“ ‘ “Behold, therefore I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been within you.
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘ “Behold, therefore I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been within you.
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Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
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Behold, therefore, I have smitten My hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 22:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 33:15 He who walks righteously and speaks blamelessly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil—
- Ezekiel 21:17 I will also strike my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest. I, Yahweh, have spoken it.”
- Ezekiel 21:14 “You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together. Let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the fatally wounded. It is the sword of the great one who is fatally wounded, which enters into their rooms.
- Ezekiel 22:27 Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
- Amos 2:6-8 Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals; They trample on the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and deny justice to the oppressed; and a man and his father use the same maiden, to profane my holy name; and they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
- Numbers 24:10 Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three times.
- Proverbs 28:8 He who increases his wealth by excessive interest gathers it for one who has pity on the poor.
- Jeremiah 5:26-27 For wicked men are found among my people. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich.
- Jeremiah 7:9-11 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered,’ that you may do all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it,” says Yahweh.
- Amos 3:10 “Indeed they don’t know to do right,” says Yahweh, “Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces.”
- Amos 8:4-6 Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail, Saying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit; that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?’ ”
- Micah 2:1-3 Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. Therefore Yahweh says: “Behold, I am planning against these people a disaster, from which you will not remove your necks, neither will you walk haughtily; for it is an evil time.
- Micah 6:10-11 Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a short ephah that is accursed? Shall I be pure with dishonest scales, and with a bag of deceitful weights?
- 1 Thessalonians 4:6 that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain In token of my wrath and vengeance.
In token of my wrath and vengeance.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 22:13 Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand…
Eze 22:13 Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
Ver. 13. I have smitten my hand.] In token of utmost indignation, as Num 24:10.
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At thy dishonest gain which thou hast made.] The Jewish doctors observe, that, whereas twenty-four different abominations are here reckoned up, the destruction of the city is attributed chiefly to covetousness. Lycurgus foretold his Lacedaemonians that filthy lucre would be the overthrow of their city, and it proved so. {a} The same is reported of Constantinople, of Babylon, the seat of the great Caliph, taken and sacked by Haalon, brother to Mango the great Khan of Tartary, who starved to death the rich but wretched Caliph in the midst of his hoards; {b} 1ike as the Roman soldiers first slew Ruffinus, who affected to be co-emperor with Arcadius, and then cutting off his right hand, carried it up and down the city, crying out to the people, Date stipem viro avaritiae inexplebilis, {c} Give an alms to a man of insatiable covetousness.
{a} Plutarch.
{b} Turkish History.
{c} Paraei, Med. Hist. Profan.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Behold; hear therefore, and mark, ye wicked Jews.
Behold; hear therefore, and mark, ye wicked Jews.
I have smitten mine hand, in testimony of my abhorrence of your ways, as threatening to punish you, and setting on the fierce Babylonian upon you to execute my just displeasure.
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At thy dishonest gain; thy covetousness, the root of all the evils in thee; thy cursed, unsatiable hunger for wealth.
Thy blood, which thou didst shed, that thou mightest then seize their estates; kill Naboths, and take possession.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Behold, therefore, I have smitten mine hand at thy…
Behold, therefore, I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made,.... As one amazed at it; or as filled with indignation against it; or as grieved and distressed at it; so Jarchi and Kimchi: or else as rejoicing at the punishment going to be inflicted on them for it. So the Septuagint renders it,
"I will bring my hand upon them;''
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and the Targum,
"behold, I will bring my vengeance upon thee for the sins of mammon, &c.
Jarchi and Kimchi observe from their Rabbins, that four and twenty sins are recited by Ezekiel; but the final sentence of punishment is for rapine or dishonest gain, which is the greatest evil of all, Ti1 6:10,
and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee; the innocent blood shed in the midst of her; not so much by thieves and cutthroats, as under a pretence of justice which was very abominable indeed; against which the Lord expresses just and strong resentment.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Smitten mine hand - In testimony of my abhorrence.
