Ezekiel 33:25

25 Therefore thou shalt say to them, The Lord God saith these things, Whether ye that eat in blood, and raise your eyes to your uncleannesses, and shed blood, shall have in possession the land by heritage? (And so thou shalt say to them, The Lord God saith these things, Shall ye who eat things with blood, and raise up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood, have the land in possession by inheritance?)

Ezekiel 33:25 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 33:25

Wherefore say unto them, thus saith the Lord God
Send them this message in writing, as from the Lord; for the prophet was now in Chaldea, and could not deliver it by word of mouth to those that inhabited the wastes of Israel; but he could tell it to the messenger that came to him, who had escaped from Jerusalem; or send it by him, or some other: ye eat with the blood;
or rather "upon", or "by" the "blood" ^F12; contrary to the law in ( Leviticus 19:26 ) which is a different law from that in ( Genesis 9:4 ) , and from that in ( Leviticus 3:17 ) ( Leviticus 7:26 Leviticus 7:27 ) and refers to an idolatrous practice of the Heathens, which these Jews imitated; who, having slain and offered their sacrifices to devils, sat down round about the blood of them, and ate their food or part of their sacrifice by it, as Kimchi on the text observes. The account Maimonides ^F13 gives of the Zabians is this,

``you must know (says he) that the blood is reckoned very unclean and impure by the Zabians, yet is eaten by them, because they think it is the food of devils; and that he that eats it by this means obtains some communications with them; so that they converse familiarly with him, and reveal things future to him, which the vulgar commonly attribute to devils: notwithstanding there were some among them, with whom it seemed very grievous and difficult to eat blood (for it is a thing which the nature of man abhors); these used to slay some beast, and take its blood, and put it in a vessel, or in a hole dug in the earth, and eat the slain beast, sitting in a circle about the blood; imagining to themselves, in so doing, while they ate the flesh the devils ate the blood, and that this is their food; and by this means friendship, fraternity, and familiarity were contracted between them, because they all ate at one table, and sat on one seat; besides, they were of opinion that the devils appeared to them in dreams, and told them things to come, and were of much advantage to them;''

and accordingly it follows: and lift up your eyes towards your idols;
make your devotion, and pray unto them, and worship them, and expect help and assistance from them: and shed blood;
innocent blood, as the Targum; they were guilty of murder as well as of idolatry, or shedding of blood, in sacrifice to idols: and shall ye possess the land?
can such wretches as you, such gross idolaters and murderers, ever think that you are the children of Abraham, and have a right to the inheritance of this land, or shall long continue in the possession of it, living in such abominable iniquities as these?

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 (Mdh le) "super sanguinem", Munster, Montanus, Cocceius, Starckius; "juxta sanguinem"; so some in Vatablus.
F13 Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 46. p. 484.

Ezekiel 33:25 In-Context

23 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and he said,

24 Thou, son of man, they that dwell in these ruinous things, either ready to fall down, on the earth of Israel, say, speaking, Abraham was one, and by heritage he had the land in possession; forsooth we be many, (and) the land is given to us into possession. (Thou, son of man, they who live in these ruined places, or in places ready to fall down, in the land of Israel, speak, saying, Abraham was but one, and he had the land in possession; and we be many, and the land is given to us by inheritance for a possession.)

25 Therefore thou shalt say to them, The Lord God saith these things, Whether ye that eat in blood, and raise your eyes to your uncleannesses, and shed blood, shall have in possession the land by heritage? (And so thou shalt say to them, The Lord God saith these things, Shall ye who eat things with blood, and raise up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood, have the land in possession by inheritance?)

26 Ye stood in your swords, ye did your abominations, and each man defouled the wife of his neighbour; and shall ye wield the land by heritage? (Ye trusted in your swords, ye did your abominations, and every man defiled his neighbour's wife; and so shall ye get the land by inheritance?)

27 Thou shalt say these things to them, Thus saith the Lord God, I live, for they that dwell in ruinous things, either ready to fall down, shall fall down by sword, and he that is in the field, shall be given to beasts to be devoured; but they that be in strongholds and in dens, shall die by pestilence. (Thou shalt say these things to them, Thus saith the Lord God, As I live, for they who live in ruined places, or in places ready to fall down, shall fall by the sword, and he who is in the field, shall be given to the beasts to be devoured; and they who be in strongholds and in dens, shall die by pestilence.)