָדָם, ben-ʾāḏām): This is God's frequent and distinct address to Ezekiel, emphasizing his humanity and mortality even as he carries a divine message. It highlights his identification with the very people he is prophesying to, rather than elevating him above them.
• has not (הֲלֹא, hăloʾ): This interrogative particle with a negative carries the force of expecting an affirmative answer. It implies certainty that the question will be asked, indicating God's foreknowledge of the people's lack of understanding and their tendency to question His messengers.
• the house of Israel (בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, bêṯ yiśrāʾēl): Refers to the collective covenant community, the chosen nation of God. Even in exile and rebellion, they are still identified by their divine covenant.
• the rebellious house (בֵּית הַמֶּרִי, bêṯ hammerî): A damning epithet frequently applied to Israel in Ezekiel (e.g., 2:5, 3:9), underscoring their chronic spiritual stubbornness, obstinacy, and deep-seated defiance against God's commands and prophetic words. It reveals their intrinsic spiritual condition.
• said to you (אָמְרוּ אֵלֶיךָ, ʾāmrû ʾēleyḵā): Signifies direct speech and a confrontation with Ezekiel, the bearer of the message. It means their questioning is personal and challenging.
• 'What are you doing?' (מָה אַתָּה עֹשֶׂה, māh ʾattâ ʿōśeh): This is more than mere curiosity. In this context, it often implies confusion, skepticism, scorn, or even annoyance, indicating their inability or unwillingness to discern the prophetic significance of Ezekiel's actions. It signifies spiritual blindness and a resistant heart.

Words-group by words-group analysis

• "Son of man, has not... said to you": This phrase encapsulates God's absolute foreknowledge. He knows the spiritual state of His people and anticipates their direct challenge to His prophet. It prepares Ezekiel, and the reader, for the resistance he will encounter.
• "the house of Israel, the rebellious house": This juxtaposition is significant. It shows God acknowledging His chosen people ("house of Israel") while simultaneously condemning their inherent spiritual disposition ("the rebellious house"). Their identity in God's covenant does not negate their constant defiance.
• "What are you doing?": This simple question from the people lays bare their spiritual opacity. Despite witnessing compelling symbolic acts, their primary reaction is confusion and challenge, demonstrating their refusal to see God's message in their midst, leading them to be unprepared for the divine interpretation that follows.

Ezekiel 12 9 Bonus section

The pattern of "what are you doing?" followed by God's explanation is a common rhetorical device in prophetic literature, especially in Ezekiel. It strategically grabs the audience's attention through enigmatic actions, eliciting their confused inquiry, before God directly intervenes to provide the profound, often unwelcome, meaning. This highlights the pedagogical approach of God through His prophets: a visible sign leading to verbal clarification, designed to leave no doubt about the divine message. It also underscores the weight of the prophetic office, as the prophet often had to endure public ridicule or misunderstanding while performing these divinely commanded, sometimes bizarre, acts, only to later be vindicated by the word of the Lord.

Ezekiel 12 9 Commentary

Ezekiel 12:9 serves as a pivot point in God's interaction with His exiled people. Prior to this, Ezekiel had performed vivid and unsettling symbolic actions meant to visually impress upon the onlookers the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the subsequent exile of King Zedekiah. The people's inevitable question, "What are you doing?", anticipated and relayed by God to Ezekiel, reveals the core issue: spiritual blindness and deep-seated rebellion. Their query isn't a sincere search for truth but a challenge born out of a refusal to believe the uncomfortable reality God was portraying. It highlights their dullness to divine messages, a characteristic pervasive throughout Israel's history. God foreknows this defiant curiosity, thereby setting the stage for the direct and unambiguous explanation of the signs that immediately follows in the subsequent verses (12:10ff). This process demonstrates God's persistent communication even to a stiff-necked people, using both dramatic actions and explicit words to ensure they are without excuse concerning His righteous judgment. It underscores that God, though provoked, tirelessly seeks to make His will known, even if it entails conveying devastating news through unconventional means.