:
1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. 2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. 4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. 5 For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; 6 Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. 7 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. 8 Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. 9 As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 10 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. 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. 12 Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place. 13 I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. 14 So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. 15 Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days. 16 And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul. 22 And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. 23 Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face. 24 Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house. 25 But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them: 26 And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
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[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:1
In the scroll of Ezekiel, who is truly a type of the Savior, no other prophet (I mean of major prophets) is called “Son of man.” The title is given strictly to Ezekiel. In Ezekiel after almost every twenty or thirty verses it says regularly, “the word of the Lord came to the prophet Ezekiel.” Someone may ask, “Why is that so frequently repeated in the prophecy?” Because the Holy Spirit descended on the prophet but again withdrew from him. Whenever it says “the word came,” it indicates that the Holy Spirit departed from him and came back again to him.

Source: HOMILIES ON Mark 75 (MK 1:1-12)
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:1
Unless we eat the open book first, we cannot teach the children of Israel.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.1
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:1
(Chapter III, Verse 1) Eat this scroll, and go to the sons of Israel. Unless we eat the open scroll beforehand, we cannot teach the sons of Israel. Finally, even David, after he obtained mercy, said: I will teach the wicked your ways, and the impious will turn to you (Psalm 50:15).

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:1
In saying that without holy Scripture we shall be exhausted by hunger and thirst, he shows that its words are our food and drink. But it must be observed that they are sometimes food, sometimes drink. For in more obscure matters that cannot be comprehended unless they are explained, holy Scripture is our food, because whatever is expounded that it may be understood is as if chewed that it may be swallowed. But in plainer sayings it is drink. For we do not swallow drink by chewing. Therefore we drink plainer statutes because we attempt to understand them without exposition.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:10.3
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:2
With an open mouth the Lord has provided bread, so that the beginnings of his will may be in us and that we may reach the perfection of blessedness that comes from God.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.2-3
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:2
(Verse 2.) And I opened my mouth, and he fed me with that scroll. And he said to me: Son of man. I, he said, opened my mouth, because I was told: Open your mouth, and eat. And, with my mouth open, the Lord bestowed food; so that the beginnings of the will are in us, and we attain the perfection of blessedness from the Lord. For it is not of the one willing, nor of the one running, but of the merciful God (Rom. IX, 16). However, both to will and to run is of our own free will. For He opened, they translated it as 'opened,' so that God may be understood, because He Himself both opened the mouth of the prophet and fed him.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:2
Whenever almighty God offers his hand to the mouth of our hearts, he invariably opens our understanding and instills the food of holy Scripture into our senses.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:10.5
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:3
The eating of the book is the initial reading and the simple narrative. But when we have done some hard meditating on it and when we have laid it in the treasure store of the memory, our belly is spiritually filled and our inward parts are satiated, so that like the apostle Paul they are filled with compassion.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.3
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:3
(Verse 3.) Your stomach will eat; and your bowels will be filled with that volume which I give to you. LXX: Your mouth will eat, and your stomach will be filled with that chapter given to you. The beginning of the reading, and of a simple story, is the essence of this volume. But when we have stored the book of the Lord in the treasure of our memory through constant meditation, our spiritual stomach is filled, and our bowels are satisfied, so that we may have, with the Apostle Paul, the bowels of mercy (Colossians 3), and that stomach may be filled of which Jeremiah speaks: My bowels, my bowels, I am pained at my very heart: my heart maketh a noise in me (Jeremiah 4).


And I ate it, and it was in my mouth like sweet honey. David also speaks: How sweet are your words to my throat, sweeter than honey to my mouth (Psalm 118:103). And elsewhere: The judgments of the Lord are true, desirable more than gold and many precious stones; and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb (Psalm 19:10, 11). And Samson found honeycomb in the mouth of a lion (Judges 14); and after the resurrection, the Lord ate a piece of fish and honeycomb (Luke 24). And in Proverbs it is said about the bee, although there are no Hebrew examples of this: Go to the bee, and learn how diligent she is and how she makes her work clean: by whose labors kings and ignorant people abuse their health (Prov. 6:8, LXX version): just as Moses and the prophets, and the evangelists and the apostles did; so that whoever becomes a king, whose heart is in the hand of God, may enjoy sweet foods. But whoever is simple and without the cunning of the serpent has the innocence of doves, let them believe in simple faith and be saved: because there are snares everywhere, and often the Devil disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 2): and honey drips from the lips of a prostituted woman, promising sweetness but spreading poison (Prov. 5).

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Ezekiel 3:3
Just as he contemplated that vision in spirit, so he now felt its taste in spirit.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3
[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Ezekiel 3:3
Honey can be understood as the explicit teaching of wisdom, whereas the comb can represent that known to be stored in the depth, as it were, of the cells. Undoubtedly both are found in the divine Scriptures. They added “to my mouth,” for they were indeed proclaiming with their mouths the wisdom that they had swallowed with their throats. The prophet Ezekiel speaks in the same way of the Lord.

