Ezekiel 22:9

9 You have people spreading lies and spilling blood, flocking to the hills to the sex shrines and fornicating unrestrained.

Ezekiel 22:9 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 22:9

In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood
Innocent blood, as the Targum; such who go from house to house, as pedlars do, with their wares or spices, as the word F1 signifies; hence the Syriac version renders it "merchants"; and carry tales and lies of innocent persons, and stir up others against them to wrath and revenge, and shed their blood; or that go to the courts of judicature, and there accuse innocent persons, and bear false witness against them, to the taking away of their lives. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it "thieves": who commonly are murderers: and in thee they eat upon the mountains; that is, there were such in Jerusalem who used to go to the mountains where idols were worshipped, and eat the things that were sacrificed to them; or partook of the feast made to the honour of them. So the Targum,

``in thee they served idols on the mountains:''
in the midst of thee they commit lewdness;
a general word for all manner of uncleanness, as adultery, fornication, incest of which some particulars follow.
FOOTNOTES:

F1 (lykr yvna) "homines mercaturae, [vel] aromatis"; so Ben Melech observes.

Ezekiel 22:9 In-Context

7 You're a community that's insolent to parents, abusive to outsiders, oppressive against orphans and widows.
8 You treat my holy things with contempt and desecrate my Sabbaths.
9 You have people spreading lies and spilling blood, flocking to the hills to the sex shrines and fornicating unrestrained.
10 Incest is common. Men force themselves on women regardless of whether they're ready or willing.
11 Sex is now anarchy. Anyone is fair game: neighbor, daughter-in-law, sister.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.