And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

EZEKIEL 3:16KJV
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Ezekiel 3:16 (KJV)

What does Ezekiel 3:16 mean?

Ezekiel 3:16 marks the moment when the LORD speaks to Ezekiel after seven days have passed. The verse introduces a new message to Ezekiel; the words that follow give him a responsibility toward the people among whom he is living.

Ezekiel tells the account in his own voice, using “me” for himself. After his seven days among the displaced people at Tel-abib in verse 15, “the word of the LORD came” marks a shift from Ezekiel’s stunned silence to a message he receives.

Why Ezekiel 3:16 matters

  • The seven days give the message a definite place in the account. Ezekiel had already received a task before arriving at Tel-abib, but verse 16 marks a later occasion when the LORD speaks to him again.

  • The verse prepares the reader for the words that follow. The sentence ends with “saying,” and verse 17 begins the LORD’s address to Ezekiel as “son of man.”

  • The message concerns Ezekiel’s role among his people. In verse 17, the LORD calls him a “watchman,” someone whose task includes hearing a warning and passing it on.

Where else these words appear

“end” Hebrew H7097 · used in 87 verses

  • Genesis 8:3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
  • Joshua 3:15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water,(for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)
  • Psalms 19:6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.