Source: EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 108:103
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:3
What are the bowels of the belly if not the interior of the mind, right intention, holy desire, a will humble before God and conscientious to its neighbor?

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:10.6
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:4-5
Why should I speak of only one people? If I send you to different nations, my authority and power will still overcome every difficulty.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.5-6
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ezekiel 3:4-5
What does that show, if not that God was speaking through the prophet? Now it is we clergy who were above all terrified by the prophet’s words, that is, the leaders whom God appointed to speak to his people, and so we begin by seeing our own faces in those words. For as the reader intoned them we had a kind of mirror held up to us in which we could inspect ourselves, and inspect ourselves we did. Inspect yourselves, too, then.

Source: SERMON 17:2
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Ezekiel 3:4-5
Here he clearly shows the distinction between apostolic and prophetic labors. Prophets have committed to them the responsibility of only one race, from which they were to have arisen and whose native language they knew. Apostles … have all the nations and peoples of the world entrusted to them, according to the command of the Lord.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:4-5
In the very beginning of this command, whereby the prophet is sent to preach, the calling of the Gentiles and the banishing of the people of Israel is clearly meant.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:10.15
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:5
(V. 5) And he said to me: Son of man, go and enter (in Vulg. there is no 'and enter') the house of Israel, and speak my words to them. It is said to him: Go and enter the house of Israel, it is shown that he was not with the sinful people; although he seemed to dwell in the same place along the banks of the river Chebar. For it is written: And I was in the midst of the exile next to the river Chebar. Indeed, the prophet's conversation was separate, and he was offended by the sight of the wicked. Moses also did this (Exod. 33), setting up the tabernacle far away from the camp: and when he entered, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the entrance of the tabernacle.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:5-6
(Verse 5, 6.) For you are not being sent to the people of deep and difficult (unknown in the Vulgate) language, to the house of Israel, nor to many people of unknown language, whose language you cannot understand. And if I were to send you to them, they would listen to you. Because they do not want to come to you, you go to them. For they do not have a need for a healthy doctor, but for ones who are sick (Luke 5:31 ). Nor can you say: I cannot speak to them, because they speak a different language, and we are barbarians to each other, and we cannot understand each other's speech. What shall I speak of one people? If I were to send you to different nations, nevertheless my authority and power would conquer all difficulty. And if only the time were approaching, when I am going to send my apostles to all nations, to give thanks for the languages, so that they may preach and bring the whole world under my yoke with one faith and that the diversity of languages may be subordinate to me; it would be easier for those who are deep and high in speech to hear, and they would have nothing of the levity of the Jews, but they enter with a slow and steady step, and although the languages are unknown, the faith is familiar. And it is followed by: And if I were to send you to them, they would listen to you. Finally, he sent and all believed at the same time. Hence Paul and Barnabas speak to the Jews: It was necessary for the word of God to be preached to you, but since you did not want to receive the message, behold, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46). And concerning the centurion, it is said: I have not found such great faith in Israel (Matthew 8:10).

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:7
(Verse 7.) But the house of Israel does not want to listen to you, because they do not want to listen to me. For the entire house of Israel is stubborn and hard-hearted. Do not be dismayed, he says, if they do not want to listen to you. For this reason, they will not listen to you: because they will despise listening to me: as the Savior also said: Whoever does not receive you, does not receive me (Ibid., X, 40) . In which it is clearly shown that there is free will. And two reasons are given why they do not listen: because they are perverse in their will, and stubborn-hearted, or, as the Septuagint translates, they are contentious: and it is understood that often, when called to salvation, they did not want to listen.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:8-9
(Verse 8, 9.) Behold, I have made your face stronger than their faces, and your forehead harder than their foreheads. I have made your face like diamond and flint. Do not fear them or be afraid of their presence, for they are a rebellious house." And He said to me, "The house of Israel has a stubborn and defiant forehead, and their heart is as hard as scorpions. Therefore, I have given you an extremely firm countenance and a forehead that cannot be ashamed. From this, we learn that sometimes it is a grace of God to resist impudence, and when circumstances demand it, to confront face-to-face. This, however, is attributed so that our modesty and human decency do not fear the snares of adversaries.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:8
From this we learn now and then that it is a mark of the grace of God to resist shamelessness.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.8-10
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:8
The Lord says to the prophets that he has made their face a brazen city and a stone of adamant and an iron pillar, so that they will not be afraid of the insults of the people but by their stern composure disarm the effrontery of those who sneer at them. A finely strung mind is more readily overcome by insult than by terror.

