Ezekiel 22:27
in Ezekiel 22Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
KJV
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
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This verse in Ezekiel 22
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAll their business was to gratify, [1.] Their own pride and ambition, by making themselves arbitrary and formidable. [2.] Their own malice and revenge, by shedding blood and destroying souls, sacrificing to their cruelty all those that stood in their way or had in any thing disobliged them. [3.] Their own avarice; all they aim at is to get dishonest gain, by crushing and oppressing their subject.
This site's exposition
the word of the Lord came unto me, saying
on Ezekiel 22:23-29
A second word indicts every order of leadership, prophets, priests who put no difference between the holy and the profane, princes, and the people. Henry reads the fourfold list as deliberate, since the very officers meant to guard holiness are named as its worst offenders.
This site's exposition
like wolves tearing their prey
Verse 25 had lions, and here the officials are wolves. Henry names their aims as pride, ambition, malice and revenge, served by shedding blood and destroying lives. Zephaniah 3:3 uses the same two beasts for the rulers of Jerusalem.
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 Awakening2 voices
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
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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 words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׂרֶ֣יהָ | sareiha | princes its | H8269 → | 421 times |
| בְקִרְבָּ֔הּ | vekirbah | in midst its | H7130 → | 227 times |
| כִּזְאֵבִ֖ים | kizevim | [are] like wolves | H2061 → | |
| טֹ֣רְפֵי | torefei | tearing | H2963 → | 25 times |
| טָ֑רֶף | taref | <of> prey | H2964 → | 22 times |
| לִשְׁפָּךְ־ | lishpokh- | to shed | H8210 → | 114 times |
| דָּם֙ | dam | blood | H1818 → | 360 times |
| לְאַבֵּ֣ד | leabed | to destroy | H6 → | 184 times |
| נְפָשׁ֔וֹת | nefashot | lives | H5315 → | 754 times |
| לְמַ֖עַן | lemaan | so as | H4616 → | 272 times |
| בְּצֹ֥עַ | betzoa' | to make unjust gain | H1214 → | |
| בָּֽצַע׃ | batza' | unjust gain | H1215 → | 23 times |
שָׂרֶ֣יהָprinces its
sareihaH8269 →421 times
בְקִרְבָּ֔הּin midst its
vekirbahH7130 →227 times
כִּזְאֵבִ֖ים[are] like wolves
kizevimH2061 →
טֹ֣רְפֵיtearing
torefeiH2963 →25 times
טָ֑רֶף<of> prey
tarefH2964 →22 times
לִשְׁפָּךְ־to shed
lishpokh-H8210 →114 times
דָּם֙blood
damH1818 →360 times
לְאַבֵּ֣דto destroy
leabedH6 →184 times
נְפָשׁ֔וֹתlives
nefashotH5315 →754 times
לְמַ֖עַןso as
lemaanH4616 →272 times
בְּצֹ֥עַto make unjust gain
betzoa'H1214 →
בָּֽצַע׃unjust gain
batza'H1215 →23 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
Isaiah 1:23Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
it leads to
- Micah 7:3
Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- Zechariah 7:10
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’
- Exodus 23:8
Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
- Acts 4:5–11
The next day the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem,
- Micah 7:3
Through
Ezekiel 22:25The 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.
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
Through
Ezekiel 22:13Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 21:17
I too will strike My hands together, and I will satisfy My wrath.’ I, the LORD, have spoken.”
- Isaiah 33:15
He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
- Ezekiel 21:17
Through
Ezekiel 22:6See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:23
Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Isaiah 1:23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.