---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Ezekiel 22"
description: "CHAPTER 22   :-. GOD"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ezekiel/22"
---

CHAPTER 22

. GOD'S
JUDGMENT ON THE SINFULNESS
OF JERUSALEM.
Repetition of the charges in the
twentieth chapter; only that there they were stated in an historical
review of the *past* and present; here the *present* sins
of the nation exclusively are brought forward.

**2.** See ; that is, "Wilt thou *not* judge?" c.
(compare [Ezekiel 23:36](../../../kjv/ezekiel/23/36)).
**the bloody city**—literally,
"the city of bloods" so called on account of murders
perpetrated in her, and sacrifices of children to Molech ([Ezekiel 22:3](../../../kjv/ezekiel/22/3);
[Ezekiel 22:4](../../../kjv/ezekiel/22/4); [Ezekiel 22:6](../../../kjv/ezekiel/22/6);
[Ezekiel 22:9](../../../kjv/ezekiel/22/9); [Ezekiel 24:6](../../../kjv/ezekiel/24/6);
[Ezekiel 24:9](../../../kjv/ezekiel/24/9)).

**3. sheddeth blood . . . that her
time may come**—Instead of deriving advantage from her bloody
sacrifices to idols, she only thereby brought on herself "the
time" of her punishment.
**against herself**— ().

**4. thy days**—the shorter
period, namely, that of the *siege.*
**thy years**—the longer
period of the *captivity.* The "days" and "years"
express that she is ripe for punishment.

**5. infamous**—They mockingly
call thee, "Thou polluted one in name (*Margin*), and full
of confusion" [FAIRBAIRN],
(referring to the tumultuous violence prevalent in it). Thus the
nations "far and near" mocked her as at once sullied in
character and in actual fact lawless. What a sad contrast to the
Jerusalem once designated "the holy city!"

**6.** Rather, "The princes . .
. each according to his power, were in thee, to shed blood" (as
if this was the only object of their existence). "Power,"
literally, "arm"; they, who ought to have been patterns of
justice, made their own arm of might their only law.

**7. set light by**—Children have
made light of, disrespected, father . . . (). At [Ezekiel 22:7-12](../../../kjv/ezekiel/22/7-12)
are enumerated the sins committed in violation of Moses' law.

**9. men that carry tales**—*informers,*
who by misrepresentations cause innocent blood to be shed (). Literally, "one who goes to and fro as a *merchant.*"

**10. set apart for pollution**—that
is, set apart *as unclean* ().

**12. forgotten me**— ([Deuteronomy 32:18](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/32/18);
[Jeremiah 2:32](../../../kjv/jeremiah/2/32); [Jeremiah 3:21](../../../kjv/jeremiah/3/21)).

**13. smitten mine hand**—in token
of the indignant vengeance which I will execute on thee (see on ).

**14.** ().

**15. consume thy filthiness out of
thee**—the object of God in scattering the Jews.

**16. take thine inheritance in
thyself**—Formerly thou wast Mine inheritance; but now, full of
guilt, thou art no longer Mine, but *thine own inheritance to
thyself;* "in the sight of the heathen," that is, even
they shall see that, now that thou hast become a captive, thou art no
longer owned as Mine [VATABLUS].
FAIRBAIRN and others
needlessly take the *Hebrew* from a different root, "thou
shalt be *polluted by* ('in,' [HENDERSON])
*thyself,*" c. the heathen shall regard thee as a polluted
thing, who hast brought thine own reproach on thyself.

**18. dross . . . brass**—Israel
has become a worthless compound of the dross of silver (implying not
merely corruption, but *degeneracy* from good to bad, , especially offensive) and of the baser metals. Hence the
people must be thrown into the furnace of judgment, that the bad may
be consumed, and the good separated ([Jeremiah 6:29](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/29);
[Jeremiah 6:30](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/30)).

**23.** From this verse to the end
he shows the general corruption of all ranks.

**24. land . . . not cleansed**—not
cleared or cultivated; all a scene of desolation; a fit emblem of the
moral wilderness state of the people.
**nor rained upon**—a mark
of divine "indignation"; as the early and latter rain, on
which the productiveness of the land depended, was one of the great
covenant blessings. Joel ([Joel 2:23](../../../kjv/joel/2/23))
promises the return of the former and latter rain, with the
restoration of God's favor.

