There is a conspiracy of her prophets within it, like a roaring lion ravening the prey. They have devoured souls. They take treasure and precious things. They have made many widows within it. Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths. So I am profaned among them. Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain. Her prophets have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, ‘The Lord Yahweh says,’ when Yahweh has not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery. Yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.
“I sought for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv25, 26, 28, 30 The false prophets have conspired together to make their…
The false prophets have conspired together to make their doctrine more probable.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv25–30 Eze 22:25 [There is] a conspiracy of her prophets…
Eze 22:25 [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.
Ver. 25. There is a conspiracy of her prophets.] They are all agreed to deceive the people and to persecute the true prophets. Here we have a lively description of the present Popish clergy.
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 On vv25–30 A conspiracy; a contrivance, or framing among themselves a…
A conspiracy; a contrivance, or framing among themselves a design, to speak all alike flattering, smooth words, and give out promises of peace and safety, when there was no peace; they would have the Jews believe in little time the vessels of the Lord’s house, and the Lord’s people in Babylon, should be brought back, as Jer 28:1-4; and whereas Jeremiah faithfully told them that it would be no such thing, but that the rest of the vessels, and Zedekiah, and the people should be carried away into Babylon, they conspire against him, and such as he was, Jer 20:2; 26:8; 29:25,26, and persecute them with one consent and mind.
Of her prophets; hers, not God’s prophets, the false prophets, such as Hananiah, Jer 28:1,2.
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In the midst thereof; of the land, but principally in Jerusalem, the metropolis, and residence of the court, where were such as loved to be flattered, and of whom flatterers might make gain.
Like a roaring lion, whom hunger enrageth, and maketh roar in most dreadful manner, as some observe of them, when they hunt their prey, and when they have seized and are tearing it; so did these false prophets with cruelty and fierceness pursue the true prophets, and such as believed their word, feared the judgments, and mourned for the sins of a self-ruining people.
They have devoured souls; have eat up, impoverished, and sucked dry, men that relieved and maintained them, the guise of all false prophets; or they have taken, in their complotting, and swallowed down whole the persons that disbelieved and opposed their lies.
Taken the treasure; they did not without reward tell their lies, nor would prophesy without a reward out of the treasures of those that advised with them; so they drained the people of their riches.
And precious things; either it is a further explication of what he had said, or possibly it may tell us, that where money was not to be had, these false prophets would demand something of value; and, if it were money’s worth, they were then for bartering the prophecies: so they gulled these sots.
Made her many widows; one while by raising persecutions, and cutting off husbands from their wives; another while, and which most agrees with the place, persuading, encouraging, and bewitching Zedekiah, and the princes, and people to hold out the war, and run all hazards and extremities of that siege, which filled Jerusalem with dead husbands and forlorn widows.
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 On vv25–30 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the…
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. The Targum renders it,
"a company of scribes;''
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the interpreters of the law; these entered into a confederacy together against the true prophets, and agreed to prophesy the same things, to flatter the people with peace and prosperity, when sudden destruction was at hand:
like a roaring lion ravening the prey; that roars when hungry, and while it is tearing the prey in pieces; so these false prophets thundered out their menaces against the true prophets, and those that adhered to them; clamouring against them as enemies to the state; and threatening them with accusations to it; and carrying on a judicial process against them:
they have devoured souls; persecuted men to death, that would not give credit to their prophecies; and destroyed the souls of those that did, with their false doctrines and prophecies:
they have taken the treasure and precious things; of those they destroyed; or of others, for prophesying smooth things to them; filthy lucre being the principal thing they had in view:
they have made her many widows in the midst thereof; by persecuting their husbands to death for not believing their prophecies; or by persuading to hold out the siege, under a notion of deliverance; whereby the lives of many were lost by the sword, famine, and pestilence, to whose death they might be said to be accessary.
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 On vv25, 26, 27, 28, 30 A conspiracy - A contrivance, to speak all alike,…
A conspiracy - A contrivance, to speak all alike, smooth words, and give out promises of peace and safety. Thereof - Of the land. 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.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv25–30 Verse 25. There is a conspiracy] The false prophets…
Verse 25. 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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv26, 27, 29 Eze 22:26. Her priests have violated my law —…
Eze 22:26. Her priests have violated my law — Which they ought to have observed, and to have taught the people to observe; and have profaned my holy things — The gifts and sacrifices offered in my service; either by offering them in an undue manner, as the sons of Eli did, 1Sa 2:15, or without due purification of themselves; or else eating them as common meats, without regard to the rules prescribed in the law. They have put no difference between the holy and profane — They have not shown any regard to the rules of my law, concerning what is holy and unholy, clean and unclean, and that both with respect to persons and things. And they are guilty of this neglect in contradiction to an express charge given them respecting this matter, Lev 10:10. By the holy is here meant that which was peculiarly dedicated to God; by the profane, things in common use; by the unclean, those meats which were forbidden to be eaten; by the clean, what it was lawful to eat. And have hid their eyes from my sabbaths — They have taken no care that my sabbaths should be kept, and have not attended themselves upon my public worship on the sabbath days, 2Ch 29:7; and thereby have encouraged my people in the neglect and profanation of it. And I am profaned among them — I am dishonoured by them, and they use my name to false and wicked purposes.
