Ezekiel 22:6-12

6 “ ‘See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood.
7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.
8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.
9 In you are slanderers who are bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts.
10 In you are those who dishonor their father’s bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean.
11 In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.
12 In you are people who accept bribes to shed blood; you take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD.

Ezekiel 22:6-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 22

In this chapter a catalogue or list of the sins of the Jews is given; a comparison of them to dross is made, and they are dealt with accordingly; and a complaint is lodged against all ranks and orders of men for their sins; on account of which, there being no intercessor for them, they are threatened with captivity and destruction. The prophet is ordered to judge them, and lay before them their abominable sins, Eze 22:1,2, of which a long list is given, as murder, idolatry; contempt of parents; oppression of the stranger, fatherless, and widow; negligence of holy things; profanation of the sabbath; tale bearing, lewdness and uncleanness of various sorts; bribery, usury, extortion, and dishonest gain, Eze 22:3-13 for which the Lord threatens to deal with them in a manner that would be intolerable to them; that he would carry them captive, and scatter them among the Heathen, Eze 22:14-16, they are compared to dross, and as such should be gathered into a furnace, and melted down, Eze 22:17-21, all ranks and orders of men are complained of, because of their sins, and threatened, Eze 22:23,24, the prophets for their voraciousness, rapine, murder, and lies, Eze 22:25,28, the priests, for their violation of the law, neglect of holy things, and profanation of the sabbath, Eze 22:26, the princes, for their cruelty, murder, and dishonest gain, Eze 22:27, the people of the land, for their oppression and robbery, Eze 22:29, and there being none to stand in the gap for them, the Lord threatens to pour out his wrath upon them, and consume them, Eze 22:30,31.

Cross References 21

  • 1. S Ezekiel 11:6; Ezekiel 18:10; Ezekiel 33:25; Isaiah 1:23
  • 2. S Deuteronomy 5:16; Deuteronomy 27:16; Micah 7:6
  • 3. S Exodus 23:9
  • 4. S Exodus 22:21-22
  • 5. S Exodus 20:8; Ezekiel 23:38-39
  • 6. S Leviticus 19:16
  • 7. Isaiah 59:3; S Ezekiel 11:6; Hosea 4:2; Hosea 6:9
  • 8. Ezekiel 18:11
  • 9. Ezekiel 23:29; Hosea 4:10,14
  • 10. Leviticus 18:7
  • 11. S Leviticus 12:2
  • 12. S Leviticus 18:8,19
  • 13. S Jeremiah 5:8
  • 14. S Genesis 11:31; Leviticus 18:15
  • 15. S Leviticus 18:9; S 2 Samuel 13:14
  • 16. Ezekiel 18:6
  • 17. S Exodus 18:21; Deuteronomy 27:25; Psalms 26:10; Isaiah 5:23; Amos 5:12; Micah 7:3
  • 18. S Ezekiel 18:8
  • 19. Leviticus 19:13
  • 20. Psalms 106:21; S Isaiah 17:10; S Isaiah 57:11
  • 21. S Ezekiel 11:6
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