Ezekiel 3:11

And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) Get thee to them of the captivity.—Ezekiel’s mission is now made more definite. In Ezekiel 3:10 he has been told in plain terms what had already been symbolically conveyed under the figure of the roll, and now he is further informed that his immediate mission to the house of Israel is limited to that part of it which, like himself, was already in captivity. At this time, and for several years to come, this was a comparatively small part of the whole nation; but before Ezekiel’s ministrations were finished it embraced the mass of them. (See Introd., III.) It is noticeable that God directs him to go, not to My, but to thy people; just as in Ezekiel 2:3 He speaks of them as heathen, so here He refuses to recognise them in their present state as really His people. (Comp. Exodus 32:7; Ezekiel 33:2; Ezekiel 33:12; Ezekiel 33:17; Daniel 9:24; Daniel 10:14.) At the same time, there is thus indirectly suggested to the prophet a reminder that he is himself one of the same people, and needs therefore to be on his guard against the sin and obduracy which characterise them.

Benson Commentary

Ezekiel 3:11-13. Go to them of the captivity — Namely, those made captives with thyself in the reign of King Jehoiachin. Then the spirit took me up — Carried me from the place where I was before, when I saw the vision mentioned Ezekiel 1:3-4, to my countrymen and fellow-captives. And I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing — Emblematical, probably, of the great commotions and troubles he was to foretel, and which were to ensue. Or he means a great sound, arising from many articulate voices joined together, and pronouncing the following words: Blessed be the glory of the Lord — Praised be the gloriously holy and just God, or adored be the displays of his glory in all his dispensations. This sound seems to have been that of a chorus of angels, approving of and celebrating the judgments of God; from his place — “Whatever place God honours with his especial presence is equivalent to his temple, and there the angels always attend upon his Divine Majesty to give him the honour due unto his name: see Genesis 28:13-19. The words imply, that though God should forsake his temple, and destroy the place that was called by his name, yet his presence would make a temple of every place, and multitudes of the heavenly host would always be ready to do him service.” Also the noise of the wings of the living creatures, and of the wheels over against them —

To signify that both angels and all inferior instruments were busy at work to execute judgment according to their commission; and that the wheels of providence moved in concert with the wings of the living creatures, or the efforts of angels, to accomplish the divine purposes.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:1-11 Ezekiel was to receive the truths of God as the food for his soul, and to feed upon them by faith, and he would be strengthened. Gracious souls can receive those truths of God with delight, which speak terror to the wicked. He must speak all that, and that only, which God spake to him. How can we better speak God's mind than with his words? If disappointed as to his people, he must not be offended. The Ninevites were wrought upon by Jonah's preaching, when Israel was unhumbled and unreformed. We must leave this unto the Divine sovereignty, and say, Lord, thy judgments are a great deep. They will not regard the word of the prophet, for they will not regard the rod of God. Christ promises to strengthen him. He must continue earnest in preaching, whatever the success might be.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thy people - God's people.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. thy people—who ought to be better disposed to hearken to thee, their fellow countryman, than hadst thou been a foreigner (Eze 3:5, 6).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Ezekiel 3:4.

To them of the captivity; of the first captivity under Jeconiah’s reign, who succeeded his father Jehoiakim, slain for his conspiracy with Egypt against Nebuchadnezzar, as 2 Kings 24:1,6,7. These are those good figs, Jeremiah 24:5-7, of whom such good is spoken, and to whom those promises are made.

Thy people; Heb. the sons of thy people. Some will have God speaking here of this people as no more his, but I think it rather is to be interpreted of some that were amidst them who were disowned of God, and were now but children or sons of the people, the apostate idolaters and debauched sinners, which might possibly have embraced the conqueror’s religion and manners.

Speak unto them: here again the command is repeated and doubled.

