Ezekiel 22:6-9
Context22:6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. 1 22:7 They have treated father and mother with contempt 2 within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow 3 within you. 22:8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths! 22:9 Slanderous men shed blood within you. 4 Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; 5 they commit obscene acts among you. 6
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[22:6] 1 tn Heb “Look! The princes of Israel, each according to his arm, were in you in order to shed blood.”
[22:7] 2 tn Heb “treated lightly, cursed.”
[22:7] 3 tn Widows and orphans are often coupled together in the OT (Deut 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:19-21; 26:12-13; Jer 7:6; 22:3). They represented all who were poor and vulnerable to economic exploitation.
[22:9] 3 tn Heb “men of slander are in you in order to shed blood.”
[22:9] 4 tn Heb “and on the mountains they eat within you.” The mountains mentioned here were the site of pagan sacrifices. See 18:6.
[22:9] 5 sn This statement introduces vv. 10-11 and refers in general terms to the sexual sins described there. For the legal background of vv. 10-11, see Lev 18:7-20; 20:10-21; Deut 22:22-23, 30; 27:22.