Ezekiel 3:11

Eze 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.

Ver. 11. Go, get thee to them of the captivity.] The fruit whereof they have lost in great part, because so little amended thereby.

Unto thy people.] For I can scarce find in my heart to own them. So Exo 32:7. God fathers that rebellious people upon Moses.

Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear,] q.d., Let them choose; and if they have a mind to it, be miserable by their own election. See Eze 2:5.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 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 Eze 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 Gen 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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:11 whether they listen to you or not: The Lord’s message was not subject to debate, negotiation, or rejection; things would happen as he said.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Now it is added, that he may go and proceed to the captivity, to the children of his own people We see, then, that God does not regard the Prophet so much as the Israelites, because they had never willingly yielded to the Prophet when he brought a message by no means pleasing. For nothing could be more sad and hateful to them than to hear threats and curses. Because, then, they had never willingly bent to obedience, he is sent with a testimony that he had learnt what he uttered in God’s school; then that he had so learnt from God, that he adds nothing of his own; lastly, that he so speaks, that; the obstinacy of the people is not overcome: Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, do thou nevertheless go forward Wherefore? Thou shalt say, thus saith the Lord. We have already explained the meaning of this phrase, namely, where we are persuaded that our labor is pleasing to God, although it be useless to men, yet this ought to suffice us, that God has sent us. Then he wishes to try our constancy, lest when we see ourselves laboring in vain, we should cease on that account, instead of being prepared to obey, whatever may happen.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(11) Get thee to them of the captivity.—Ezekiel’s mission is now made more definite. In Eze_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 Eze_2:3 He speaks of them as heathen, so here He refuses to recognise them in their present state as really His people. (Comp. Exo_32:7; Eze_33:2; Eze_33:12; Eze_33:17; Dan_9:24; Dan_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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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, Kg2 17:6; but in the times of Jeconiah king of Judah, Eze 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 Eze 2:5.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Thy people - God’s people.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

See Eze 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 2Ki 24:1,6,7. These are those good figs, Jer 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 Eze 2:4,5.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Get thee to them of the Captivity, etc. in Eze_2:3 and Eze_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 Eze_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 Eze_2:4.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Captivity - Of the first captivity under Jeconiah's reign, who succeeded his father Jehoiakim, slain for his conspiracy with Egypt against Nebuchadnezzar.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

So said the Lord God this prophecy, to say it to you.

whether they will listen or they will forbear you say it to them.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.