English · ASV

Ezekiel 22

Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

Jerusalem, the Bloody City, Is Judged 1–16

1
Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
2
And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her abominations. ​
3
And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A city that sheddeth blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that maketh idols against herself to defile her! ​
4
Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking to all the countries. ​
5
Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, thou infamous one and full of tumult.
6
Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been in thee to shed blood. ​
7
In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow. ​
8
Thou hast despised my holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. ​
9
Slanderous men have been in thee to shed blood; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness. ​
10
In thee have they uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her impurity. ​
11
And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.
12
In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​
13
Behold, therefore, I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee. ​
14
Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and will do it. ​
15
And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries; and I will consume thy filthiness out of thee. ​
16
And thou shalt be profaned in thyself, in the sight of the nations; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.

Israel Becomes Dross in the Furnace 17–22

17
And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
18
Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross unto me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver. ​
19
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ​
20
As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you. ​
21
Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.
22
As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have poured out my wrath upon you.

The Corruption of Leaders and People 23–31

23
And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
24
Son of man, say unto her, Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. ​
25
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in the midst thereof. ​
26
Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. ​
27
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain. ​
28
And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, when Jehovah hath not spoken. ​
29
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully. ​
30
And I sought for a man among them, that should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. ​
31
Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I brought upon their heads, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 22

Verse 2

the bloody city — Literally 'the city of bloods', the title Nahum gives Nineveh, 'Woe to the bloody city!' (Nah 3:1). The prophet is asked the same question as in 20:4, 'wilt thou judge…?', and told to show her 'all her abominations'. Manasseh's reign is the record behind it: he 'shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another' (2 Kgs 21:16).

Verse 3

that her time may come — The city 'sheddeth blood in the midst of it' and 'maketh idols against herself', and her 'time' (et) comes as the outcome of both. The idols work to her own harm. Manasseh is again the pattern: he 'seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed' (2 Kgs 21:9).

Verse 4

Thou art become guilty — Asham, to bear guilt, the word that gives the 'trespass offering' its name in Leviticus. The city is guilty 'in thy blood that thou hast shed'. Being made 'a reproach unto the heathen' is a covenant curse of long standing: 'thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations' (Deut 28:37).

Verse 6

the princes of Israel — 'Power' is literally 'arm' (zeroa): each prince used his own strength to shed blood. The princes head the list of the city's classes, which continues with priests, princes, prophets and people in vv.25–29. Isaiah had said the same of Jerusalem's rulers, 'Thy princes are rebellious' (Isa 1:23), and Micah that 'They build up Zion with blood' (Mic 3:10).

Verse 7

set light by father and mother — Qalal, to treat as light, is the verb of 'Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother' (Deut 27:16). The stranger, the fatherless and the widow are the three the law shielded: 'Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him' and 'Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child' (Ex 22:21–22).

Verse 8

mine holy things… my sabbaths — The pair of charges returns against the priests in v.26 and against Aholah and Aholibah in 23:38, 'they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths'. The sabbath is the sign the LORD gave 'between me and them' (20:12), so profaning it breaks what he set as the mark of the covenant.

Verse 9

men that carry tales to shed blood — The talebearer is named in the law, which joins the two charges as this verse does: 'Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour' (Lev 19:16). To 'eat upon the mountains' is to feast at the high places, as the righteous man of 18:6 'hath not eaten upon the mountains'.

Verse 10

discovered their fathers' nakedness — The wording is that of Leviticus 18: 'The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover' (Lev 18:8). The woman 'set apart for pollution' is the one 'put apart for her uncleanness' (Lev 18:19). Paul uses the same law against 'that one should have his father's wife' in the church (1 Cor 5:1).

Verse 12

taken usury and increase — 'Gifts' taken 'to shed blood' are bribes, under the curse of Deut 27:25, 'Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person'. 'Usury' and 'increase' are the pair of Lev 25:36, 'Take thou no usury of him, or increase'. The last charge, 'hast forgotten me', is the root of the others, as in Jer 2:32, 'my people have forgotten me days without number'.

