Ezekiel 33:26

26 You rely on your sword, you do a detestable thing, and {each man defiles} the wife of his neighbor, and [yet] you want to take possession of the land?" '

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, the inhabitants of these ruins on the soil of Israel [are] saying, 'Abraham was one [man], and he took possession of the land, and we [are] many; the land has been given for us as [a] possession.'

25 Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "You eat blood [in your meat], and you raise your eyes to your idols and you pour out blood, and [yet] you want to take possession of the land?

26 You rely on your sword, you do a detestable thing, and {each man defiles} the wife of his neighbor, and [yet] you want to take possession of the land?" '

27 "Thus you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{As I live}, {surely} whoever [is] in the ruins, by the sword they will fall, and whoever [is] on the surface of the open field, I will give him to the animals to eat him, and whoever [is] in the stronghold and in the cave, they will die by the plague.

28 And I will make the land [a] desolation and [a] wasteland, and the pride of its strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will be desolate {with no one traveling through them}." '

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "a man the wife of neighbor you defile"
• [b] Or "you would take possession of the land"