Source: LETTER 66.6
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:8
Just as shame is laudable in a bad person, it is reprehensible in a good one. For a sinner to blush is a sign of wisdom, but for a good person to blush is a sign of foolishness.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:10.17
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:10-11
We must note that the teaching of God must first be fashioned in our heart and heard and understood carefully, and only then can it be laid before the people.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.10
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:10
(Ver. 10.) Son of man, take all my words that I speak to you, and assume them in your heart, and listen with your ears. This is the food of the book, and these are the words by which it speaks to different listeners, either with lamentations, or with a song, or with a woe to mankind. And yet it should be noted that before the words of God are to be composed, heard, and understood in our hearts more diligently, and thus proclaimed to the people.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:10-11
When the prophet is sent to admonish the exiled people, this means not only the physical exile but also what has taken place in their mind. For they had come from Jerusalem to Babylon. And what is called Jerusalem, but the vision of peace, and what is Babylon but confusion? Whoever falls from right deeds to wicked actions comes, as it were, from Jerusalem to the city of Babylon, since he descends from a good endeavor to vice. For he has abandoned the summit of good contemplation and lives in the midst of the exile of confusion.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:10.21
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:11
(Verse 11.) Go, enter into the exile (or captivity), to the sons of your people, and speak to them, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: perhaps they will listen and be still. And our Lord came to the people of the Jews, sent by the Father, to proclaim remission to the captives, and to fulfill what is written: Ascending on high, he led captivity captive: he gave gifts to men (Psalm 67:19).

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Ezekiel 3:12
Did you see how great is the holy dread in heaven and how great the arrogant presumption here below? The angels in heaven give him glory; these heretics on earth carry on meddlesome investigations. In heaven they honor and praise him; on earth we find curious busybodies. In heaven they veil their eyes; on earth the busybodies are obstinate and shamelessly try to hold their eyes fixed on his ineffable glory. Who would not groan, who would not weep for them because of this ultimate madness and folly of theirs?

Source: AGAINST THE ANOMOEANS 1:36
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:12
For the place of God is everywhere in which he finds hospitality, for surely the Son is the place of the Father as much as the Father is the place of the Son.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.12
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:12
(Verse 12). And the spirit took me, and I heard behind me a voice of a great commotion: Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place. The God of whom it is written: The Lord lifts up the meek (Psalm 146:6), he Himself lifted up the prophet, who was not in the flesh but in the spirit, and walking in the spirit, he did not fulfill the works of the flesh; for the Spirit of God was in him. Therefore, despising earthly things, he is caught up by the spirit and hears behind him the voice of a great commotion, forgetting the past and extending himself into the future, leaving the snares of his enemies behind him. We read about this in Exodus (Exod. XXIV) when Pharaoh and all his army pursued Israel, and the angel in the pillar of cloud left the front of the camp; and he came behind them, and stood all night between Israel and the Egyptians: so as to frighten the enemies, and the Israelites might hear: Blessed be the glory of the Lord who came from his place. But the place of the Lord is wherever he finds hospitality. Or rather, the Son is the place of the Father, just as the Father is the place of the Son, as the Lord and Savior says: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me (Joan. XIV, 11). This same thing also signifies Michael: Behold, the Lord shall come forth out of his place, and will come down upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be melted under him, and the valleys shall be as wax melting before the fire, and as waters that run down into a steep place (Mich. I, 3, 4). For when the Lord, the Savior, came down and set forth from the Father, the high places of the earth and the mountains were moved, and the lower parts of the valleys were melted. The place can be the glory of the Lord and the inaccessible light, of which the Apostle speaks: Who alone has immortality and inhabits unapproachable light (I Tim. VI, 16). When we recall the past judgments of the Lord, we hear the voice of a great upheaval from behind. When we ponder the future in our hearts, a voice is heard from what came before, and from what is to come.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:12
The hearts of sinners were the place of the evil spirit, but when in their anger at themselves they return to life through penitence, they become the place of the glory of the Lord. For now they turn on themselves, now with tears of repentance they censure the evils that they have committed. Therefore the blessing of glory in praise of the Lord is heard where before resounded the injury of the Creator from love of this present age. And the hearts of sinners, which before had been an alien and sinful place, now become to the Lord his dwelling place. For those who are converted from their sins to the Lord not only bewail with tears the wicked deeds they have committed but also move on to the heights, through wondrous works, so that they become sacred creatures of almighty God. They are therefore able to fly to the heights on signs and virtues, so that they abandon the earth completely, and with the gifts that they have received, they reach for the heavens through sheer desire.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:10.29
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:13
It is better and truer to have understood the voice that one has heard than one that one has seen.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.13
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:13
(Verse 13.) And the sound of the wings of the living creatures striking against one another, and the sound of the wheels following the creatures, and the sound of a great commotion. Because it is understood, 'I heard behind me the sound of a great commotion, and I heard the sound of the wings of the living creatures, and the sound of the wheels,' the Septuagint added: 'And I saw the sound of the wings of the living creatures striking against one another,' and the rest according to what is written in Exodus: 'And all the people saw the voice of God' (Exodus 20:18): so that the prophet may have heard the voice that was coming from behind, and seen what was before him. But it is better and truer to have understood a heard voice rather than a seen one, as well as the striking of wings against each other and the sound of wheels, which we mentioned above, and the great commotion which showed that God's wrath was going to come upon the people of Israel.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:13
Why is it that these winged creatures beat their wings in turn one to another? It is because all the saints by turns touch themselves with their virtues and rouse themselves to make progress through considering one another’s virtue. For all things are not given to one person lest he fall through being puffed up with pride. But to this individual is given what is not given to you, and to you is given what is denied to that person, so that while that one considers the good that you have and he has not, he sets you before himself in his thoughts; and again, whereas you see that that one has what you have not, you set yourself behind him in your thoughts, and what is written is come to pass: “In humility count others better than yourselves.”

