Ezekiel 22:25

25 "Ezekiel, the princes of the land are like a roaring lion that tears its food apart. They eat people up. They take treasures and other valuable things. They cause many women in the land to become widows.

Ezekiel 22:25 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 22:25

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof,
&c.] Not of the prophets of the Lord, but of her prophets; such as were agreeable to her, the false prophets. The Targum renders it,

``a company of scribes;''

the interpreters of the law; these entered into a confederacy together against the true prophets, and agreed to prophesy the same things, to flatter the people with peace and prosperity, when sudden destruction was at hand: like a roaring lion ravening the prey;
that roars when hungry, and while it is tearing the prey in pieces; so these false prophets thundered out their menaces against the true prophets, and those that adhered to them; clamouring against them as enemies to the state; and threatening them with accusations to it; and carrying on a judicial process against them: they have devoured souls;
persecuted men to death, that would not give credit to their prophecies; and destroyed the souls of those that did, with their false doctrines and prophecies: they have taken the treasure and precious things;
of those they destroyed; or of others, for prophesying smooth things to them; filthy lucre being the principal thing they had in view: they have made her many widows in the midst thereof;
by persecuting their husbands to death for not believing their prophecies; or by persuading to hold out the siege, under a notion of deliverance; whereby the lives of many were lost by the sword, famine, and pestilence, to whose death they might be said to be accessary.

Ezekiel 22:25 In-Context

23 Another message came to me from the Lord. He said,

24 "Son of man, speak to the land. Tell it, 'You have not had any rain or showers. That is because I am angry with you.'

25 "Ezekiel, the princes of the land are like a roaring lion that tears its food apart. They eat people up. They take treasures and other valuable things. They cause many women in the land to become widows.

26 "Its priests break my law. They treat things that are set apart to me as if they were not holy. They treat holy and common things as if they were the same. They teach that there is no difference between things that are 'clean' and things that are not. They refuse to keep my Sabbath days. So they treat me as if I were not holy.

27 "The officials in the land are like wolves that tear their food apart. They spill blood and kill people to get rich.