Ezekiel 33:26

26 You have relied on your swords, you have committed abominations, and each of you has defiled his neighbor's wife. Should you then receive possession of the land?^[a]

Ezekiel 33:26 Meaning and Commentary

Ver. 26 Ye stand upon your sword
You trust in it, and think to support yourselves by it, and secure your possession and right of it by that means. So the Targum,

``you stand in your strength:''

ye work abomination;
that which is abominable to God, and not fit to be named among men; Jarchi interprets it of sodomy: the word is in the feminine gender, and may be rendered, "ye women work abomination"; referring to that unnatural lust the apostle speaks of, ( Romans 1:26 ) so Ben Melech: and ye defile everyone his neighbour's wife;
were guilty of adultery; and which was so common, that scarce any were free from it, and therefore is charged upon the whole body of them: and shall ye possess the land?
such vile creatures as these, guilty of the abominations for which the land formerly spewed out its ancient inhabitants, the Canaanites? and the present possessors might expect the same, as being very unworthy inheritors of it, whatever high thoughts they might have of themselves.

Ezekiel 33:26 In-Context

24 "Son of man, those who live in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying: Abraham was only one person, yet he received possession of the land. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession.

25 Therefore say to them: This is what the Lord God says: You eat [meat] with blood [in it], raise your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. Should you then receive possession of the land?

26 You have relied on your swords, you have committed abominations, and each of you has defiled his neighbor's wife. Should you then receive possession of the land?

27 "Tell them this: This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, those who are in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I have given to wild animals to be devoured, and those in the strongholds and caves will die by plague.

28 I will make the land a desolate waste, and its proud strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, with no one passing through.

Footnotes

• [a] Ezk 18:6,10-11,15