Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 22
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Ezekiel 22
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Ezekiel 22
"And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her abominations." — Ezekiel 22:2 (ASV)
Will you judge. —This is the same expression as in Ezekiel 20:4. (See Note there.) The meaning from the margin, “plead for,” is not appropriate here.
Bloody city. —In Ezekiel 22:2-6, crimes of bloodshed and idolatry are dwelt upon, and there seems always to have been a close connection between them. The same words are used in Ezekiel 24:6; Ezekiel 24:9, and in Nahum 3:1.
"And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A city that sheddeth blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that maketh idols against herself to defile her!" — Ezekiel 22:3 (ASV)
That her time may come.— Her time of punishment. What will be the inevitable consequence of her acts is represented by a very common figure, as if it were her purpose in doing them. She has been so fully warned of the result that continuing in her course seems to involve the intention of bringing on that result.
"Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking to all the countries." — Ezekiel 22:4 (ASV)
Your days ... your years. —Namely, of judgment and visitation. The Rabbinical commentators interpret the days as the destruction of Jerusalem, and the years as the captivity in Babylon.
A mocking to all countries.— This is frequently spoken of in Ezekiel, and is the necessary result in all ages of the contrast between high professions and inconsistent performance. Israel’s law stood far above the legislation of any other nation of the period, but the habitual conduct of her people was in utter disregard of that law. The effect was the same as at a later day, when St. Paul said, The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you (Romans 2:24), just as the same evils and the same hindrances to the spread of the Gospel now result from the unworthy lives of Christians.
But the Jews peculiarly exposed themselves to derision by their claim, as the chosen people of God, to universal and everlasting dominion, contrasted with their present overthrow and desolation; and this desolation was a punishment for the outrageous sins of a people whose whole national existence was based upon a call to peculiar holiness.
"Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, thou infamous one [and] full of tumult." — Ezekiel 22:5 (ASV)
Infamous and much vexed. —It is better to omit the words in italics, which art. The literal meaning of “infamous” is given in the margin; but the “much vexed” refers to the internal confusion, commotions, and social disorders which characterised the decaying state of the kingdom.
"Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been in thee to shed blood." — Ezekiel 22:6 (ASV)
Were in you to their power. —The tense is the same with that of the verbs in Ezekiel 22:7, and both should be translated alike; the order of the words should also be changed: The princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been in you to shed blood. The rulers, who should have preserved order and administered justice, were foremost in deeds of violence. (See the instances of Manasseh, 2 Kings 21:16, and of Jehoiakim, 2 Kings 24:4.)
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