Thus saith the Lord: see Ezekiel 2:4,5.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And go, get thee to them of the captivity,.... Not in the times of Hoshea king of Israel, by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, for these were placed in the cities of the Medes, 2 Kings 17:6; but in the times of Jeconiah king of Judah, Ezekiel 1:2;

unto the children of thy people; the Jews, which were in the land of Chaldea:

and speak unto them, and tell them: the words the Lord spoke to him:

thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: See Gill on Ezekiel 2:5.

Geneva Study Bible

And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 11. - Get thee to them of the Captivity, etc. In Ezekiel 2:3 and Ezekiel 3:1, 4 the mission had been to "the house of Israel" generally; now it is specialized. He is sent "to them of the Captivity." They are the rebellious house. There is an obvious significance in the phrase, "thy people." Jehovah can no longer recognize them as his. The words of Ezekiel 2:7 are repeated. Here also, even among the exiles, who were better than those that remained in Judah, he was to expect partial failure, but he was not, on that account, to shirk the completion of his task. Thus saith the Lord God; Adonai Jehovah, as in Ezekiel 2:4. Ezekiel 3:11

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

After the Lord had pointed out to the prophet the difficulties of the call laid upon him, He prepared him for the performance of his office, by inspiring him with the divine word which he is to announce. - Ezekiel 2:8. And thou, son of man, hear what I say to thee, Be not stiff-necked like the stiff-necked race; open thy mouth, and eat what I give unto thee. Ezekiel 2:9. Then I saw, and, lo, a hand outstretched towards me; and, lo, in the same a roll of a book. Ezekiel 2:10. And He spread it out before me; the same was written upon the front and back: and there were written upon it lamentations, and sighing, and woe. Ezekiel 3:1. And He said to me: Son of man, what thou findest eat; eat the roll, and go and speak to the house of Israel. Ezekiel 3:2. Then opened I my mouth, and He gave me this roll to eat. Ezekiel 3:3. And said to me: Son of man, feed thy belly, and fill thy body with this roll which I give thee. And I ate it, and it was in my mouth as honey and sweetness. - The prophet is to announce to the people of Israel only that which the Lord inspires him to announce. This thought is embodied in symbol, in such a way that an outstretched hand reaches to him a book, which he is to swallow, and which also, at God's command, he does swallow; cf. Revelation 10:9. This roll was inscribed on both sides with lamentations, sighing, and woe (הי is either abbreviated from נהי, not equals אי, or as Ewald, 101c, thinks, is only a more distinct form of הוי or הו). The meaning is not, that upon the roll was inscribed a multitude of mournful expressions of every kind, but that there was written upon it all that the prophet was to announce, and what we now read in his book. These contents were of a mournful nature, for they related to the destruction of the kingdom, the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple. That Ezekiel may look over the contents, the roll is spread out before his eyes, and then handed to him to be eaten, with the words, "Go and speak to the children of Israel," i.e., announce to the children of Israel what you have received into yourself, or as it is termed in Ezekiel 3:4, דּברי, "my words." The words in Ezekiel 3:3 were spoken by God while handing to the prophet the roll to be eaten. He is not merely to eat, i.e., take it into his mouth, but he is to fill his body and belly therewith, i.e., he is to receive into his innermost being the word of God presented to him, to change it, as it were, into sap and blood. Whilst eating it, it was sweet in his mouth. The sweet taste must not, with Kliefoth, be explained away into a sweet "after-taste," and made to bear this reference, that the destruction of Jerusalem would be followed by a more glorious restoration. The roll, inscribed with lamentation, sorrow, and woe, tasted to him sweetly, because its contents was God's word, which sufficed for the joy and gladness of his heart (Jeremiah 15:16); for it is "infinitely sweet and lovely to be the organ and spokesman of the Omnipotent," and even the most painful of divine truths possess to a spiritually-minded man a joyful and quickening side (Hengstenberg on Revelation 10:9). To this it is added, that the divine penal judgments reveal not only the holiness and righteousness of God, but also prepare the way for the revelation of salvation, and minister to the saving of the soul.