Ezekiel 2:4

For [they are] impudent children,.... "Hard of face" (w); as is commonly said of impudent persons, that they are brasen faced; they had a whore's forehead, and refused to be ashamed, and made their

For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. They are impudent - literally, hard-faced (Ezekiel 3:7; Ezekiel 3:9).

Impudent children; shameless, who cannot blush, else they could never have transgressed so highly, constantly, and obstinately. Sodom in her day did not hide her sin, nor blush; so did the Jews in Isaiah’ s times, so they did to the days of their captivity, and under the captivity. Stiffhearted; hard-hearted, resolute, and strongly bent to do whatever liked them. Of disposition that relenteth not, but rather more confidently going on in evil. I, who appeared in so much glory, and on the throne, send thee unto them; give thee authority that thou mayst, and I give thee charge that thou must, go to them, and say unto them what I shall say unto thee. They will scoff and persecute, but I command; and remember whom thou hast seen, who is with thee. Thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; be sure to tell them who sends thee, read the commission, Thus saith, & c.

Ezekiel 2:4 For [they are] impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.Ver. 4. For they are impudent children.] Heb., Hard of face. Sin hath added such an impudence in their faces, that they can blush no more than a sackbut. Os tuum ferreum, saith Cicero to Piso, that brazen face of thine; and Durus hic vultus lachrimare nescit, thou canst not blush, much less bleed, for thine offences, saith Seneca to one. And stiff hearted.] Duri cordes, incurvi cervicati, quosque citius fregeris quam flexeris, such as will sooner break than bend. Many of our hearers, alas! are no better. We do even wash a tile sheard, draw water with a sieve, &c. I do send thee unto them.] About hard service; sed curare exegeris, non curationem, It is the care, and not the cure, of the charge that is charged upon thee. Thou shalt say unto them.] Proficiscere et prophetato. Thou shalt be as my mouth. Bernard.

(4) Impudent children.—Literally, as in margin, hard of face. The epithet is repeated in Ezekiel 3:7, and it is with reference to this that in Ezekiel 3:7-8 the prophet’s face is to be made strong, and his forehead “harder than flint.” “The Lord God” is in the original “the Lord Jehovah,” the second name taking the pointing of, and being translated “God,” because of the word “Lord” preceding.

Verse 4. Thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord] Let them know that what thou hast to declare is the message of the LORD, that they may receive it with reverence. Every preacher of God's word should take heed that it is God's message he delivers to the people. Let him not suppose, because it is according to his own creed or confession of faith, that therefore it is God's word. False doctrines and fallacies without end are foisted on the world in this way. Bring the creed first to the Word of God, and scrupulously try whether it be right; and when this is done, leave it where you please; take the Bible, and warn them from God's word recorded there.

4. for they are impudent children] Rather, and the children are impudent and stiffhearted, to whom I send thee. The “children” are the present generation, who are like their fathers. Outwardly they are “impudent,” lit. hard in face, resolute and whose eyes do not quail before one that opposes them; and within they are strong of heart, unyielding and stubborn in will and feeling. The word here used of the face is said of the heart, ch. Ezekiel 3:7, and the term applied to the heart is said of the face and forehead, ch. Ezekiel 3:8. More often the term used of the face is applied to the neck, “stiffnecked” (Exodus 33:3). For the idea comp. Isaiah 48:4, “I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass.” Thus saith the Lord God] lit. the Lord Jehovah. The word “Jehovah” was pronounced Adonai, “Lord,” and when Adonai, Lord, actually stood in the text, Jehovah was pronounced God, Elohim. In A.V. “God” is then printed in small capitals. This is what the prophet shall say on his part: “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah;” he shall announce himself a prophet from Jehovah, bearing his word. And the people shall eventually know that a prophet has been among them (Ezekiel 2:5). By various omissions LXX. reads Ezekiel 2:3-4 in a shorter form: Son of man I send thee to the house of Israel, who provoke me; who have provoked me they and their fathers unto this day, Ezekiel 2:4 and thou shalt say unto them, &c. This reading certainly reflects a more natural Hebrew sentence than our present text.

4. For they are impudent children — Literally, And the children are stiff-faced and stiff-hearted. “The children of Israel are first described as rebellious heathen (Ezekiel 2:3), then as heartless children.” — Curry.