Ezekiel22
New American Standard
1Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2“And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then inform her of all her abominations.
3And you shall say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “A city shedding blood in her midst, so that her time is coming; and a city that makes idols, contrary to her own good, for defilement!
4You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and you have become defiled by your idols which you have made. So you have brought your days closer and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a disgrace to the nations, and an object of mocking to all the lands.
5Those who are near and those who are far from you will make fun of you, you of ill repute, full of turmoil.
6“Behold, the rulers of Israel, each according to his power, have been among you for the purpose of shedding blood.
7They have treated father and mother with contempt among you. They have oppressed the stranger in your midst; they have oppressed the orphan and the widow among you.
8You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.
9Slanderous men have been among you for the purpose of shedding blood, and among you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have committed outrageous sin.
10Among you they have uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; among you they have abused her who was unclean in her menstruation.
11And one has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife, another has outrageously defiled his daughter-in-law, and another among you has sexually abused his sister, his father’s daughter.
12Among you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest, you have injured your neighbors by oppression, and you have forgotten Me,” declares the Lord God.
13“Behold, then, I strike with My hand your profit which you have made and the bloodshed which is among you.
14Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong for the days that I will deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken and will act.
15And I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you among the lands, and I will eliminate your uncleanness from you.
16Then you will defile yourself in the sight of the nations, and you will know that I am the Lord.”’”
17And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
18“Son of man, the house of Israel has become waste metal to Me; all of them are bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the smelting furnace; they are the waste metal of silver.
19Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because all of you have become waste metal, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20As they gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the smelting furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will place you there and melt you.
21And I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it.
22As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out My wrath on you.’”
23And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
24“Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that is not clean or rained on in the day of indignation.’
25There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her.
26Her priests have done violence to My Law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have closed their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am defiled among them.
27Her leaders within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to make dishonest profit.
28And her prophets have coated with whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ when the Lord has not spoken.
29The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery, and they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the stranger without justice.
30I searched for a man among them who would build up a wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.
31So I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; I have brought their way upon their heads,” declares the Lord God.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 22.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The sins of Jerusalem. (1-16). Israel is condemned as dross. (17-22). As the corruption is general, so shall be the punishment. (23-31).
vv1-16
The prophet is to judge the bloody city; the city of bloods. Jerusalem is so called, because of her crimes. The sins which Jerusalem stands charged with, are exceeding sinful. Murder, idolatry, disobedience to parents, oppression and extortion, profanation of the sabbath and holy things, seventh commandment sins, lewdness and adultery. Unmindfulness of God was at the bottom of all this wickedness. Sinners provoke God because they forget him. Jerusalem has filled the measure of her sins. Those who give up themselves to be ruled by their lusts, will justly be given up to be portioned by them. Those who resolve to be their own masters, let them expect no other happiness than their own hands can furnish; and a miserable portion it will prove.
vv17-22
Israel, compared with other nations, had been as the gold and silver compared with baser metals. But they were now as the refuse that is consumed in the furnace, or thrown away when the silver is refined. Sinners, especially backsliding professors, are, in God's account, useless and fit for nothing. When God brings his own people into the furnace, he sits by them as the refiner by his gold, to see that they are not continued there any longer than is fitting and needful. The dross shall be wholly separated, and the good metal purified. Let those who suffer pains, or lingering sickness, and find that their hearts can scarcely bear these light and momentary afflictions, take warning to flee from the wrath to come; for if these trials are not sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit, to the cleansing their hearts and hands from sin, far worse things will come upon them.
vv23-31
All orders and degrees of men had helped to fill the measure of the nation's guilt. The people that had any power abused it, and even the buyers and sellers find some way to oppress one another. It bodes ill to a people when judgments are breaking in upon them, and the spirit of prayer is restrained. Let all who fear God, unite to promote his truth and righteousness; as wicked men of every rank and profession plot together to run them down.
Key Words
דָּבָר: a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
שָׁפַט: to judge, i.e. pronounce sentence (for or against); by implication, to vindicate or punish; by extenssion, to govern; passively, to litigate (literally or figuratively)
דָּם: blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animal; by analogy, the juice of the grape; figuratively (especially in the plural) bloodshed (i.e. drops of blood)
עִיר: a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)
יָדַע: to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.)
כֹּל: properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)
תּוֹעֵבַה: properly, something disgusting (morally), i.e. (as noun) an abhorrence; especially idolatry or (concretely) an idol
Cross References
Ezekiel 22Direct parallel in the Law condemning those who set light by father and mother.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Ezekiel explicitly targets 'men that carry tales to shed blood,' violating this Leviticus law.
Supported by JFB
Isaiah also compares Israel's severe moral degeneracy to once-pure silver becoming dross.
Supported by JFB
Ezekiel's charge that priests fail to put difference between the holy and profane.
Supported by JFB
Parallel description of prophets who daub with untempered mortar, proclaiming false peace.
Supported by JFB
Repeats the divine commission to 'judge' and declare the nations' abominations.
Supported by JFB
Verbal link to Israel forgetting the God who formed and redeemed them.
Supported by JFB
Identical symbolic action of God smiting His hands together in indignant fury.
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Micah likewise denounces princes who raven like wolves to shed blood for gain.
Supported by JFB
Ezekiel's recurring image of entering the gap and making up the hedge.
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Fulfillment of being made a reproach and a mocking to all countries.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Cites the specific Levitical prohibition regarding sexual relations during uncleanness.
Supported by JFB
Jeremiah similarly describes Israel as 'reprobate silver' that the refiner melts in vain.
Supported by JFB
Jesus echoes the indictment of leaders who devour widows' houses for gain.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Confirms the tragic lack of any intercessor capable of averting God's judgment.
Supported by Matthew Henry