8 My holy things thou hast despised, And My sabbaths thou hast polluted.
And -- rebel against me do the house of Israel in the wilderness, In My statutes they have not walked, And My judgments they have despised, Which the man who doth -- liveth by them. And My sabbaths they have greatly polluted, And I say to pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
Its priests have wronged My law, And they pollute My holy things, Between holy and common they have not made separation, And between the unclean and the clean they have not made known, And from my sabbaths they have hidden their eyes, And I am pierced in their midst.
Again, this they have done to Me, They defiled My sanctuary in that day, And My sabbaths they have polluted. And in their slaughtering their sons to their idols They also come in unto My sanctuary in that day to pollute it, And lo, thus they have done in the midst of My house,
And -- the sons rebel against Me, In My statutes they have not walked, And My judgments they have not observed -- to do them, Which the man who doth -- liveth by them. My sabbaths they have polluted, And I say to pour out My fury upon them, To complete Mine anger against them in the wilderness.
Because My judgments they have not done, And My statutes they have despised, And My sabbaths they have polluted, And after idols of their fathers have their eyes been.
Hear this, ye who are swallowing up the needy, To cause to cease the poor of the land, Saying, When doth the new moon pass, And we sell ground corn? And the sabbath, and we open out pure corn? To make little the ephah, And to make great the shekel, And to use perversely balances of deceit. To purchase with money the poor, And the needy for a pair of sandals, Yea, the refuse of the pure corn we sell.
A son honoureth a father, and a servant his master. And if I `am' a father, where `is' Mine honour? And if I `am' a master, where `is' My fear? Said Jehovah of Hosts to you, O priests, despising My name! And ye have said: `In what have we despised Thy name?' Ye are bringing nigh on Mine altar polluted bread, And ye have said: `In what have we polluted Thee?' In your saying: `The table of Jehovah -- it `is' despicable,' And when ye bring nigh the blind for sacrifice, `There is no evil,' And when ye bring nigh the lame and sick, `There is no evil;' Bring it near, I pray thee, to thy governor -- Doth he accept thee? or doth he lift up thy face? Said Jehovah of Hosts.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 22
Commentary on Ezekiel 22 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 22
Eze 22:1-31. God's Judgment on the Sinfulness of Jerusalem.
Repetition of the charges in the twentieth chapter; only that there they were stated in an historical review of the past and present; here the present sins of the nation exclusively are brought forward.
2. See Eze 20:4; that is, "Wilt thou not judge?" &c. (compare Eze 23:36).
the bloody city—literally, "the city of bloods"; so called on account of murders perpetrated in her, and sacrifices of children to Molech (Eze 22:3, 4, 6, 9; 24:6, 9).
3. sheddeth blood … that her time may come—Instead of deriving advantage from her bloody sacrifices to idols, she only thereby brought on herself "the time" of her punishment.
against herself—(Pr 8:36).
4. thy days—the shorter period, namely, that of the siege.
thy years—the longer period of the captivity. The "days" and "years" express that she is ripe for punishment.
5. infamous—They mockingly call thee, "Thou polluted one in name (Margin), and full of confusion" [Fairbairn], (referring to the tumultuous violence prevalent in it). Thus the nations "far and near" mocked her as at once sullied in character and in actual fact lawless. What a sad contrast to the Jerusalem once designated "the holy city!"
6. Rather, "The princes … each according to his power, were in thee, to shed blood" (as if this was the only object of their existence). "Power," literally, "arm"; they, who ought to have been patterns of justice, made their own arm of might their only law.
7. set light by—Children have made light of, disrespected, father … (De 27:16). At Eze 22:7-12 are enumerated the sins committed in violation of Moses' law.
9. men that carry tales—informers, who by misrepresentations cause innocent blood to be shed (Le 19:16). Literally, "one who goes to and fro as a merchant."
10. set apart for pollution—that is, set apart as unclean (Le 18:19).
12. forgotten me—(De 32:18; Jer 2:32; 3:21).
