Ezekiel 3:5-7

3:5 For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech ¹  and difficult language, ²  but ³  to the house of Israel – 3:6 not to many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand ⁴  – surely if ⁵  I had sent you to them, they would listen to you! 3:7 But the house of Israel is unwilling to listen to you, ⁶  because they are not willing to listen to me, ⁷  for the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. ⁸ 

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¹ tn Heb “deep of lip” (in the sense of incomprehensible).

² tn Heb “heavy of tongue.” Similar language occurs in Exod 4:10; Isa 33:19.

³ tn The conjunction “but” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied from the context.

⁴ tn Heb “hear.”

⁵ tc The MT reads “if not” but most ancient versions translate only “if.” The expression occurs with this sense in Isa 5:9; 14:24. See also Ezek 34:8; 36:5; 38:19.

⁶ sn Moses (Exod 3:19) and Isaiah (Isa 6:9-10) were also told that their messages would not be received.

⁷ sn A similar description of Israel’s disobedience is given in 1 Sam 8:7.

⁸ tn Heb “hard of forehead and stiff of heart.”