Ezekiel 22:29
in Ezekiel 22The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.
KJV
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
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This verse in Ezekiel 22
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe rich oppress the poor, masters their servants, landlords their tenants, and even parents their own children; nay, the buyers and sellers will find some way to oppress one another. This is such a sin as, when it is national, is indeed a national judgment, and is threatened as such.
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 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
The people of the land have used oppression,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The people - All that have power or authority have abused it; vexed and oppressed the poor, the needy, and the stranger.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַ֤ם | ʾam | [the] people of | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| עָ֣שְׁקוּ | ʾasheku | they have oppressed | H6231 → | 36 times |
| עֹ֔שֶׁק | ʾoshek | oppression | H6233 → | 15 times |
| וְגָזְל֖וּ | vegazelu | and they have robbed | H1497 → | 30 times |
| גָּזֵ֑ל | gazel | robbery | H1498 → | |
| וְעָנִ֤י | veani | and [the] poor | H6041 → | 73 times |
| וְאֶבְיוֹן֙ | veevyon | and [the] needy | H34 → | 61 times |
| הוֹנ֔וּ | honu | they have maltreated | H3238 → | 20 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַגֵּ֥ר | hager | the sojourner | H1616 → | 92 times |
| עָשְׁק֖וּ | ʾasheku | they have oppressed | H6231 → | 36 times |
| בְּלֹ֥א | belo' | with not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מִשְׁפָּֽט׃ | mishpat | justice | H4941 → | 422 times |
עַ֤ם[the] people of
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
הָאָ֙רֶץ֙the land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
עָ֣שְׁקוּthey have oppressed
ʾashekuH6231 →36 times
עֹ֔שֶׁקoppression
ʾoshekH6233 →15 times
וְגָזְל֖וּand they have robbed
vegazeluH1497 →30 times
גָּזֵ֑לrobbery
gazelH1498 →
וְעָנִ֤יand [the] poor
veaniH6041 →73 times
וְאֶבְיוֹן֙and [the] needy
veevyonH34 →61 times
הוֹנ֔וּthey have maltreated
honuH3238 →20 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַגֵּ֥רthe sojourner
hagerH1616 →92 times
עָשְׁק֖וּthey have oppressed
ʾashekuH6231 →36 times
בְּלֹ֥אwith not
belo'H3808 →5168 times
מִשְׁפָּֽט׃justice
mishpatH4941 →422 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
Exodus 22:21You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 10:19
So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 23:9
Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Leviticus 19:33
When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.
- Deuteronomy 10:19
Through
Jeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
it leads to
- Ezekiel 13:6
They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
- Jeremiah 14:14
“The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination,…
- Ezekiel 13:6
Through
Psalms 94:6They kill the widow and the foreigner; they murder the fatherless.
it leads to
- Isaiah 10:2
to deprive the poor of fair treatment and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people, to make widows their prey and orphans their plunder.
- Isaiah 10:2
Through
Ezekiel 22:7Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.
it leads to
- Malachi 3:5
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 27:16
‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Malachi 3:5
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.