Ezekiel 2:3

Ezekiel 2:3, part of Ezekiel's call vision, links beautifully with Ezekiel 37 in the Hebrew. 2:3 reads, "I send you to the children of Israel, the nations rebelling ... they and their fathers rebelled to the bone" Here, disunity is seen as a consequence of sinning "to the bone". In 37, they are healed from the bones outwards, and then the two parts of Israel are joined, ending the rebellion (so the structure is "A-B B-A"). In 2:3, God shows the symptom, then the cause, in 37 he heals the cause, and the symptom dissapears.
My question is, can anyone find an English version which remains true to the Hebrew on either significant part of 2:3, that is, rebellious NATIONS, and rebelled TO THE BONE?
All the best, Colin

 

"looking at the Hebrew, I am not convinced you have understood it properly. ad-'etzem
seems to strengthen the pash'u, thus leading to the NIV's strong "revolt." Furthermore,
that would seem at best to be a very oblique reference to Eze 37 at. What sources support
you on this?[/QB][/QUOTE]

Dear Pastor Larry, sorry for the delay, I forgot my password!
Having just looked through my commentaries, I must confess that I am not sure where I
got the idea from. I exegeted the passage in Hebrew myself several years ago, which is
when I made the connection, but whether that was through reading a different
commentary, or on my own, I have no idea.
I fully agree that the figure of speech "ad etzem" serves here as an intensifier, and that
"sinned grievously" etc., are reasonable translations. Might "They were bad to the bone"
be another? My translation point was more re the plural "nations" which does seem to be
lost in our translations.
Do you think there could be some connection between his vision call, "Go to the nations
of Israel" (divided because of sin), they are "bad to the bone", and the restoration of
Israel, from the bone, leading to their becoming reunited in the climax of chapter 37?
Thanks for your feedback, God bless, Colin
PS., do you know how to do a spell check in this reply box???