Ezekiel 22:12

In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD. AND HAST FORGOTTEN ME - the root of all sin (; ; )....

1-16 The prophet is to judge the bloody city; the city of bloods. Jerusalem is so called, because of her crimes. The sins which Jerusalem stands charged with, are exceeding sinful. Murder, idolatry, disobedience to parents, oppression and extortion, profanation of the sabbath and holy things, seventh commandment sins, lewdness and adultery. Unmindfulness of God was at the bottom of all this wickedness. Sinners provoke God because they forget him. Jerusalem has filled the measure of her sins. Those who give up themselves to be ruled by their lusts, will justly be given up to be portioned by them. Those who resolve to be their own masters, let them expect no other happiness than their own hands can furnish; and a miserable portion it will prove....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 22:1, EZEKIEL 22:2 MOREOVER, etc. The word connects what follows with THE WORD OF THE LORD which began in Ezekiel 20:2. That connection is, indeed, sufficiently indicated by the recurrence of the formula, "Wilt thou judge?" (see note on Ezekiel 20:4). In obedience to the commands which that question implied, Ezekiel has once more to go through the catalogue of the sins of Judah and Jerusalem. It is not without significance that he applies the very epithet of BLOODY CITY (Hebrew, _city of bloods_

IN THEE HAVE THEY TAKEN GIFTS TO SHED BLOOD..... Innocent blood, as the Targum; judges upon the bench, whose office it is to take the part of the innocent, and clear him from unjust charges; and protect him from the violence of wicked and unreasonable men; that lay things to his charge, which, if true, would require blood; and yet men in such offices took bribes to bring in the innocent guilty, and pass sentence of death on him; which is a most shocking iniquity indeed: to take bribes in pecuniary matters is very wicked; but to do it in cases which affect life is most dreadfully cruel: or if it is to be understood of such persons who take bribes to bear false witness against a man, to the taking away of his life, it is a very heinous and detestable sin; for, as for a set of jurymen bribed to bring in a wrong verdict, which would be equally a most enormous crime; such a custom to try caus...

Ezekiel 22:1; Ezekiel 23:1. Before the sharpened sword of justice and retribution does its dreadful work, the Lord uncovers the guilt and vileness of the city and lays bare the corruption of her prophets, priests, and princes, as well as of the people. The violence and abomination of Jerusalem are revealed in Ezekiel 22:1; the smelting furnace in Ezekiel 22:17 is the symbol of Jehovah's fiery indignation against Jerusalem and its inhabitants. The corruption of the prophets, priests, and princes is fully uncovered in the closing section of chapter 22 ...

EZEKIEL 22. THE SINS OF THE CLASSES AND THE MASSES. The doom which has just been described in such fiercely vivid terms contains only one allusion to the sins which justified it (Ezekiel 21:23 f.). This chapter details those sins, and deals with the present as Ezekiel 22:20 had dealt with the past, incidentally letting us see what Ezekiel means by sin. EZEKIEL 22:1. THE SIN. The evils denounced are largely social wrongs (_cf._ ch. 18), but it is significant that the low morality is traced to false religion idolatry (Ezekiel 22:3 f.) and forgetfulness of God ...

TAKEN GIFTS, &c. Ref to Pentateuch (Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 16:19; Deuteronomy 27:25). TAKEN USURY, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 22:25.Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 23:19). App-92. Compare Ezekiel 18:8. HAST FORGOTTEN ME. Reference to Pentateuch (Ez

_taken gifts_ i.e. bribes, said of judges, Exodus 23:8; Isaiah 1:23; Micah 3:11 Cf. ch. Ezekiel 18:13; Ezekiel 23:35. _by extortion_ OPPRESSION, or violence, as Ezekiel 22:7. The vices here enumerated follow one another without any strict connexion. 1. The despotic conduct of the princes, whose power is their god (Habakkuk 1:11),...

GREEDILY GAINED OF— _Made a gain of._...

CHAPTER ELEVEN THE DEFILEMENT OF ISRAEL 22:1-24:27 Chapter s 22-24 form the conclusion of a lengthy section of the Book of Ezekiel which began back in chapter 12. In these Chapter s Ezekiel has been answering all objections articulated and unarticulated which could be raised against his thesis that God must destroy Jerusalem. By means of three oracles, two parables and a symbolic action the prophet here underscores the defilement of the land of Israel in the past and in the present. Each chapter in this section forms a distinct unit which may be titled as follows: (1) A Sinful Nation (Ezekiel 22:1-31); (2) A Sad History (Ezekiel 23:1-49); (3) A Significant Date (Ezekiel 24:1-27)....