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:10.32
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:13
The noise of the wheels is the speech of the Testaments. Then the noise of the wheels is heard after the noise of the sacred creatures’ wings because, after the speech of the preachers has been received, when the virtues of the saints fly up to pursue higher things and encourage each other on to progress, the posture of holy church is raised up, and the pages of the sacred Testaments are read throughout the world.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:10.37
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:13
There are two movements through which our hearts are moved. One movement is from fear, the other from charity; the one results from the lamentations of the penitent, the other from the fervor of those who love. Therefore the first movement happens after the word of preaching, when we bewail the sins that we have committed; after the noise of the wings and the wheels, there is the second movement, when with much weeping we seek the heavenly blessings of which we hear.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:10.39
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:14
For the hand of the Lord was on the prophet, strengthening him, so that he could take the name of a sentinel and teach what he taught.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.14-15
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:14
Ver. 14. The Spirit also lifted me up, and took me away, and I went embittered in the indignation of my spirit. LXX: And the spirit lifted me up, and took me, and I went up in the impetuosity of my spirit. After being lifted up by the spirit, and taken by it, then he went in the indignation and bitterness of his spirit, understanding the indignation of God, and what the vision signified, pondering in his mind. Whether he was carried up on the heights by the impetuosity of his own spirit, desiring to go where the Lord commanded. But by 'his spirit' we understand not the Holy Spirit, but the spirit of man, of which it is said in many places, as in Isaiah: At night my spirit rises within me, O God (Isa. XXVI, 9). And the prophet is transported (not, as some think, in spirit, but) in his own body, as we read of Habakkuk according to Theodotion (Dan. XIV).

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:14
It is sweet to be among human beings, except for one who has tasted none of the joys of heaven, because the less he understands the eternal, the more delightfully he rests amid the temporal. But if anyone has already tasted with the mouth of his heart that sweetness of heavenly rewards, those choirs of angels singing hymns, the incomprehensible vision of the holy Trinity, for him what he sees within becomes sweeter the more that all he sustains outside turns bitter.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:10.43
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:15
(Verse 15) For the hand of the Lord was with me, strengthening me. And I came to the exile at the heap of new fruits, to those who lived by the river Chebar. And I sat where they sat, and I stayed there for seven days mourning among them. LXX: And the hand of the Lord became strong upon me, and I entered into captivity exalted. And I went around the inhabitants of the river Chebar who were there, and I sat there for seven days dwelling among them. For the sense in which we translate, the translators Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion used the Hebrew words Thel Abib (): which the Seventy translated as sublime and I went around; believing it better to say something than to impose something that would cause the reader to question. However, we have learned from the Hebrews that Thel abib means, when new grains or barley are gathered, and after hunger and scarcity, before they are ground in the barn, they promise some hope of food. So too is Israel small and humble, who dwelt on the banks of the river Chobar, like one revived and rising from the earth, promising the seed of the Jewish people. But the hand of the Lord is upon the prophet, strengthening him, so that he may receive the name of a watchman, and teach what he has learned. And for seven days he moves among them, seeing all that they do, so that afterwards he may know what he should reprove. Yet he mourns, or dwells among them, seeing their wickedness, and the just judgment of God for the iniquity of their sins. For because we have said, grieving, and it is written in Hebrew Masmim (), Theodotion translated, marveling, in order to express the astonishment of the Prophets who saw their iniquities. But the second edition of Aquila, which the Hebrews call 'according to accuracy,' translated: being calm, that is, quiet, and being separate, to show that he was indeed among the captives, but separated from them in mind.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:15
Speech is freely accepted by the hearer that is offered by the preacher with compassion of spirit. Thus when iron is joined with iron, it is first dissolved so that afterwards it is in turn held by itself. But if it does not first soften, it will in no way be able to hold itself strongly. Thus the prophet first sat with the captive people and showed himself mourning in their midst, so that when by making this gracious gesture out of charity he showed himself to them as gentle, he immediately held them through the firmness of his speech.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:11.2
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) But after seven days, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel, and you will hear a word from my mouth and will declare it to them from me. The watchman, who is to be the messenger of God's words to the people, must rest for a long time and be sorrowful for the things he sees. And he must have no personal guilt for the sins he will rebuke in others.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:16
He who was to be a sentinel and to tell the words of God to the people had to be quiet for some time, and to grieve at the things he saw and have nothing in his consciousness in respect of which he would be reproved in other things.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.16-17
[AD 165] Justin Martyr on Ezekiel 3:17
We do our very best to warn them, as you do, not to be deluded, for we know full well that whoever can speak out the truth and fails to do so shall be condemned by God.