Verse 13

I have smitten mine hand — Striking the hands together is a sign of anger, as when Balak 'smote his hands together' at Balaam (Num 24:10), and the LORD uses it of himself in 21:17, 'I will also smite mine hands together'. The cause is the 'dishonest gain' (betsa), also the aim of the princes in v.27, and 'thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee'.

Verse 14

Can thine heart endure — The question looks back to 21:7, where 'every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble'. 'I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it' is the seal Ezekiel gives such sentences (24:14, 'I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it'), in the terms of Num 23:19, 'hath he said, and shall he not do it?'

Verse 15

I will scatter thee among the heathen — The curse of Lev 26:33, 'I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you', which Deut 4:27 also warns of. The purpose is stated within the verse: the LORD 'will consume thy filthiness out of thee', so the scattering is the way the uncleanness of vv.2–12 is removed.

Verse 18

the house of Israel is to me become dross — Sig is the waste skimmed from refined silver. Here the whole house is dross, with 'brass, and tin, and iron, and lead' left in the furnace beside it. Isaiah says the same of Jerusalem, 'Thy silver is become dross' (Isa 1:22), and Jeremiah calls the people 'Reprobate silver' that the LORD has 'rejected' (Jer 6:30).

Verse 19

I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem — The refining is done in the city itself. 'Gather' (qabats) is the verb of the LORD's promise in 11:17, 'I will even gather you from the people', but here the gathering is for the furnace. The pot of 24:3–6, set over 'the bloody city', shows the same refining.

Verse 20

to blow the fire upon it, to melt it — The refiner's furnace is worked with a blast, and the LORD takes the refiner's part, 'in mine anger and in my fury'. Isaiah speaks of a gentler furnace, 'I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction' (Isa 48:10), and Malachi of the refiner who 'shall purify the sons of Levi' (Mal 3:3).

Verse 24

the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon — 'Not cleansed' recalls the law on blood, 'the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it' (Num 35:33). Withheld rain is a covenant sign of judgment. 'Indignation' (za'am) is the word the chapter closes with in v.31, 'have I poured out mine indignation'.

Verse 25

a conspiracy of her prophets — Qesher, a plot. The prophets are likened to 'a roaring lion ravening the prey', the same beast and the same word for prey (tereph) as in 19:3 and 19:6. 'They have devoured souls' and 'made her many widows', as Christ says of the scribes, 'which devour widows' houses' (Mark 12:40).

Verse 26

put no difference between the holy and profane — The priest's task was 'that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean' (Lev 10:10), and in the restored temple 'they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane' (Ezek 44:23). 'Violated' is chamas, to do violence. The verse ends with the LORD himself: 'I am profaned among them'.

Verse 27

like wolves ravening the prey — The lion of v.25 gives place to wolves for the rulers, as Zephaniah says of Jerusalem, 'Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves' (Zeph 3:3). They seek 'dishonest gain', the same betsa at which the LORD smote his hand in v.13, and they 'destroy souls'.

Verse 28

daubed them with untempered morter — The picture is that of 13:10, where 'one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter': the prophets cover a weak wall with a coat that cannot hold. They say 'Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken', as Jeremiah records, 'I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran' (Jer 23:21).

Verse 29

The people of the land — Am ha'arets, the landed population, shares in the guilt of the leaders. Their oppression of 'the stranger wrongfully' breaks 'Thou shalt not oppress a stranger' (Ex 23:9), and their vexing of 'the poor and needy' breaks Deut 24:14, 'Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy'.

Verse 30

stand in the gap before me for the land — The 'hedge' is a wall and the 'gap' a breach in it, the place where Moses 'stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath' (Ps 106:23). Abraham pleaded for ten righteous men in Sodom (Gen 18:32), and here the LORD seeks one. Isaiah has the same sight, 'he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor' (Isa 59:16).

Verse 31

their own way have I recompensed upon their heads — The sentence repays the deeds: the blood shed in vv.2–4 is answered with indignation poured out. The same wording stands in 9:10, 'I will recompense their way upon their head'. Paul gives the New Testament form, 'indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil' (Rom 2:8–9).