And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear,.... Or "cease" y; that is, from hearing, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; or from sinning, as the Targum. The sense is, whether they would hear the word of the Lord, as spoken by the prophet, attend unto it, receive it, and obey it; or whether they would reject it, turn their backs on it, and discontinue hearing it; or whether they would so hear as to leave their sinful course of life, or not: this the prophet could not know beforehand, nor should he be concerned about it, or be discouraged if his ministry should be fruitless; since he could not expect much from them:
(for they [are] a rebellious house); or, "a house of rebellion" z; a most rebellious one; hard of heart, face, and neck:
yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them; so that they were left without excuse, which was the end of the prophet's being sent unto them; there was little or no hope of reclaiming them; but, however, by such a step taken, they could not say that they had no prophet sent to reprove them for their sins, and warn them of their danger; had they, they would have listened to him, and so have escaped the evils that came upon them,
y יחדלו "cessaverint", Pagninas, Montanus, Starckius; "desistent", Calvin, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. z בית מרי "domus rebellionis", Montanus, Calvin, Piscator, Junius & Tremellius, Starckius.