Source: Dialogue with Trypho 82
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on Ezekiel 3:17
“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the members of the house of Israel, so that you may hear from my mouth and warn them.” That means, “Look, I have made you a warning and a caution, so that you may say what I command to the just and to sinners, that the just may grow in discretion and the sinners in penitence.”

Source: FRAGMENT 8
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Ezekiel 3:17
An emperor ought not to deny freedom of speech, and a bishop ought not to conceal his opinions. Nothing so much commends an emperor to the love of his people as the encouragement of liberty in those who are subject to him by the obligation of public service. Indeed, the love of liberty or of slavery is what distinguishes good emperors from bad, while in a bishop there is nothing so perilous before God or so disgraceful before people as not to speak his thoughts freely. For it is written, “I spoke of your testimonies before kings and was not ashamed,” and in another place, “Son of man, if I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel, to the intent (it says) that if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity because you have not given him warning (that is, not told him what to guard against), his righteousness shall not be remembered, and I will require his blood at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the righteous person not to sin and he does not, then the righteous shall surely live because you have warned him, and you shall deliver your soul.”

Source: LETTER 40:2
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Ezekiel 3:17
“You must be,” he says, “like a watchman, who is placed on top of some hill, with orders to announce for himself beforehand any invasions by barbarians. And you must be set up as if on a watchtower, on the highest point of prophecy, and what you foresee, you must tell out to the people.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3
[AD 461] Leo the Great on Ezekiel 3:17
Just as the well-being of the churches causes us gratification, so we are deeply saddened whenever we learn of any liberties taken with, or acts committed against, canon law and ecclesiastical discipline. We cannot excuse ourselves to him who wished us to be on the watch if we do not repress such practices with the vigilance we should. We cannot excuse ourselves if we permit the unsullied body of the church (which we are bound to keep clean from all dirt) to be defiled by contact with those who pursue evil ends. For the very union of the members gets inharmonious elements in it through carelessness.

Source: LETTER 4
[AD 465] Maximus of Turin on Ezekiel 3:17
Sometimes when we preach, our sermons seem rather harsh to many, and what we speak about as a rule is taken by some as if it were produced from a hard attitude. For they say, “how severely and bitterly the bishop has preached!” not knowing that for bishops speaking is more a matter of obligation than of desire. Speaking, I say, is more a matter of obligation—not because the desire to preach the truth is lacking but because the silence that comes from not speaking is driven away by the punishment of the law.… This, then, is the preacher’s situation—that he should not be silent with respect to the sins of another if he wishes to avoid sinning himself, and that he should correct his brother by reproving him so that he may not destroy what is priestly in himself.… Consequently it is better to correct the sinner by rebuking him than to accept the sinner’s misdeed by keeping quiet. This is the position in which we have been placed: if we told sinners that their crimes were not their own, the guilt of their crimes would also implicate us. For this is in fact what the Lord says through the prophet: “And you, son of man, I have given you as a watchman to the house of Israel, and you shall hear the word from my mouth. When I say to the sinner, ‘You shall die the death, and you do not speak so that the impious may beware of his way, the wicked himself shall die in his own wickedness, but I will require his blood from your hand,’ ” and so forth. Clearly these words are plain and obvious. They soil the watchmen with criminal blood when he keeps silence, and they are not satisfied that the evildoers’ own evil doing condemns him unless they also incriminate the one who was unwilling to rebuke the evil in question. So, then, how great the iniquity of the sinner is! The sinner sins, and the bishop is convicted; he kills himself by his own sins, and his blood is required from the hand of the bishop.… What is a watchman? A watchman is one who, while standing (as it were) on a lofty pinnacle, looks out on the people around him so that no enemy falls unexpectedly on them but so that, as he keeps careful watch, the populace live in harmony and peace.

