What Does Ezekiel 3:7 Mean in the King James?
But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
A message can reach the ear and still be refused; the fracture is between hearing and response.
THE MEANING
You can hear a word without giving it a response: the refusal is in the will, not in the sound reaching you. The image of a strong forehead and hard heart describes resistance both at the surface and at the center.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that hearing a message means you have received it: the ear can register sound while the will stays closed.
THE ROOT
לִשְׁמֹעַ
lishmoa
GROWS FROM
שמע
shama
Hear, listen, heed; where response is implied, hear and respond.
“hearken” in this verse is lishmoa. The verse does not describe a failure of sound to reach its hearers: they refuse to hear. The root holds hearing and heeding close together, making the gap between receiving a word and responding to it visible.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear; heed.
שְׁמַע
The imperative carries listening toward response, the very movement withheld in this verse.
shemuah: A report, something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
A message can arrive as something heard while still meeting refusal.
קְשֵׁי־לֵב
qeshei-lev
GROWS FROM
קשה
qashah
Be hard, difficult, or severe.
“hardhearted” in this verse is qeshei-lev. The Hebrew describes a heart that is hard, making inward resistance part of the verse’s image. Beside the strong forehead, it shows refusal held both at the surface and at the center.
ALSO GROWS
qasheh: Hard, difficult, or severe.
קָשֶׁה
The same word-family makes resistance something with a texture, not just an attitude.
hiqshah: Make hard; harden.
הִקְשָׁה
This branch gives the heart’s condition the force of resistance that holds its shape against what reaches it.
חִזְקֵי־מֵצַח
chizqei-metsach
GROWS FROM
חזק
chazaq
Be strong, firm, or prevail.
“Impudent” captures defiance, while the Hebrew keeps the image bodily: a strong forehead set against what comes toward it. Beside the hard heart, this is resistance at the face and at the center.
ALSO GROWS
chazaq: Strong, firm.
חָזָק
It makes clear that the forehead image is one of strength turned into resistance.
chizzeq: Strengthen; make firm.
חִזֵּק
The branch echoes the firmness that keeps the word from moving inward.
THE PATTERN
A word can reach the hearer while the will refuses its answer, so hearing alone does not complete reception.
To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.THE THREAD
And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.The same Hebrew root שָׁמַע (shama, hear or respond) appears as “hear” in this verse and “hearken” in 3:7. Together, the verses expose the fracture: the word is present, while the response can still be withheld.
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