Ezekiel 24:7

7 For the blood she shed^[a] is in her midst. She put it out on the bare rock; she didn't pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.^[b]

Ezekiel 24:7 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 24:7

For her blood is in the midst of her
The blood of innocent persons shed in the midst of her, openly and publicly, cried for vengeance: she set it upon the top of a rock;
where it could not soak in, as when spilled upon soft earth: this denotes her openness and impudence in shedding blood, as not being ashamed of it, or afraid of punishment for it, but as rather glorying in it; perhaps there may be some allusion to the tops of hills and mountains, where idolatry was committed, attended with shedding human blood: she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;
she did not take any methods to hide her sin; having no sense of the heinousness of it, nor any consciousness of guilt, or any remorse or repentance; respect is had to a law which obliged to cover blood shed with dust, ( Leviticus 17:13 ) . The Targum of the whole is,

``because innocent blood which is shed in the midst of her; with pride and with a high arm she shed it; she shed it not through ignorance, that she might repent of it.''

Ezekiel 24:7 In-Context

5 Take the choicest of the flock and also pile up the fuel under it. Bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it."

6 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Woe to the city of bloodshed, the pot that has rust inside it, and whose rust will not come off! Empty it piece by piece; lots should not be cast for its contents.

7 For the blood she shed is in her midst. She put it out on the bare rock; she didn't pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.

8 In order to stir up wrath and take vengeance, I have put her blood on the bare rock, so that it would not be covered.

9 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Woe to the city of bloodshed! I Myself will make the pile of kindling large.

Footnotes

• [a] Lit For her blood
• [b] Lv 17:13-14; Dt 12:16,24