**25. conspiracy**—The false
prophets have conspired both to propagate error and to oppose the
messages of God's servants. *They* are mentioned first, as their
bad influence extended the widest.
**prey**—Their aim was
greed of gain, "treasure, and precious things" ([Hosea 6:9](../../../kjv/hosea/6/9);
[Zephaniah 3:3](../../../kjv/zephaniah/3/3); [Zephaniah 3:4](../../../kjv/zephaniah/3/4);
[Matthew 23:14](../../../kjv/matthew/23/14)).
**made . . . many widows**—by
occasioning, through false prophecies, the war with the Chaldeans in
which the husbands fell.

**26. Her priests**—whose "lips
should have kept knowledge" ().
**violated**—not simply
*transgressed;* but, *have done violence to* the law, by
wresting it to wrong ends, and putting wrong constructions on it.
**put no difference between the
holy and profane,** c.—made no distinction between the clean and
unclean ([Leviticus 10:10](../../../kjv/leviticus/10/10)), the Sabbath
and other days, sanctioning violations of that holy day. "Holy"
means, *what is dedicated to God* "profane," *what
is in common use;* "unclean," *what is forbidden to be
eaten;* "clean," *what is lawful to be eaten.*
**I am profaned among them**—They
abuse My name to false or unjust purposes.

**27. princes**—who should have
employed the influence of their position for the people's welfare,
made "gain" their sole aim.
**wolves**—notorious for
fierce and ravening cruelty ([Micah 3:2](../../../kjv/micah/3/2);
[Micah 3:3](../../../kjv/micah/3/3); [Micah 3:9-11](../../../kjv/micah/3/9-11);
[John 10:12](../../../kjv/john/10/12)).

**28.** Referring to the false
assurances of peace with which the prophets flattered the people,
that they should not submit to the king of Babylon (see on ; [Ezekiel 21:29](../../../kjv/ezekiel/21/29); [Jeremiah 6:14](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/14);
[Jeremiah 23:16](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/16); [Jeremiah 23:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/17);
[Jeremiah 27:9](../../../kjv/jeremiah/27/9); [Jeremiah 27:10](../../../kjv/jeremiah/27/10)).

**29. The people**—put last, after
the mention of those in office. Corruption had spread downwards
through the whole community.
**wrongfully**—that is,
"without cause," gratuitously, without the stranger
proselyte giving any just provocation; nay, he of all others being
one who ought to have been won to the worship of Jehovah by kindness,
instead of being alienated by oppression; especially as the
Israelites were commanded to remember that they themselves had been
"strangers in Egypt" ([Exodus 22:21](../../../kjv/exodus/22/21);
[Exodus 23:9](../../../kjv/exodus/23/9)).

**30. the hedge**—the wall (see on
[Ezekiel 22:1](../../../kjv/ezekiel/22/1)); image for *leading
the people to repentance.*
**the gap**—the breach ([Ezekiel 22:1](../../../kjv/ezekiel/22/1)); image for *interceding between the people and God*
([Genesis 20:7](../../../kjv/genesis/20/7); [Exodus 32:11](../../../kjv/exodus/32/11);
[Numbers 16:48](../../../kjv/numbers/16/48)).
**I found none**— ([Numbers 16:48](../../../kjv/numbers/16/48)) —not that literally there was not a righteous man in the
city. For Jeremiah, Baruch, c., were still there but Jeremiah had
been forbidden to pray for the people ([Numbers 16:48](../../../kjv/numbers/16/48)), as being doomed to wrath. None now, of the godly, knowing
the desperate state of the people, and God's purpose as to them, was
*willing* longer to interpose between God's wrath and them. And
none "among them," that is, among those just enumerated as
guilty of such sins ([Numbers 16:48](../../../kjv/numbers/16/48)), was morally *able* for such an office.

**31. their own way . . . recompensed
upon their heads**— ([Ezekiel 9:10](../../../kjv/ezekiel/9/10);
[Ezekiel 11:21](../../../kjv/ezekiel/11/21); [Ezekiel 16:43](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/43);
[Proverbs 1:31](../../../kjv/proverbs/1/31); [Isaiah 3:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/3/11);
[Jeremiah 6:19](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/19)).

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ezekiel/22#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Ezekiel 22"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ezekiel/22#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ezekiel/22","name":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Ezekiel 22","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ezekiel/22#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"CHAPTER 22   :-. GOD'S\nJUDGMENT ON THE SINFULNESS\nOF JERUSALEM. Repetition of the charges in the\ntwentieth chapter; only that there they were stated in an","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ezekiel/22#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ezekiel/22"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ezekiel/22#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","name":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ezekiel","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ezekiel","name":"Ezekiel"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ezekiel/22","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ezekiel/22","name":"22"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```