Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 22:3
Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.
3. the city sheddeth ] Rather as address: city that sheddeth! ch. Eze 24:6; Eze 24:9. Her “time” is that of her chastisement, cf. Eze 30:3 “the time of the heathen,” Jer 27:7. So Eze 22:4, “days” and “years,” i.e. full number of thy years.
against herself ] Rather: unto herself, parallel to “in the midst of it.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 3. Her time may come] Till now, it was my long-suffering; she has fulfilled her days – completed the time of her probation; has not mended, but is daily worse; therefore her judgment can linger no longer.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The city, Jerusalem,
sheddeth, is shedding, blood; it is her present practice as well as her former, murders are committed by her, and it is said the city did it; it was done with public consent, and probably under pretext of judiciary process to colour it, as in Naboths case, and as they would have done to Jeremiah.
In the midst of it: this aggravates their murders, and makes them more bloody, in that it was done where so many were, that should have been safety to the innocent; it was not done in a wilderness.
Her time; the time of ripeness in her sins, and of execution of judgments on her for them.
May come: this they did not design, they rather took away innocents, whom they surmised were dangerous to their state, to prevent, but this hastened the punishment.
Maketh idols; either maketh new images of their old idols, or repaireth the decayed beauty of them Or, taketh in new gods of their neighbours, who might hell them; but all this is against themselves, for this doth more defile them, and provoke God to wrath against them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. sheddeth blood . . . that hertime may comeInstead of deriving advantage from her bloodysacrifices to idols, she only thereby brought on herself “thetime” of her punishment.
against herself (Pr8:36).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then say thou, thus saith the Lord God,…. For though the prophet was to sit as judge, yet in the name of the King of kings, under whose authority he acted:
the city sheddeth blood in the midst of it; openly and impudently, in the face of all, and in great abundance; even innocent blood, as the Targum has it: murders were frequent and common, either through quarrels, or through unrighteous judgments in courts of judicature:
that her time may come; to fill up the measure of her iniquity, and to receive the just punishment of her sins. So the Targum,
“the time of her destruction:”
and maketh idols against herself, to defile herself; being guilty, not only of murder, but of idolatry; she was an idol maker and an idol worshipper; and which was against herself, as well as against God; to her own ruin and destruction, as well as to his dishonour; and it is no wonder she should be defiled with such dunghill gods as these were, as the word used signifies. The Targum renders it, “in the midst of her”; and Kimchi interprets it, by “her”, or “above her”, upon the mountains and hills.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) That her time may come.Her time of punishment. That which will be the inevitable consequence of her acts is represented by a very common figure, as if it were her purpose in doing them. She has been so fully warned of the result that continuance in her course seems to involve the design of bringing on that result.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. The city that takes the sword shall perish by the sword, and that “maketh doll images unto itself” shall find in these supposed deities, not help, but defilement and ruin.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And you will say, “Thus says the Lord Yahweh, A city that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her. You are become guilty in your blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols that you have made, and you have caused your days to draw near, and are come even to your years. Therefore have I made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries. Those that are near, and those that are far from you, will mock you, you who are defiled of name (and therefore ‘infamous’) and full of tumult.”
Ezekiel’s charge against Jerusalem is to be that they continue to shed blood freely, and to make the idols that defile her, bringing the time of their judgment on themselves. It was clearly a violent time. Blood was shed in the offering of their sons to Molech, and in courts that were prejudiced and hostile against those who were not in favour of the regime. Charges were probably brought against innocent men, and accepted, simply for political reasons or to destroy their influence and obtain their wealth (compare 1Ki 21:1-16; 2Ki 21:16; 2Ki 24:4). Even Jeremiah found himself in danger of such a death (Jer 38:4; Jer 38:6). There was probably a split in views between those who followed Jeremiah in his teaching that they should submit to Nebuchadnezzar, and those who favoured the rebellion. When such ideas become white hot, violence always results. Thus were they guilty.
Furthermore the intensity of feeling multiplied idol worship, and probably also child sacrifice. They were desperate to obtain victory from the gods. What better way than to offer their dearest possessions? Possibly it had been introduced into the city from the valley of Hinnom, although that valley could be seen as part of ‘Jerusalem’. If so their idols had polluted the city even more than before. Thus were they even more defiled.
So by their behaviour they had ‘caused their days to draw near’, the days when they had to give account, and had ‘come to their years’, the time when they would have judgment passed on them. Both had been hastened by their evil behaviour. They had no one to blame but themselves. And that is why God was making them a reproach in the eyes of the nations, a mockery to many countries, for these would mock at the desolation of Jerusalem and of Judah. Countries both near and far would mock because she had defiled her name and was full of violence and tumult, and had brought judgment on herself.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 22:3 Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.
Ver. 3. In the midst of it. ] Publiae et impune.
Against herself.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the Lord GOD. Hebrew. Adonai Jehovah. See note on Eze 2:4.
idols = manufactured gods.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
sheddeth: Eze 22:27, Eze 24:6-9, Zep 3:3
that her: Eze 22:4, Eze 7:2-12, Eze 12:25, Rom 2:5, 2Pe 2:3
and maketh: 2Ki 21:2-9, Jer 2:1 – Jer 3:25
Reciprocal: Psa 106:38 – the land Isa 1:21 – it was full Jer 6:7 – violence Jer 7:6 – and shed Eze 7:23 – for Eze 21:24 – your transgressions Eze 23:7 – with all their Nah 3:1 – to
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 22:3. The city of Jerusalem not only harbored many idols, but also shielded men who were guilty of bloodshed against the helpless citizens.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
22:3 Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her {b} time may come, and maketh idols against {c} herself to defile herself.
(b) That is, the time of her destruction.
(c) To her own undoing.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Yahweh regarded Jerusalem as a city that shed blood in its midst and crafted defiling idols contrary to her own interests. For these sins her time of judgment would come. She had brought judgment on herself. Yahweh would also make her a reproach and a source of mockery among nations near and far because of her bad reputation for turmoil (cf. Rom 2:24). Here the general population of Jerusalem is in view.
"When a righteous people follow the world’s ways, as Judah had done, the world ends up laughing at her." [Note: Alexander, "Ezekiel," p. 847.]