But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
Parallel Translations
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But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
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But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
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But they refused to attend, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
Cross-references (29)
Passages linked to Zechariah 7:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Nehemiah 9:29 and testified against them, that you might bring them again to your law. Yet they were arrogant, and didn’t listen to your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances (which if a man does, he shall live in them), turned their backs, stiffened their neck, and would not hear.
- Jeremiah 8:5 Why then have the people of Jerusalem fallen back by a perpetual backsliding? They cling to deceit. They refuse to return.
- Hosea 4:16 For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will Yahweh feed them like a lamb in a meadow.
- Jeremiah 35:15 I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Every one of you must return now from his evil way, amend your doings, and don’t go after other gods to serve them, then you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers:’ but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me.
- Ezekiel 3:7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they will not listen to me; for all the house of Israel are obstinate and hard-hearted.
- Zechariah 1:4 Don’t you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Yahweh of Armies says, ‘Return now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings;’ but they didn’t hear, nor listen to me, says Yahweh.
- Acts 7:57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, then rushed at him with one accord.
- Exodus 10:3 Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.
- 2 Kings 17:13-15 Yet Yahweh testified to Israel, and to Judah, by every prophet, and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” Notwithstanding, they would not listen, but hardened their neck, like the neck of their fathers, who didn’t believe in Yahweh their God. They rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified to them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom Yahweh had commanded them that they should not do like them.
- 2 Chronicles 33:10 Yahweh spoke to Manasseh, and to his people; but they didn’t listen.
- Nehemiah 9:17 and refused to obey. They weren’t mindful of your wonders that you did among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and didn’t forsake them.
- Nehemiah 9:26 “Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against you, cast your law behind their back, killed your prophets that testified against them to turn them again to you, and they committed awful blasphemies.
- Psalms 58:4-5 Their poison is like the poison of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear, which doesn’t listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful the charmer may be.
- Proverbs 1:24-32 Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention; but you have ignored all my counsel, and wanted none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you, when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when your disaster comes on like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come on you. Then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me; because they hated knowledge, and didn’t choose the fear of Yahweh. They wanted none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof. Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes. For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.
- Isaiah 1:19-20 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”
- Isaiah 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.”
- Jeremiah 6:16-17 Yahweh says, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen!’
- Jeremiah 7:24 But they didn’t listen or turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
- Jeremiah 11:10 They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.
- Jeremiah 13:10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and have gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, will even be as this belt, which is profitable for nothing.
- Jeremiah 17:23 But they didn’t listen. They didn’t turn their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.
- Jeremiah 26:5-6 to listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send to you, even rising up early and sending them, but you have not listened; then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”
- Jeremiah 36:31 I will punish him, his offspring, and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they didn’t listen.” ’ ”
- Jeremiah 44:16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name, we will not listen to you.
- Daniel 9:5 we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances.
- Zephaniah 3:2 She didn’t obey the voice. She didn’t receive correction. She didn’t trust in Yahweh. She didn’t draw near to her God.
- Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
- Hebrews 10:38-39 But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul.
- Hebrews 12:25 See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we not escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet here by referring to the fathers more…
The Prophet here by referring to the fathers more sharply reproves the Jews of his age; for he saw that they differed but little from their fathers. The sum of what he says is, that the Jews in all ages dealt unfaithfully and perversely with God; for how much soever they boasted of their care and zeal for religion they yet sought to satisfy God only by vain trifles. This then was the Prophet’s object. For it is certain that there ever had been some pretense to religion in that nation but it was mere dissimulation for they were in the mean time intent on their ceremonies and when God seriously remonstrated with them their obstinacy and perverseness before concealed instantly appeared.
He therefore says that they refused to hear. He does not now accuse the dead except for this purpose to teach the people of his acre. He saw that they were solicitous about fasting at appointed seasons, while at the same time they regarded almost as nothing the main requirements of the law, even mercy, and justice, and uprightness. These are indeed the three things, which Christ mentions. (Matthew 23:23.) He then intimates that this doctrine was not new, and that their fathers had been sufficiently warned and instructed, but that they wilfully, and as it were designedly rebelled against God. In short, he pulls off their mask of ignorance; for as men for the most part seek to extenuate their sins by the plea, that they had not been clearly or seasonably taught, the Prophet declares that there was not any excuse of this kind, because they had been refractory and untameable, they had refused to hear
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To set forth more fully this perverseness, he afterwards says, that the shoulder of withdrawing had been presented by them. The Hebrews say that men serve with the shoulder, when they are submissive, and tractable, and willingly undergo the burden laid on them, according to what we have seen in Zephaniah 3:1. The Prophet now, on the contrary, says that the Jews had a refractory shoulder, as they refused to bear the yoke, but shook off every fear of God. The reason for the metaphor is this — that as burdens are carried on the shoulder, so the Lord lays the law on our shoulders, that the flesh may not lasciviate at pleasure, but be kept under restraint. He hence says, that they had presented a rebellious shoulder. The word סררת, sarret, is properly rendered declining; but some render it perverse, and others contumacious: since the meaning is the same, I contend not about the word. It is enough to know that the contumacy of the Jews is what is here condemned; for they had been wholly unteachable, and had refused to submit to God and to his word.