13. smitten mine hand—in token of the indignant vengeance which I will execute on thee (see on Eze 21:17).
14. (Eze 21:7).
15. consume thy filthiness out of thee—the object of God in scattering the Jews.
16. take thine inheritance in thyself—Formerly thou wast Mine inheritance; but now, full of guilt, thou art no longer Mine, but thine own inheritance to thyself; "in the sight of the heathen," that is, even they shall see that, now that thou hast become a captive, thou art no longer owned as Mine [Vatablus]. Fairbairn and others needlessly take the Hebrew from a different root, "thou shalt be polluted by ('in,' [Henderson]) thyself," &c.; the heathen shall regard thee as a polluted thing, who hast brought thine own reproach on thyself.
18. dross … brass—Israel has become a worthless compound of the dross of silver (implying not merely corruption, but degeneracy from good to bad, Isa 1:22, especially offensive) and of the baser metals. Hence the people must be thrown into the furnace of judgment, that the bad may be consumed, and the good separated (Jer 6:29, 30).
23. From this verse to the end he shows the general corruption of all ranks.
24. land … not cleansed—not cleared or cultivated; all a scene of desolation; a fit emblem of the moral wilderness state of the people.
nor rained upon—a mark of divine "indignation"; as the early and latter rain, on which the productiveness of the land depended, was one of the great covenant blessings. Joel (Joe 2:23) promises the return of the former and latter rain, with the restoration of God's favor.
25. conspiracy—The false prophets have conspired both to propagate error and to oppose the messages of God's servants. They are mentioned first, as their bad influence extended the widest.
prey—Their aim was greed of gain, "treasure, and precious things" (Ho 6:9; Zep 3:3, 4; Mt 23:14).
made … many widows—by occasioning, through false prophecies, the war with the Chaldeans in which the husbands fell.
26. Her priests—whose "lips should have kept knowledge" (Mal 2:7).
violated—not simply transgressed; but, have done violence to the law, by wresting it to wrong ends, and putting wrong constructions on it.
put no difference between the holy and profane, &c.—made no distinction between the clean and unclean (Le 10:10), the Sabbath and other days, sanctioning violations of that holy day. "Holy" means, what is dedicated to God; "profane," what is in common use; "unclean," what is forbidden to be eaten; "clean," what is lawful to be eaten.
I am profaned among them—They abuse My name to false or unjust purposes.
27. princes—who should have employed the influence of their position for the people's welfare, made "gain" their sole aim.
wolves—notorious for fierce and ravening cruelty (Mic 3:2, 3, 9-11; Joh 10:12).
28. Referring to the false assurances of peace with which the prophets flattered the people, that they should not submit to the king of Babylon (see on Eze 13:10; Eze 21:29; Jer 6:14; 23:16, 17; 27:9, 10).
29. The people—put last, after the mention of those in office. Corruption had spread downwards through the whole community.
wrongfully—that is, "without cause," gratuitously, without the stranger proselyte giving any just provocation; nay, he of all others being one who ought to have been won to the worship of Jehovah by kindness, instead of being alienated by oppression; especially as the Israelites were commanded to remember that they themselves had been "strangers in Egypt" (Ex 22:21; 23:9).
30. the hedge—the wall (see on Eze 13:5); image for leading the people to repentance.
the gap—the breach (Ps 106:23); image for interceding between the people and God (Ge 20:7; Ex 32:11; Nu 16:48).
I found none—(Jer 5:1)—not that literally there was not a righteous man in the city. For Jeremiah, Baruch, &c., were still there; but Jeremiah had been forbidden to pray for the people (Jer 11:14), as being doomed to wrath. None now, of the godly, knowing the desperate state of the people, and God's purpose as to them, was willing longer to interpose between God's wrath and them. And none "among them," that is, among those just enumerated as guilty of such sins (Eze 22:25-29), was morally able for such an office.
31. their own way … recompensed upon their heads—(Eze 9:10; 11:21; 16:43; Pr 1:31; Isa 3:11; Jer 6:19).