Smitten mine hand - In testimony of my abhorrence.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Eze 22:13-16. Therefore I have smitten my hand at…
Eze 22:13-16. Therefore I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain, &c. — Therefore I have expressed my indignation against thy avarice and unjust practices: I have called for punishment to come upon thee, and have animated and encouraged thy enemies to destroy thee. Can thy heart endure? — Will not thy heart fail thee when thou shalt fall into those calamities which I will certainly bring upon thee? And will consume thy filthiness out of thee — Will purge thee in the furnace of afflictions, and take that method to consume thy dross, and put an end to thy idolatrous practices. And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen — “Instead of being mine inheritance, and under my peculiar care and protection, thou shalt be cast out among the heathen, and there eat the fruit of thine own ways, and receive the just reward of thy wickedness.” The translation of this clause in the margin seems preferable: Thou shalt be profaned, that is, thou shalt no longer enjoy the privileges of a city called by my name, and set apart for my worship, but shalt be laid open as common ground to be profaned by infidels: compare Isa 47:6.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Hands, through surprise and sorrow. (Calmet) --- God wishes…
Hands, through surprise and sorrow. (Calmet) --- God wishes the sinner’s salvation, Genesis vi. 6. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain smitten mine hand--in token of the indignant vengeance which…
smitten mine hand--in token of the indignant vengeance which I will execute on thee (see on Eze 21:17).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. Smitten mine hand at [or, in] — See…
13. Smitten mine hand at [or, in] — See note Eze_6:11. Yet perhaps this is not a clapping of the hands, but a striking of the hand upon the evil object.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13–22. The judgment on these vices
13–22. The judgment on these vices
13. smitten mine hand] clapped my hands, cf. Eze_21:14; Eze_21:17, Eze_6:11. The gesture is expressive of violent agitation, though the agitation may be due to different emotions—here disdain and dislike.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) Smitten mine hand.—See Note on Eze. Vi. 11,…
(13) Smitten mine hand.—See Note on Eze. Vi. 11, and comp. Eze_22:17 and Eze_22:13.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain I have smitten my hand. The gesture, as in…
I have smitten my hand. The gesture, as in Eze_21:14, Eze_21:17, was one of indignant, and, as it were, impatient command.
Dishonest gain.
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I DISHONEST GAIN IS A COMMON SOURCE OF WEALTH. We set before our children, in their copy-books, the motto, "Honesty is the best policy;" but in the experience of life it is found that dishonesty is often a more successful worldly policy. Thieves fatten on their booty, and swindlers live in lordly palaces. There is not only the vulgar dishonesty that steals by direct robbery. We have our civilized and refined dishonesty a dishonesty which contrives to keep on the near side of the law, and yet is not the less real theft. The "sweater" is a thief. The promoter of bubble companies is a robber on a colossal scale. The breadth of the area embraced, the number of the dupes victimized, and the amount of the gain realized, do not destroy the guilt of the robbery; they heighten it. There was a certain frank daring about the old highwaymen which entitled them to the respect of those who condemned their lawlessness, in comparison with which the sneaking dishonesty of those who steal without risking their lives or liberties is a despicable cowardice.
II DISHONEST GAIN IS GOT BY MURDEROUS CRUELTY. In our text Ezekiel associates dishonest gain with blood-guiltiness. The thief is near to becoming a murderer; the burglar carries firearms. The immense growth of the custom of insuring the lives of young babies, together with the frightful extent of infant mortality, forces us to the conclusion that, either by neglect the crudest kind of murder or by the more merciful means of direct suffocation, numbers of children are yearly slaughtered by their parents for the sake of the paltry gain obtained from the insurance. We cannot say much of the old pagan habit of exposing children while this more vile, because more cunning and mercenary, crime is commonly committed in Christian England. It is the duty of all good citizens to be on the watch for cases of cruelty to children among their neighbors often practiced in the decent homes of thrifty folk. In other ways theft may mean murder slow murder of the most painful kind. The customer helps to murder the shopkeeper when he takes an unjust advantage of competition. He who steals a man"s livelihood virtually steals his life, for it is no credit to the thief that his victim may be saved from starvation by the charity of others.
III DISHONEST GAIN CALLS DOWN THE VENGEANCE OF HEAVEN. God has smitten his hand at it. Dishonesty can only appear the best policy for a season. In the long run the old proverb is certain to justify itself.
1. National dishonesty will bring vengeance on a nation. The English cotton-trade has suffered materially through the cheating custom of adding weight to goods shipped to the East by sizing the fabric. If trade with lower races is corrupt, unjust, and cruel, the wrong will be avenged either by the loss of the trade or in the hatred earned by the traders. The oppression of the poor in our midst by those who make dishonest gains in grinding down their employees will be assuredly avenged by some awful social revolution, unless the injustice is speedily atoned for by more fair treatment.
2. Private dishonesty will bring vengeance on the sinner. God sees and judges the man who enjoys dishonest gain. If he does not suffer on earth from the enmity he has stirred, this Dives will certainly not be carried with the Lazarus he oppressed to Abraham"s bosom. His gold will scorch him like fire in some dread hell.
