Ezekiel 22:3

3 You are to say: This is what the Lord God says: A city that sheds blood within her [walls] so that her time of judgment has come and who makes idols for herself so that she is defiled!

Ezekiel 22:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 22:3

Then say thou, thus saith the Lord God
For though the prophet was to sit as judge, yet in the name of the King of kings, under whose authority he acted: the city sheddeth blood in the midst of it;
openly and impudently, in the face of all, and in great abundance; even innocent blood, as the Targum has it: murders were frequent and common, either through quarrels, or through unrighteous judgments in courts of judicature: that her time may come;
to fill up the measure of her iniquity, and to receive the just punishment of her sins. So the Targum,

``the time of her destruction:''
and maketh idols against herself, to defile herself;
being guilty, not only of murder, but of idolatry; she was an idol maker and an idol worshipper; and which was against herself, as well as against God; to her own ruin and destruction, as well as to his dishonour; and it is no wonder she should be defiled with such dunghill gods as these were, as the word used signifies. The Targum renders it, "in the midst of her"; and Kimchi interprets it, by "her", or "above her", upon the mountains and hills.

Ezekiel 22:3 In-Context

1 The word of the Lord came to me:
2 "Now, son of man, will you pass judgment? Will you pass judgment against the city of blood? Then explain all her abominations to her.
3 You are to say: This is what the Lord God says: A city that sheds blood within her [walls] so that her time of judgment has come and who makes idols for herself so that she is defiled!
4 You are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled from the idols you have made. You have brought your [judgment] days near and have come to your years [of punishment]. Therefore, I have made you a disgrace to the nations and a mockery to all the lands.
5 Those who are near and those far away from you will mock you, you infamous one full of turmoil.
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.