He afterwards mentions their ears, They made heavy their ears, lest they should hear. In short, the Prophet sought by all means to prove the Jews guilty, that they might not adduce anything to extenuate their sin: for they had in every way, with the most determined wickedness, refused to obey God, when his teaching was sufficiently clear and intelligible.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain And would not carry the Lord’s burden, which was…
And would not carry the Lord’s burden, which was sweet and easy, but would bear their own, which was heavy and grievous to the flesh, thinking to merit thereby: which similitude is taken of oxen, which shrink at the yoke, Neh. 9:29.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 7:11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled…
Zec 7:11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
Ver. 11. But they refused to hearken] Being a nation void of counsel, Deu 32:28, not willing to know what they should do, lest they should do what they would not. Nay (said they once, when they had nothing else to say), but we will have a king.
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And pulled away the shoulder] As untamed heifers do from the yoke, or untoward porters from the burden. The Vulgate rendereth it: Averterunt scapulam recedentem, making it a metaphor from those that scornfully turn their backs upon their betters when they like not their commands; as the Earl of Essex did once upon Queen Elizabeth; whereat she, waxing impatient, gave him a cuff on the ear, bidding him be gone with a mischief. Sides and shoulders should be set to God’s work, Zep 3:9.
And stopped their ears] Heb. They made heavy their ears. See here how they proceeded by fit degrees from bad to worse (for Nemo repente fit turpissimus), noted in the many "ands" here used. There is a concatenation of vices as well as of graces; and he that is one step down the ladder of hell knoweth not where he shall stop, till he break his neck at the very bottom. Wherefore principiis obsta. Meddle not with sin; it is modest and maidenlike at first, but who knows what it may come to? We have heard of virgins so modest at first as to blush at the motions of an honest love, who, being once corrupt and debauched, have grown boldly lascivious so as to solicit others, so as to prostitute themselves to all comers. Keep thee, therefore, far from an evil matter, Exo 23:7; have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness, Eph 5:11. Circa serpentis antrum positus non eris diu illaesus (Isidore). He that plays upon the hole of the asp may be suddenly stung.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain But they refused to hearken; they wilfully were ignorant,…
But they refused to hearken; they wilfully were ignorant, ant, would not consider nor understand.
Pulled away the shoulder; next they shift from doing their duty, withdraw their shoulder from the yoke of the law, Neh 9:29; Hos 4:16.
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And stopped their ears; and to make it highest contempt, they act the deaf man, stop their ears, and so turn their backs on God.
That they should not hear; all this out of an obstinate resolution to be unacquainted with God’s will and their own duty.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Therefore it is come to pass, that as he…
Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried,.... The Lord by the former prophets called them to repentance and obedience:
and they would not hear; his words, nor obey his voice:
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so they cried: when they were besieged in Jerusalem, and were carried captive into Babylon:
and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts; so as to deliver them out of the hands of their enemies; see Pro 1:24.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Pulled away - Withdrew their shoulder from the yoke…
Pulled away - Withdrew their shoulder from the yoke of the law.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. Pulled away the shoulder] From under the…
Verse 11. Pulled away the shoulder] From under the yoke of the law, like an unbroken or restive bullock in the plough.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain But they gave a backsliding shoulder - Like a…
But they gave a backsliding shoulder - Like a restive animal, which would not endure the yoke, dull and stupid as the beasts: as Hosea says, “Israel slideth back like a backsliding heifer” Hos 4:16. Nehemiah confesses the same; “they gave a backsliding shoulder and hardened their neck and would not hear” Neh 9:29.