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 On vv25, 28, 30 Conspiracy. The false prophets defend each other, (Calmet) while…
Conspiracy. The false prophets defend each other, (Calmet) while the priests connive at their proceedings, (Haydock) and set the example of wickedness.
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 On vv25–30 conspiracy--The false prophets have conspired both to propagate error…
conspiracy--The false prophets have conspired both to propagate error and to oppose the messages of God's servants. They are mentioned first, as their bad influence extended the widest.
prey--Their aim was greed of gain, "treasure, and precious things" (Hos 6:9; Zep 3:3-4; Mat 23:14).
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made . . . many widows--by occasioning, through false prophecies, the war with the Chaldeans in which the husbands fell.
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 On vv25–30 25. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in…
25. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like — More probably, as the LXX., whose princes in the midst thereof are like. (Compare Eze_22:6-7; Eze_19:1; Eze_21:12.)
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 On vv25–30 25. conspiracy of her prophets] More probably with LXX.,…
25. conspiracy of her prophets] More probably with LXX., whose princes in the midst of her are like … The prophets are spoken of Eze_22:28. The “princes” are those of the royal house, ch. Eze_19:1, Eze_21:12, Eze_22:6, Eze_45:8-9; those called “princes” in Eze_22:27 are the chiefs or heads of the people.
have taken the treasure] i.e. by violence from others, Jer_20:5.
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her many widows] her widows many. Corn, their palaces, cf. ch. Eze_19:7, Jer_22:13-17. The change is unnecessary, Jer_15:8.
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 On vv25–30 (25) A conspiracy of her prophets.—The opposition of false…
(25) A conspiracy of her prophets.—The opposition of false prophets to the Divine measures for the reformation of the people is continually spoken of (comp. Ezekiel 13, Zep_3:4, and many passages in Jeremiah) as among the most serious obstacles to the work of the true prophets: there is also frequent mention of them in history (1 Kings 22, &c), as they had been foretold from of old in prophecy (Deu_18:20-22). Nothing, it may be observed, could have afforded more plausible excuse to the people for not obeying the Divine admonitions than an opposing “Thus saith the Lord.” The greed of the false prophets and the disastrous effects of their counsel are spoken of here in stronger terms than in any other passage.
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 On vv25–30 A conspiracy of prophets. The prophet"s thoughts go back…
A conspiracy of prophets. The prophet"s thoughts go back to Eze_13:1-16, from which, in Ver. 28, he actually quotes It is probable that, in the interval, fresh tidings had reached him of the evil work which they were doing at Jerusalem. The LXX ajfhgoumenoi (equivalent to "princes") suggests that they followed a different text, and this is adopted by Keil and Hitzig. Like a roaring lion. (comp. Eze_19:2; 1Pe_5:8) The word probably points to the loud declamations of the false prophets. (compare, as a striking parallel Zep_3:3, Zep_3:4)
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 On vv26, 29, 30 This pronoun refers to Jerusalem.
her
This pronoun refers to Jerusalem.
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do violence to my law
"disobey my laws"
the unclean and the clean
This refers to unclean and clean things. Something that God considers spiritually unacceptable or defiled is spoken of as if it were physically unclean. AT: "things that are unclean and things that are clean" (See: Nominal Adjectives and Metaphor)
They hide their eyes from my Sabbaths
This speaks of the people ignoring and not observing the Sabbath and if they were hiding their eyes from the Sabbath" AT: "They ignore my Sabbaths" (See: Metaphor)
so that I am profaned in their midst
This can be stated in active form. AT: "and profane me among themselves" (See: Active or Passive)
Her princes within her are like wolves tearing apart their victims
This compares Israel's princes to wolves who attack and kill their victims. (See: Simile)
They pour out blood and destroy life
These two phrases mean basically the same thing and emphasize the violence that the princes practice. AT: "They murder people" (See: Parallelism)
Her prophets have painted them over with whitewash
This speaks of the prophets trying to hide these sins as if they were something that they could paint over with whitewash. AT: "It is like her prophets have painted over their sins with whitewash" or "Their prophets try to hide these evil things" (See: Metaphor)
whitewash
This is a solution that is painted on things to make them white that is similar to white paint.
predict falsehoods to them
"predict lies for the princes." The word "them" refers to the princes.
translationWords
priest
law
profane
clean
Sabbath
prince
wolf
Lord Yahweh
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 On vv25, 30 22:25-29 This list of Jerusalem’s sins focuses on the…
22:25-29 This list of Jerusalem’s sins focuses on the sins of the leaders in Judah (cp. Zeph 3:3-4). • princes: The princes and other leaders had abused their power by killing innocent people and seizing their wealth. The priests had sinned by not teaching people the law so that they could distinguish between holy and profane, clean and unclean. The prophets announced false visions instead of a true word from God. As a result, the people went astray for lack of guidance.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.