Ezekiel 3:5 kjv
For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;
Ezekiel 3:5 nkjv
For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel,
Ezekiel 3:5 niv
You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language, but to the people of Israel?
Ezekiel 3:5 esv
For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel ?
Ezekiel 3:5 nlt
I am not sending you to a foreign people whose language you cannot understand.
Ezekiel 3 5 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Jer 1:7-8 | "Do not say, 'I am only a youth,' for to all to whom I send you, you shall go... Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you..." | Prophet's commission; assurance against fear of audience |
| Isa 6:9-10 | "Go, and say to this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand...'" | Israel's spiritual blindness/deafness foretold |
| Jer 7:26 | "Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck." | Israel's historical stubbornness |
| Acts 7:51 | "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you." | Israel's persistent resistance to God's messengers |
| Zech 7:11-12 | "But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. They made their hearts like flint..." | Deliberate refusal to hear God's word |
| Deut 9:7 | "Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt..." | Israel's history of rebellion |
| Neh 9:16-17 | "But they and our fathers acted proudly and stiffened their neck... and would not obey... They refused to obey and did not remember your wonders..." | Fathers' rebellion echoed by later generations |
| Mt 23:37 | "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children..." | Israel's rejection of divine messengers, including Christ |
| Ezek 3:6-7 | "...for you are not sent to many peoples of foreign speech and hard language... but the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you..." | Clarification that Israel's rejection is willful, not linguistic |
| Isa 30:9-10 | "...a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord; who say to the seers, "Do not see," and to the prophets, "Do not prophesy..." | Demand for palatable, unchallenging messages |
| Amos 7:12-13 | "And Amaziah said to Amos, 'O seers, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel..." | Rejection and silencing of true prophets |
| Hos 4:6 | "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me." | Rejection of divine truth leading to judgment |
| Jer 1:18-19 | "For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city... against the whole land, against the kings of Judah... They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail..." | God's preparation of prophet for resistance |
| John 3:19 | "And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil." | Choosing darkness despite clarity of truth |
| Deut 30:11-14 | "For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off... But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart..." | Accessibility of God's word to Israel |
| 1 Cor 14:10-11 | "There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner..." | General principle of linguistic barriers (contrast) |
| Acts 2:6 | "And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language." | Overcoming language barriers by divine means (contrast) |
| Gen 11:7-8 | "Come, let us go down and confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord dispersed them from there..." | Confusion of tongues (contrast with Israel's unity of language) |
| Eze 2:3-4 | "Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me... The children are impudent and stubborn." | Immediate context of Israel's rebellious nature |
| Isa 53:1 | "Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" | Unbelief in the face of revealed truth |
| Prov 1:24-25 | "Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel..." | Rejection of divine wisdom |
Ezekiel 3 verses
Ezekiel 3 5 Meaning
Ezekiel 3:5 states that the prophet is not sent to a people whose language is unintelligible, but rather to the people of Israel, who speak his tongue. This clarifies that any resistance Ezekiel encounters will stem from the "house of Israel's" spiritual stubbornness and hardened hearts, not from a linguistic barrier or cultural incomprehension. Their rebellion is therefore a willful disobedience, leaving them without excuse for rejecting God's clear message.
Ezekiel 3 5 Context
Ezekiel 3 continues the account of the prophet's divine commission, emphasizing his role as a watchman to the exiled people of Judah. Chapters 2 and 3 describe Ezekiel's profound encounter with God, culminating in the command to speak to Israel. Immediately preceding verse 5, Ezekiel is told by the divine voice (Eze 2:3-4) that he is being sent to a rebellious nation, characterized by their "impudent" faces and "stubborn" hearts. Verse 5 clarifies the nature of this challenge: the issue is not a communication barrier, such as an unknown tongue or difficult foreign customs. Rather, Ezekiel's audience, "the house of Israel," shares his language and cultural understanding. This means their impending rejection of his prophetic message is a deliberate act of rebellion against God, making their guilt undeniably their own and without linguistic excuse.
Ezekiel 3 5 Word analysis
- For you are not sent: (Hebrew: Kî lōʾ šālûaḥ) The Hebrew Kî here functions to introduce a contrast or explanation, signifying "indeed," "for," or "because." Lōʾ šālûaḥ literally "not sent." This negation serves to highlight what the nature of the mission is not, setting up a clear distinction from a mission that would be hindered by language. It pre-empts an anticipated difficulty.
- to a people of foreign speech: (Hebrew: ʾel-ʿam nikhdāl lišôn)
- ʿam: Refers to a "people" or "nation."
- nikhdāl lišôn: This phrase literally means "of deep/obscure language" or "stammering of tongue." Nikhdāl comes from a root suggesting to hold back, to draw off, or to be isolated/estranged. It describes language that is foreign, incomprehensible, or stammering, making communication genuinely difficult. It is typically applied to non-Israelite nations who do not speak Hebrew.
- and a hard language: (Hebrew: waqašê lāšôn)
- wa: The conjunction "and."
- qašê lāšôn: Literally "hard of tongue." Qašê means difficult, harsh, severe, or stubborn. When paired with lišôn (tongue/language), it strongly emphasizes a language that is challenging to comprehend due to its foreign nature, being guttural or unfamiliar. This reinforces the "foreign speech" concept. Together, these two phrases ("foreign speech" and "hard language") are a hendiadys, meaning two words used to express one concept for emphasis – the concept of an utterly unintelligible language.
- but to the house of Israel: (Hebrew: kî ʾel-bêṯ yiśrāʾēl)
- kî: Here, "but" or "rather." It powerfully introduces the contrast to the previous negative statement.
- ʾel-bêṯ yiśrāʾēl: Literally "to the house of Israel." This is a collective designation for the covenant people of God, referring to the entire community of Jacob's descendants. In Ezekiel's time, this refers primarily to the exiles in Babylon and the remnant still in Judah. It emphasizes that Ezekiel is being sent to his own people, those with whom he shares language, history, and cultural understanding, making their subsequent rejection of the message without linguistic excuse. Their shared heritage and tongue remove any practical barrier to communication.
Ezekiel 3 5 Bonus section
This verse implicitly highlights the unique status and responsibility of the covenant people. While God may, at times, send prophets to foreign nations (e.g., Jonah to Nineveh), the default understanding is that communication with such groups would be fraught with linguistic and cultural challenges. The text goes out of its way to negate this as a problem for Ezekiel's mission. This subtle distinction sets a crucial context for interpreting Israel's persistent rebellion; their sin is not one of ignorance due to an alien tongue, but one of deliberate choice against readily accessible truth. This distinction has profound implications for understanding God's covenant relationship with Israel, where clear communication places a heavier burden of response on them.
Ezekiel 3 5 Commentary
Ezekiel 3:5 serves as a profound statement regarding the clarity and accountability of God's prophetic word. By specifying that Ezekiel is not sent to a people of foreign speech and difficult language, the divine commission directly eliminates any potential linguistic or cultural barrier as an excuse for the message's rejection. This prepares Ezekiel for the true nature of his audience's resistance. The "house of Israel," God's covenant people, speaks Ezekiel's tongue (Hebrew) and shares a common history and religious framework. Therefore, their refusal to listen will be a willful act of rebellion, a spiritual deafness stemming from hardened hearts, rather than a lack of comprehension. This understanding elevates the culpability of Israel, as they will deliberately close their ears to a message delivered clearly in their own language by one of their own. It underscores that God makes His truth accessible to His chosen people, intensifying the gravity of their disobedience and setting the stage for the severe judgments to follow. This verse teaches us that where clarity is present, accountability is heightened.