Source: SERMON 92:1-2
[AD 523] Philoxenus of Mabbug on Ezekiel 3:17
The words are addressed to the Jews, since it was to them that the prophet Ezekiel had been sent at that time; and today, too, after the coming of our Savior, the words apply to pagans and to Jews and to those who once believed but then denied their faith. The prophet’s words are applicable to those who sin without perceiving their sin, since a sinner who has received baptism, even though he may be dead toward his soul, because he does not perceive his sin, yet he is alive to God because of the grace of baptism that he possesses.

Source: ON THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Ezekiel 3:17
If we carefully heed the lessons that are read at the consecration of bishops, we have a means of rousing ourselves to the greatest compunction. What Gospel text is it, except the one I mentioned a little while ago? “Peter, Peter, tend my sheep,” and again, “feed my sheep.” Did Christ say, cultivate the vineyards by your presence, arrange the country estates yourself, exercise the cultivation of land? He did not say this, but “feed my sheep.” Now what kind of a prophetic text is read at the consecration of a bishop? It is this: “I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel.” It did not say a steward of vineyards or country estates or the manager of fields; doubtless it is a watchman of souls.

Source: SERMONS 1:11
[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Ezekiel 3:17
The office of bishop is the highest order in the church. Episcopos means overseer, because with the help of divine grace he guards the Lord’s flock from his high seat like a most careful shepherd. As the prophet Ezekiel says, “I have made you a watchman over the house of Israel.”

Source: EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 108:8
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:17
The life of a watchman must always be high and circumspect. Let it be high lest he succumb to love of earthly things, and circumspect lest he be struck by the missiles of a hidden life from every side.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:11.7
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Ezekiel 3:18
It is of the greatest importance that the superior [in a religious community] be convinced that if he fails to offer his brother the proper guidance, he will draw on himself heavy and inescapable wrath, for his blood will be required at his hands.

Source: THE LONG RULES 29
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:18
A threat is not made against people but against sins, nor is it made against those who are converted from their imperfections but against those who remain in their sin.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.18-19
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:18-19
(Verse 18, 19.) If I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. There are two wicked or iniquitous persons, as the Septuagint has translated. One who hears nothing as a viewer, and dies in his impiety; whose blood is sought by the hands of the viewer. Another, to whom the viewer announces, and he, despising to hear, dies due to his own fault: in such a way that the viewer is innocent of the fault. From which we understand that the Lord threatens the impious one, and says: 'You will die by death', so that he may turn away from his impious way, and live. For the threat is not against humans, but against sins, and not against those who turn away from vices, but against those who persist in sin. And there is a great danger in keeping silent on the words of God for three reasons: either out of fear, or out of laziness, or out of flattery. Hence Isaiah says: Woe is me, for I have kept silent (Isaiah 6:5). And what follows, You have freed your soul, signifies the same as the saying of the Apostle: If anyone's work burns, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:14), so as to prove whether an external observer was the cause of his death or whether he was guilty. For the work of the master is the well-being of the disciple.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ezekiel 3:18
You have frequently heard in the holy Scriptures in what great danger bishops are placed, if they are unwilling to carry out what the apostle urges on them.… But when we reprove someone, if the person we reprove is bad, he fixes his attention on the one he is being reproved by and happily and more readily acknowledges what has to be put right in his reprover than in himself. And if he can find something true to say against the one who is reproving him, he is delighted. How much better to rejoice about his own healthy condition when he has been put right than about another person’s illness when he is rebuked!

Source: SERMON 387:1
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Ezekiel 3:18
Whenever we preach something hard, we do not do so because we believe that you have done something of the sort, but we denounce things that you have not done, in order to be able to cure those matters in which you may have been overcome. It often happens that we fear to do great wrongs but more quickly fail to guard against slight ones.

Source: SERMONS 57:2
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Ezekiel 3:18
It is necessary for us to rebuke, either in secret or in public, those who are careless. Now if the one whom we reprove is wicked, when we do so he will notice by whom he is rebuked, and he will more readily recognize what is being corrected in the one who is reproving him than in himself.

Source: SERMONS 145:1
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:18
We are constrained; we show ourselves to be defendants, we who are called priests, who above those sins that are our own also add the deaths of strangers, because we kill as many as we daily see go to their deaths, because of our silence and indifference.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:11.9
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Ezekiel 3:19
We learn from Ezekiel that, provided the guardian gives warning as to what it is necessary to avoid and it is necessary to choose, he delivers his own soul, even if no one pays any attention to him.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ezekiel 3:19
If he does this, he goes out from there, not by physical withdrawal but defended by his behavior; he has done what he had to do, even if the other person did not heed the warning he should have heeded.

