What Does Ezekiel 33:31 Mean?
They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear and respond to your words, but they will not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart walks after their cut-off gain.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.THE KEY
The same verb marks both the words they refuse to enact and the affection they actively perform: the issue is not a lack of action, but where action goes.
THE MEANING
The words can be heard clearly and still remain undone. The mouth may perform affection while the heart moves after gain. The verse names the split between what sounds devoted and what actually directs a person’s life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that speaking warmly about what is true proves the heart is following it dissolves here; the verse makes the heart’s direction and enacted response visible.
THE ROOT
יַעֲשׂוּ
yaʿăśû
GROWS FROM
עשה
do, make, bring about
“do / do them; shew much love” in this verse is yaʿăśû. The same verb appears in both clauses: they do not do the words, yet they are doing something with their mouths. English renders the second use as “shew,” so the shared action is easy to miss: their effort is present, but it goes into affectionate performance instead of lived response.
ALSO GROWS
yaʿăśû: they do
יַעֲשׂוּ
This is what the verse says they do not do with the words they hear.
ʿōśîm: they are doing or making
עֹשִׂים
The same verb describes what they actively produce with their mouths.
maʿăśeh: deed, work, what is done
מַעֲשֶׂה
This noun from the same root brings the contrast into view: heard words remain without corresponding deeds.
עֲגָבִים
ʿăḡāḇîm
GROWS FROM
עגב
lust after, desire; amorous affection or its expression
The word translated “love” carries the shade of desire and amorous affection. The next verse uses it again of a beautiful love song, placing their response in the register of attractive speech while the heart follows profit.
ALSO GROWS
taʿăgaḇ: she lusted or doted
תַּעְגַּב
This form in Ezekiel 23:5 uses the same root for desire directed toward lovers, giving the mouth’s “love” a desirous shade.
ʿăḡāḇîm: amorous expressions; a love song
עֲגָבִים
The expression returns in the next verse’s description of a lovely song, linking their words with something performed and admired.
בִצְעָם
biṣʿām
GROWS FROM
בצע
cut or break off; acquire gain or profit
“cut-off gain” in this verse is biṣʿām. The heart’s destination is concrete gain, not simply an unnamed craving. This root ranges from cutting or breaking off to profit, giving the word for covetousness a harder edge of acquisition.
ALSO GROWS
beṣaʿ: gain, profit
בֶּצַע
This noun names the gain the heart pursues as an actual yield.
bāṣaʿ: to gain or take profit; to cut off
בָּצַע
The verb carries the root’s range into action, sharpening the contrast between words left undone and gain actively pursued.
THE PATTERN
A person’s direction is disclosed by what they enact and pursue, not by how warmly they speak.
And the Lord says, Because this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips give me weight, but their heart has gone far from me, and their awe of me is a command of men, trained.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.THE THREAD
And look, you are to them as a love song sung by one with a pleasant voice, who strikes the strings well; for they hear and respond to your words, but they do not do them.The same Hebrew root behind “love” returns in “a very lovely song,” making their response sound like an aesthetic performance. The verse repeats that they hear the words but do not do them, showing how admiration can coexist with nonresponse.
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