Vers. 13-22. The dross in the furnace.
God"s mercy and kindness scarcely anywhere appear more manifest than in his method of dealing with his erring people, whom he subjects to chastening and discipline with the view of purging away their faults. The figure employed by Ezekiel in this passage occurs in other of the prophetic writings. There is some obscurity in his expression; for it seems as if, to convey the fullness of his meaning, he represents the people first as dross, and then as the metal from which the dross is burnt away. Perhaps his meaning is that the ore which is smelted contains a very large proportion of dross compared with the genuine metal.
I THE VALUE WHICH THE LORD ASSIGNS TO JUDAH. This is very qualified. There is, indeed, metal, whether more precious as silver or less so as iron. Yet there is much that is worthless; so that the Lord says, "Ye are all become dross." The inference is that, however there may be latent some possibility of good, this can only become actual after the subjection of it to much discipline.
II THE TREATMENT TO WHICH THE LORD SUBJECTS JUDAH. The ore is gathered, cast into the furnace, left there, to be blown upon by the blast of indignation, and subjected to the heat of the fire, until it be melted in the midst thereof. Through such a process must Judah pass before God could take pleasure therein. Siege, suffering, privation, pestilence, famine, decimation, captivity, reproach, mockery, such were the sufferings appointed for the people of Jerusalem. And, as a matter of fact and history, God did not spare Jerusalem favored though the city had been. He poured out his fury upon it, and for a time and for a purpose withheld from it his clemency and compassion.
III THE UTTER INCAPACITY AND HELPLESSNESS OF JUDAH TO RESIST OR TO ENDURE WHAT THE LORD APPOINTS. This is expressed very powerfully in Ver. 14, "Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee?" We are reminded of the inquiry, "Who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner"s fire." The discipline of God"s justice is enough to overcome and break down the hard and obdurate hearts of men. They cannot accept it with equanimity. They must profit by it or be consumed by it.
IV THE PURPOSE OF THE LORD"S SEVERE TREATMENT OF JUDAH. Ammon was cast into the fire, to be consumed into smoke and to vanish away; Judah, in order to refinement and purification. The intention of Eternal Wisdom and Goodness was and ever is that the dross may be consumed in the furnace of affliction and trial, and thus that the pure metal may be brought forth fit for the use and for the pleasure of the Most High. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues to speak to the people of Jerusalem by speaking directly to the city of Jerusalem as if it were a woman. (See: Apostrophe and Metonymy and Metaphor)
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With my hand I have struck
"I have shaken my fist against" or "I have clapped my hands against." This is a symbolic action that shows anger and disapproval. AT: "I have shown my anger and disapproval against" (See: Symbolic Action)
the bloodshed that is done in the midst of you
"the murder that people commit in you"
Will your heart stand, will your hands be strong on the days when I myself will deal with you?
Yahweh uses this rhetorical question to emphasize how hurt they will be when he punishes them. This question may be written as a statement. AT: "Your heart will not stand and your hands will not be strong on the days when I myself will deal with you." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Will your heart stand
Here the whole person is referred to by his "heart" to emphasize his emotions and will. Here the idea of "standing" is an idiom that means to be courageous. AT: "Will you stand" or "Will you be courageous" (See: Synecdoche and Idiom)
will your hands be strong
Here the whole person is referred to by his "hands." AT: "will you be strong" (See: Synecdoche)
So I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the lands
These two phrases mean basically the same thing. See how you translated a similar phrase in Ezekiel 12:15. AT: "So I will cause them to separate from each other and live in different nations"(See: Parallelism)
purge
remove something unwanted
uncleanness
A person who God considers spiritually unacceptable or defiled is spoken of as if the person were physically unclean. (See: Metaphor)
So you will become unclean in the eyes of the nations
Here the "nations" refer to the people who live in those places. The "eyes" represent seeing, and seeing represents thoughts or judgment. AT: "So the nations will consider you unclean" (See: Metaphor)
the nations
Here the "nations" refer to the people who live in those places. AT: "the people in other nations" (See: Metonymy)
know that I am Yahweh
When Yahweh says that people will know that he is Yahweh, he is implying that they will know that he is the one true God who has supreme authority and power. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 6:7. AT: "understand that I am Yahweh, the one true God" or "realize that I, Yahweh, have supreme power and authority" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
hand
know
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 22:13-16 God expressed his wrath first in the angry…
22:13-16 God expressed his wrath first in the angry gesture of clapping his hands and then by pouring out judgment. The first judgment was that God would scatter the people of Judah among the nations to purge them of their wickedness.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.