Source: SERMON 88:23
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:19
We must learn by experience how great must be the order and consideration of speech in the mouth of a shepherd. For a teacher must consider what he says, to whom he says it, when he says it, how he says it and how much he says.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:11.12
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:20-21
(Verse 20, 21.) But even if a righteous person turns away from their righteousness and commits iniquity, I will set a stumbling block before them. They shall die because you did not warn them; in their sin they shall die, and their righteous deeds shall not be remembered; but I will require their blood from your hand. However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they shall surely live because you warned them, and you have saved your own soul. Just as we read about two wicked or unjust individuals: One, who did not hear, and perished; the other, who heard and persisted in wickedness: so there are two righteous individuals, one who did not hear and perished; the other who heard and turned to repentance, saved his soul. It should be noted that a righteous person can fall; and if he has a teacher, he can be converted to better things. And therefore, good works require a constant teacher, so that a slip does not cause him to step back from the best path. And indeed the wicked, or the unjust if they have not converted, will die in their wickedness and injustice. But if the just commit impiety and sin, they do not immediately die; but a stumbling block or torment is set before them, as Theodotius said, an infirmity, so that they may be tormented and not find a straight path, and understand themselves to be weak, of whom the Apostle also says: Therefore many are weak and sleep among you (I Corinthians 11:30). For it is advantageous for the just to understand their own transgression and the torment of their conscience, and to say with the Psalmist: I am turned in my sorrow while the thorn is fastened on me (Psalm 31:4). And just as the wickedness of the impious is not obvious if they turn away from their wicked ways and live, so the ancient virtues do not benefit the just if they are oppressed by new crimes. But what has been brought upon oneself: He will die, because you did not announce to him, it is understood, that he could have lived if the watcher and teacher had instructed him.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:20
The one who does not hear perishes, but the other who hears and is converted to repentance saves his soul.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.20-21
[AD 500] Salvian the Presbyter on Ezekiel 3:20
Thus it happens that all things are changed, pass away and perish. No one considers anyone more base than himself or more lowly than God. If there is a time at which anyone can legally place God second to his blood and marriage relatives, there is no time in which God must lawfully be placed ahead of them. But if, because it is true, there is no time whatever in which he should not be given preference, there is no time when he can lawfully be placed second to them. Indeed, there is no time, not even at the point of death, because the prophet says that even the just person will perish on the day he errs.

Source: FOUR BOOKS OF TIMOTHY TO THE CHURCH 4:2
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:20
Because the preacher was silent to the just person who fell into sin, he is held guilty of his blood.… But it may be asked whether the preaching should be given to the just person after he has fallen or before he falls. The preacher must watch lest he come into error and undoubtedly even before he falls.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:11.21
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on Ezekiel 3:22
“Go out into the plain, and you will be spoken to.” This means that [Ezekiel] is made into a sign for them; or on this day he is ordered to go out into the plain, and he will be spoken to; and on the plain that face will be revealed to him that was shown to him at the river Chebar.

Source: FRAGMENT 9
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:22
And notice this, that, standing himself in the middle of those who sat as captives, the prophet did not see the glory of God.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.22
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:22
(Verse 22.) And there, the hand of the Lord came upon me and He said to me: rise up, go out into the field, and there I will speak with you. This phrase, \"there,\" which we have translated from the Hebrew and is not found in the Septuagint, is intentionally placed and undoubtedly signifies a specific location. For earlier we read: And I came to the captivity at Tel-abib, to those who dwelt near the river Chebar (Ezekiel 3:15). And rightly so, the one to whom he spoke, sat down, is commanded to rise up. And he who had entered into transmigration hears, 'Go forth, not into rugged valleys, not onto steep cliffs, but into the width of the fields that can contain the glory of the Lord.' Hence it is also said to the Corinthians: 'Be enlarged' (1 Corinthians 6:13). When he enters to capture the captives, of whom it is said that they are insane and persecute him, perhaps he needs a strong hand in order to resist and endure the fury of those who pursue him. But when he goes forth into the field, surely the hand of the Lord is upon him: for without his help he could not go forth, but strength is not added. For he goes out to see the glory of God, not to fight. And it should be noted that while sitting among the captives, the Prophet himself did not see the glory of the Lord.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Ezekiel 3:22
Quiet is afforded by contemplating divine things, when the mind is free from external cares, which makes it anticipate things, and it is distracted no more fully here or there, but it can take in divine things more exactly when it is turned in on itself.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 2:3
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:23
This is the meaning of the verse, “Because you have been strengthened by the sight of the majesty of the Lord, never fear anything and do not be frightened of anyone, and go back to your own house, whether it is for your bodily needs, as some people regard them, or as a sign of imminent danger.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.23-24
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:23
(Verse 23.) And I arose ((Vulg. arose)) and went out into the field, and behold there the glory of the Lord was standing, as the glory that I saw by the river Chobar. At the Lord's command, it enters and at the Lord's command, it goes out, and it sits among those who sit; for those who stand could not hear him. And going out into the width of the field, he saw the standing glory of the Lord, which he had seen before walking and lifting itself up, and sometimes standing. Because next to the river of this age, called Chobar, which can be interpreted as very serious, glory was seen: which signifies that all the glory of this world overflows and does not have a stable position. But the standing and enduring glory of the Lord, when seen with the standing Prophet in the field, could not stand nor be seen amidst the captives.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:23
The glory of the Lord being manifest, the prophet falls on his face, because although a human being is raised up to understand the sublime, yet through contemplating the majesty of God he realizes the weakness of his own condition and (as it were) has no standing, he who sees himself as dust and ashes before the eyes of God.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:12.4
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:24
(Verse 24.) And I fell upon my face, and the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet: and he spoke to me, and said to me: Go in, and shut thyself up in the midst of thy house. Unable to bear the weight of the glory of the Lord standing, he fell on his face, so that he could be lifted up by the entering spirit. The spirit stood him upon his feet, and spoke to him, saying: Enter and shut thyself up in the midst of thy house. And this is the meaning: Because you have been strengthened by the vision of the Lord's majesty, you should not fear anyone or be afraid of anything; but rather return to your home or tend to the needs of the body, as some think, or as a sign of the future siege. And just as Isaiah, barefoot and naked (Isaiah 20), proclaimed the captivity of three years and the nakedness of the people, so you, confined to your home, by the action itself, foretell the imminent siege of the city of Jerusalem.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on Ezekiel 3:25
“And look, they will bind you with chains and fetters.” That is, the chains that will bind him, so that he might not go out and walk among them, are the Babylonians who encircle Jerusalem and its inhabitants and prevent them from going out and coming in.

