Ezekiel 2:6

2:6 But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words – even though briers 1  and thorns 2  surround you and you live among scorpions – do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, 3  for they are a rebellious house!

Ezekiel 5:7

5:7 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you are more arrogant 4  than the nations around you, 5  you have not followed my statutes and have not carried out my regulations. You have not even 6  carried out the regulations of the nations around you!

1 tn The Hebrew term occurs only here in the OT.

2 tn The Hebrew term is found elsewhere in the OT only in Ezek 28:24.

sn Here thorns may be a figure for hostility (Ezek 28:24; Mic 7:4).

3 tn Heb “of their faces.”

4 tn Traditionally this difficult form has been derived from a hypothetical root הָמוֹן (hamon), supposedly meaning “be in tumult/uproar,” but such a verb occurs nowhere else. It is more likely that it is to be derived from a root מָנוֹן (manon), meaning “disdain” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:52). A derivative from this root is used in Prov 29:21 of a rebellious servant. See HALOT 600 s.v. מָנוֹן.

5 sn You are more arrogant than the nations around you. Israel is accused of being worse than the nations in Ezek 16:27; 2 Kgs 21:11; Jer 2:11.

6 tc Some Hebrew mss and the Syriac omit the words “not even.” In this case they are being accused of following the practices of the surrounding nations. See Ezek 11:12.