Bible Strands
Ezekiel 22:27
Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Ezekiel delivers Yahweh’s indictment to the leadership of Jerusalem during the nation’s final days before exile. The speech targets corrupt officials, priests, and prophets who have abandoned their covenant duties.
The words — זְאֵבִים (z'evim) translates literally to wolves, while טֹרְפֵי (torfei) means tearing or devouring. These terms frame the officials’ predatory exploitation of the vulnerable.
The thread — This imagery of predatory rulers recurs in Ezekiel 22:6 and 22:13, where Yahweh condemns leaders who shed blood and pursue unjust gain. Isaiah 1:23 similarly brands rebellious rulers as lovers of bribes who fail to defend the vulnerable.
Why it lands — The text demands readers confront the reality that spiritual and civic leadership corrupts when it prioritizes personal profit over justice. It requires clear-eyed accountability and a rejection of systems that consume the weak under the guise of authority.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 22:13 Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.
- Isaiah 1:23 Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Ezekiel 22:6 See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.
- Ezekiel 19:3 She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a young lion. After learning to tear his prey, he devoured men.
- Ezekiel 22:25 The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.
- Ezekiel 45:9 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Enough, O princes of Israel! Cease your violence and oppression, and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing My people, declares the Lord GOD.’
- Hosea 7:1 When I heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim will be exposed, as well as the crimes of Samaria. For they practice deceit and thieves break in; bandits raid in the streets.
- Micah 3:2 You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones.
- Micah 3:9 Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and pervert all that is right,
- Micah 7:8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.