Source: FRAGMENT 11
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:25-26
(Verse 25, 26.) And you, son of man: behold, chains have been placed upon you, and they will bind you with them, and you shall not go out from among them, and I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth (or throat), and you shall be mute, not speaking as a man who reproaches them: for the house is rebellious. What is enclosed in a house, what is bound with chains, what does not go out to those among whom it dwells, but suffers the solitude of a prison among a multitude of captives, is a sign of siege, as I have said before, that Jerusalem, closed and surrounded by the army of the Chaldeans, will not allow any of its inhabitants to go out. This is the pot about which Jeremiah speaks (Jeremiah I), and he himself as the Prophet in the following words; in which the flesh of the people is consumed. That the language of the Prophet cleaves to the palate or throat and becomes mute is not the result of a reproachful authority, but has a clear cause: for he says, the house is provoking. And the meaning is: They are of such bitterness, and of such contention against God, that they do not deserve to hear the reproacher. From this it is clear that where there is a multitude of sins, sinners are unworthy to correct those who are corrected by the Lord.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:25
So many are the struggles against God that they do not deserve to hear him rebuking them. From this it is clear that where there is a multitude of sinners, those who sin are unworthy, who are corrected by the Lord.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:3.25-26
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:25
When each preacher is led back to the conscience of his house, bonds are put on him, and he is bound because the more he examines himself in thought, the more he realizes with what great infirmities of his mortality the soul of a righteous person is bound.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:12.13
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:26
This is what is meant: The word of preaching is taken away from you. As the people provoke me by their deeds, they are not worthy to have the encouragement of the truth. We cannot easily recognize whose vice causes the word to be withdrawn from the preacher. We know indeed that the shepherd’s silence is sometimes harmful to him, but that it is always harmful to those subject to him.

Source: FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 19
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 3:27
(Verse 27.) But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Let him who hears, hear; and let him who remains quiet, remain quiet; for the house is rebellious. What we read in Ecclesiastes: A time to be silent, and a time to speak (Ecclesiastes 3), is also supported in prophetic speech: that it is wise to both be silent and speak in due time, and to give food to our fellow servants at the appointed time. Therefore, Isaiah also said to the unbelieving people: I kept silent, will I always be silent? says the Lord (Isaiah 65). Therefore, he who kept his mouth closed for a long time due to the multitude of sins, because he saw that some could be converted, about whom it was said: Let him who has ears to hear, hear; and let him who is at peace with evil, be at peace; and let him cease: therefore, speaking with an open mouth, not by his own will, but by the command of the Lord, he speaks to the people. However, this is what we have set forth: Let him who has ears to hear, hear; and let him who is at peace, be at peace; for which the Septuagint translates: Let him who has ears to hear, hear; and let him who is unbelieving, be unbelieving; the second edition by Aquila translated it as follows: Let him who has ears to hear, be heard; and let him who leaves, be left. And he said: To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to them that are without, all things are done in parables. (Mark 4:11)

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 3:27
The prophet learns of the calamities beforehand so that he is prepared for all of them. For evils have less power over a mind when they do not come unexpected, and yet when calamities are known beforehand how great the virtue of obedience shown in him who both realizes that he is to suffer adversity and yet is not disobedient to the voice of God.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:12.15