Ezekiel 22:26

26 The priests break my law and have no respect for what is holy. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. They do not teach the difference between clean and unclean things, and they ignore the Sabbath. As a result the people of Israel do not respect me. 1

Ezekiel 22:26 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 22:26

Her priests have violated my law
Or, "forced it" F9; they gave a wrong explanation of it, made it speak what it should not; they wrested the sense and meaning of it, and did and taught things contrary to it; they broke it themselves, who should have instructed others in it, and exhorted them to have kept it, and encouraged them by their own example: and have profaned my holy things;
sacrifices and oblations, which were only to be offered and eaten by holy persons; they made them common to others who should not have partook of them: they have put no difference between the holy and the profane;
between holy persons and things, and profane persons and things; they made no difference in their practice between the one and the other; but promiscuously conversed with holy and profane persons, and used holy and profane things, without distinguishing one from the other: neither have they showed the difference between the unclean and the
clean:
they did not show to the people, as was the duty of their office, what was clean or unclean for sacrifice; what was clean and allowed to be eaten, and what was unclean and forbid to be eaten; nor who were clean and who were unclean persons for conversation; who were to be kept company with, and who not: and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths;
were not careful to observe them themselves, and connived at them that broke them; they might have seen men carrying burdens, and doing other servile works on such days, but they turned their eyes another way, and would not look at them; and when they did see them were silent, and would not reprove them: and I am profaned among them;
for the law of God being profaned, his institutions profaned, and his sabbaths profaned, he himself was profaned; inasmuch as he was not sanctified by them, through the just observation of those things. The Targum is,

``my will is profaned among them.''

FOOTNOTES:

F9 (ytrwt womx) "vim faciunt legimeae", Junius & Tremellius: Polanus; "vim fecerunt", Cocceius: Starckius.

Ezekiel 22:26 In-Context

24 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the Israelites that their land is unholy, and so I am punishing it in my anger.
25 The leaders are like lions roaring over the animals they have killed. They kill the people, take all the money and property they can get, and by their murders leave many widows.
26 The priests break my law and have no respect for what is holy. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. They do not teach the difference between clean and unclean things, and they ignore the Sabbath. As a result the people of Israel do not respect me.
27 The government officials are like wolves tearing apart the animals they have killed. They commit murder in order to get rich.
28 The prophets have hidden these sins like workers covering a wall with whitewash. They see false visions and make false predictions. They claim to speak the word of the Sovereign Lord, but I, the Lord, have not spoken to them.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 22.26Leviticus 10.10.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.