Ezekiel 22:25
in Ezekiel 22The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in the midst thereof.
KJV
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 22
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
They are mentioned first, as their bad influence extended the widest. prey--Their aim was greed of gain, "treasure, and precious things" (Ho 6:9; Mt 23:14). made . . . many widows--by occasioning, through false prophecies, the war with the Chaldeans in which the husbands fell.
This site's exposition
the word of the Lord came unto me, saying
on Ezekiel 22:23-29
A second word names the land itself unrained upon in the day of indignation, then indicts every order of leadership in turn, prophets who conspire like a ravening lion and daub lies in the Lord's own name, priests who violate the law and put no difference between the holy and the profane, princes who shed blood like wolves for dishonest gain, and the people who follow with oppression of the poor and the stranger. Henry reads the fourfold list as deliberate, no rank exempted and no excuse left standing, since the very officers meant to guard holiness are named as its worst offenders. Gill notes the priests' failure, no difference between the holy and profane, echoes the one interpreted point of the temple vision's later chambers, the same failure the restored sanctuary is built to prevent.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 23 and following) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, say to him: You are unclean land, not cleansed on the day of wrath. The conspiracy of the prophets within it, like a roaring lion seizing its prey: they have devoured souls, taken riches and precious things, multiplied widows within it. Its priests have despised my law and defiled my sanctuaries. They have not kept a distance between the holy and the profane, and they have not understood the difference between the unclean and the clean.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
A conspiracy - A contrivance, to speak all alike, smooth words, and give out promises of peace and safety. The treasure - As a reward of their lies. Made her - By persuading Zedekiah to hold out the war, which filled Jerusalem with dead husbands, and forlorn widows.
Satan is not divided against himself. The prophets are in conspiracy with the murderers and oppressors, to patronise and protect them in their wickedness, and justify what they did with their false prophecies, provided they may come in sharers with them in the profits of it.
This prophet is authorized to judge the bloody city, the city of bloods. Jerusalem is so called, not only because she had been guilty of the particular sin of blood-shed, but because her crimes in general were bloody crimes ( ch. vii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof,.... Not of the prophets of the Lord, but of her prophets; such as were agreeable to her, the false prophets.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
There is a conspiracy - The false prophets have united together to say and support the same things; and have been the cause of the destruction of souls, and the death of many, so that widows, through their means, are multiplied in thee.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קֶ֤שֶׁר | kesher | a conspiracy of | H7195 → | |
| נְבִיאֶ֙יהָ֙ | nevieiha | prophets its | H5030 → | 314 times |
| בְּתוֹכָ֔הּ | betokhah | [is] in [the] midst of it | H8432 → | 418 times |
| כַּאֲרִ֥י | kaari | like a lion | H738 → | 80 times |
| שׁוֹאֵ֖ג | shoeg | roaring | H7580 → | |
| טֹ֣רֵֽף | toref | tearing | H2963 → | 25 times |
| טָ֑רֶף | taref | prey | H2964 → | 22 times |
| נֶ֣פֶשׁ | nefesh | person[s] | H5315 → | 754 times |
| אָכָ֗לוּ | ʾakhalu | they have devoured | H398 → | 810 times |
| חֹ֤סֶן | chosen | treasure | H2633 → | |
| וִיקָר֙ | vikar | and precious thing[s] | H3366 → | |
| יִקָּ֔חוּ | yikachu | they have been taking | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אַלְמְנוֹתֶ֖יהָ | ʾalmenoteiha | widows its | H490 → | 56 times |
| הִרְבּ֥וּ | hirbu | they have multiplied | H7235 → | 227 times |
| בְתוֹכָֽהּ׃ | vetokhah | in [the] midst of it | H8432 → | 418 times |
קֶ֤שֶׁרa conspiracy of
kesherH7195 →
נְבִיאֶ֙יהָ֙prophets its
nevieihaH5030 →314 times
בְּתוֹכָ֔הּ[is] in [the] midst of it
betokhahH8432 →418 times
כַּאֲרִ֥יlike a lion
kaariH738 →80 times
שׁוֹאֵ֖גroaring
shoegH7580 →
טֹ֣רֵֽףtearing
torefH2963 →25 times
טָ֑רֶףprey
tarefH2964 →22 times
נֶ֣פֶשׁperson[s]
nefeshH5315 →754 times
אָכָ֗לוּthey have devoured
ʾakhaluH398 →810 times
חֹ֤סֶןtreasure
chosenH2633 →
וִיקָר֙and precious thing[s]
vikarH3366 →
יִקָּ֔חוּthey have been taking
yikachuH3947 →966 times
אַלְמְנוֹתֶ֖יהָwidows its
ʾalmenoteihaH490 →56 times
הִרְבּ֥וּthey have multiplied
hirbuH7235 →227 times
בְתוֹכָֽהּ׃in [the] midst of it
vetokhahH8432 →418 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 20:47They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.”
it leads to
- Mark 12:40
They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.”
- James 3:1
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
- Mark 12:40
Through
Jeremiah 2:34Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things
it leads to
- 2 Kings 21:16
Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the…
- 2 Kings 24:4
and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.
- Jeremiah 19:4
because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in this place to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have ever…
- 2 Kings 21:16
Through
Ezekiel 13:19You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared…
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:21
To show partiality is not good, yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.
- Micah 3:5
This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their…
- Proverbs 28:21
Through
Jeremiah 11:9And the LORD told me, “There is a conspiracy among the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.
it leads to
- Hosea 6:9
Like raiders who lie in ambush, so does a band of priests; they murder on the way to Shechem; surely they have committed atrocities.
- Hosea 6:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.