And made heavy their ears - Fulfilling in themselves what God foretold to Isaiah would be the result of his preaching, “make their ears heavy.” The heart, which will not hearken, becomes duller by the outward hearing, as Paul says, “The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God; but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected” Heb 6:7-8.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Depart, so to leave the burden on their partner.…
Depart, so to leave the burden on their partner. (Hebrew) (Calmet) --- Literally, "giving way;" recedentem. Pope Sixtus V, recedentes. Septuagint, "they gave a contemptuous back," (Haydock) like a slave, whom the whip cannot correct.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain pulled away the shoulder--literally, "presented a refractory shoulder"; an…
pulled away the shoulder--literally, "presented a refractory shoulder"; an image from beasts refusing to bear the yoke (Neh 9:29, Margin).
stopped . . . ears-- (Isa 6:10; Jer 7:26; Act 7:57).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. pulled away the shoulder] Neh_9:29; Hos_4:16.
11. pulled away the shoulder] Neh_9:29; Hos_4:16.
stopped] Lit. made heavy, i.e. dull. Comp. Isa_6:10. The same word is used of the eyes, Gen_48:10, and of the tongue, Exo_4:10.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (11) Pulled away the shoulder.—Better, offered a stubborn shoulder…
(11) Pulled away the shoulder.—Better, offered a stubborn shoulder (Neh_9:29), as an ox that refuses to receive the yoke.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Pulled away the shoulder; they gave a stubborn, refractory…
Pulled away the shoulder; they gave a stubborn, refractory shoulder, like an ox which refuses to have the yoke put on his neck, or draws hack when it feels the weight. (Neh_9:29 Hos_4:16) Stopped their ears. Made their ears heavy. Ta wta autwn ebarunan (Septuagint); Isa_6:10 Isa_59:1. Three degrees of obduracy are named in this verse: they refused to listen; they resisted the warners; they exhibited open contempt for them. The full climax is given in the next verse.
The history of ungodliness.
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I GERM. The question is Self or God, our own will or God"s will. Must be settled. Pressed by prophet after prophet. The answer shows the state of the heart. "Refused to hear.
II PROGRESS. There is growth in evil, as in good Stages. "First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.
1. Wilful refusal. "Pulled away the shoulder." Sinners will not submit to be guided by the higher will. Angry and fretted, they will not bow to God"s yoke.
2. Insolent rejection. "Stopped their ears." Warnings and counsels are in vain. Pride rises to insolence. Refusal, to determined opposition and rebellion.
3. Settled obduracy. (Ver. 12) This implies a steady process. The bad is more and more gaining the mastery. Every fresh victory brings the time nearer when the evil becomes "unconquerable" (Greek adhamas).
III CONSUMMATION. (Ver. 13) The end is come.
1. Ruined character.
2. Blasted life.
3. Hopeless future.
Oh! where is that mysterious bourne, By which our path is crossed, Beyond which God himself hath sworn That he who goes is lost? "How far may we go on in sin? How long will God forbear? Where does hope end, and where begin The confines of despair? "An answer from the skies is sent, "Ye that from God depart, While it is called today, repent, And harden not your heart. (Alexander) F.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 set their shoulders stubbornly
set their shoulders stubbornly
This is an image of an ox refusing to allow its owner to put a yoke on its shoulders. This metaphor represents the people being stubborn. AT: "became stubborn" (See: Metaphor)
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They stopped up their ears so they would not hear
This is an image of people putting something into their ears so they would not hear the message from Yahweh. This metaphor represents the people not being willing to hear and obey. AT: "They refused to listen" (See: Metaphor)
They made their hearts as hard as rock so they would not hear the law or the words of Yahweh of hosts
The people refusing to hear and obey Yahweh are compared to their being as unyielding as rock. Here the heart represents the will of a person. AT: "They stubbornly refused to hear the law or the words of Yahweh of hosts" (See: Simile)
in earlier times
"in the past"
by the mouth of the prophets
Here the "mouth of the prophets" is a metonym for the words that the prophets speak. AT: "through the words of the prophets" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
heart
law
Yahweh of hosts
send
Holy Spirit
anger
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 7:11 Your ancestors refused to listen: They ignored God’s…
7:11 Your ancestors refused to listen: They ignored God’s commands (see Jer 11:10). • stubbornly turned away (or set a defiant shoulder): The idiom signifies haughty stubbornness (see Neh 9:29). • Put their fingers in their ears places full responsibility upon the people for their obstinacy (cp. Isa 6:10). The same expression is used of Pharaoh when he “became stubborn” (or “hardened his heart”) against God and refused to release the Hebrews (Exod 8:32).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.