Ezekiel 22:9

In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness. IN THEE ARE MEN THAT CARRY TO SHED BLOOD - informers, who by misrepresentations cause innocent blood to be shed (); literally, 'One who goes to and fro as a merchant.'...

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....

Verse Ezekiel 22:9. _IN THEE ARE MEN THAT CARRY TALES_] Witnesses that will swear any thing, even where life is concerned. _THEY EAT UPON THE MOUNTAINS_] Sacrifice to _idols_, and celebrate their _festivals_....

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 ARE MEN THAT CARRY TALES TO SHED BLOOD,.... Innocent blood, as the Targum; such who go from house to house, as pedlars do, with their wares or spices, as the word a signifies; hence the Syriac version renders it "merchants"; and carry tales and lies of innocent persons, and stir up others against them to wrath and revenge, and shed their blood; or that go to the courts of judicature, and there accuse innocent persons, and bear false witness against them, to the taking away of their lives. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it "thieves": who commonly are murderers: and in thee they eat upon the mountains; that is, there were such in Jerusalem who used to go to the mountains where idols were worshipped, and eat the things that were sacrificed to them; or partook of the feast made to the honour of them. So the Targum, "in thee they served idols on the mountains:'' IN THE MI...

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 ...

MEN. Hebrew, plural _of 'enesh._ App-14. Hebrew men of slander. CARRY TALES, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 19:16). App-92. EAT UPON THE MOUNTAINS: i.e. the idolatries practised on the mountains. Compare Ezekiel 18:6,...

Informers and false witnesses, Jeremiah 9:3; Exodus 23:1; Leviticus 19:16. Cf. ch. Ezekiel 18:6; Ezekiel 18:11. _commit lewdness_ This clause should probably introduce the vices in Ezekiel 22:10. Idolatry is metaphorically "lewdness," but here it is not the community but individuals who are spoken of, cf. Ezekiel 22:11....

IN THEE ARE MEN THAT CARRY TALES, &C.— "Who beat false witness against men in capital cases." Houbigant reads, _Thy men are perfidious, that they may shed blood._ The reader, for the best exposition of this chapter, will refer to the 18th....