Ezekiel 22:27

Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. HER PRINCES ... ARE LIKE WOLVES RAVENING THE PREY - her 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; Micah 3:9; )....

23-31 All orders and degrees of men had helped to fill the measure of the nation's guilt. The people that had any power abused it, and even the buyers and sellers find some way to oppress one another. It bodes ill to a people when judgments are breaking in upon them, and the spirit of prayer is restrained. Let all who fear God, unite to promote his truth and righteousness; as wicked men of every rank and profession plot together to run them down....

Verse Ezekiel 22:27. _HER PRINCES_] Are as bad as her _priests_; they are rapacious, and grievously oppress the people by unjust impositions in order to increase their revenues....

The sixth word of judgment. The special sins of princes, priests, and people. Ezekiel 22:26 VIOLATED - Better as in margin; to offer “violence” to the Law is to misinterpret it. It was the special office of the priests to keep up the distinction between “holy” and “unholy,” “clean” and “unclean” Leviticus 10:10. Ezekiel 22:28 See the marginal reference note. Ezekiel 22:30 The land might be said to perish for the lack of such interpositions as saved their forefathers wh

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_

HER PRINCES IN THE MIDST THEREOF ARE LIKE WOLVES RAVENING THE PREY,.... The king and his nobles, those of the first rank and quality, who ought to have protected the persons and property of the meaner sort; these were like "wolves" themselves, subtle, voracious, and cruel, preying upon harmless persons, as those creatures do upon the sheep and lambs: TO SHED BLOOD; innocent blood, as the Targum: AND TO DESTROY SOULS; take away lives, under a pretence of treasonable practices, and all with a view to get dishonest gain; that their estates may be forfeited, their goods confiscated, and got into their hands....

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 ...

_Her princes_ The "princes" here are the chiefs or leaders of the people, cf. Jeremiah 26:10; Jeremiah 36:12. _get dishonest gain_ Cf. Jeremiah 6:13; Jeremiah 8:10. The term is used pretty generally, of selfish advantage....

TO GET DISHONEST GAIN— For greediness of lucre. REFLECTIONS.—1st, Jerusalem, the bloody city, is here brought to the bar, to be convicted and condemned: and the prophet is constituted of God both her accuser and her judge. 1. Her abominations are many, great, and aggravated; and they are _shewn_ her to evince and manifest the justice of God in her destruction. [1.] Murder: The blood of innocents was shed _in the midst of_ her, from assassinations, tyrannical abuse of power, or perversion of justice; the guilt of which cried aloud. The princes and magistrates, who should have avenged such crimes, were themselves the first to perpetrate them _to_ the utmost of _their power,_ while tale-bearers sought to incense them by malicious reports and insinuations; and were chargeable with all the mischief which ensued; and perjured wretches or assassins, for money, were ready to swear away the lif...

C. The Corrupt Land 22:23-31 TRANSLATION (23) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (24) Son of man, say to her: You are a land not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. (25) There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst, like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured souls, they have taken treasure and precious things, they have multiplied her widows in the midst of her. (26) Her priests have done violence to My law, and have profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and the common, nor have they taught the difference between the unclean and clean, and they have hidden their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. (27) Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey: to shed blood, and to destroy souls, in order to acquire illicit gain. (28) And her prophets have daubed for them with white plaster...