Ezekiel 22:4

you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Lord speaks through Ezekiel to Jerusalem, pronouncing judgment on the city’s immediate cycle of violence and idolatry that has exhausted its allotted lifespan.

The words — The text states the city is guilty of shed blood and defiled by its own idols, then notes its days are finished. The Hebrew אָשַׁמְתְּ (‘a.Shamt) literally renders “you have become guilty,” paired with טָמֵאת (ta.Met) for “you have become unclean,” directly tying moral culpability to ritual defilement.

The thread — This declaration of national shame echoes Ezekiel 5:14 and Psalms 44:13, while the bloodshed motif aligns with the historical record in 2 Kings 21:16.

Why it lands — The passage demands acknowledgment that systemic violence and idolatry exhaust a community’s days and invite external mockery, requiring readers to recognize the concrete, non-negotiable consequences of covenant failure.

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

בְּדָמֵ֨ךְbe./da.Me/khby/ blood/ your אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-which שָׁפַ֜כְתְּsha.Fakhtyou have shed אָשַׁ֗מְתְּ'a.Shamtyou have become guilty וּבְגִלּוּלַ֤יִךְu./ve./gi.lu.La.yi/khand/ by/ idols/ your אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-which עָשִׂית֙'a.Sityou have made טָמֵ֔אתta.Metyou have become unclean וַתַּקְרִ֣יבִיva./tak.Ri.viand/ you have brought near יָמַ֔יִךְya.Ma.yi/khdays/ your וַתָּב֖וֹאva./ta.Vo'and/ you [masc] have come עַד־'ad-to שְׁנוֹתָ֑יִךְshe.no.Ta.yi/khyears/ your עַל־'al-there-כֵּ֗ןKen-fore נְתַתִּ֤יךְne.ta.Ti/khI have made/ you חֶרְפָּה֙cher.Paha reproach לַגּוֹיִ֔םla./go.Yimto the/ nations וְקַלָּסָ֖הve./ka.la.Sahand/ derision לְכָל־le./kholto/ all הָאֲרָצֽוֹת׃ha./'a.ra.Tzotthe/ lands

King James Version

Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.

Cross-references

2 Kings 21:16 Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the LORD.
Psalms 44:13 You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us.
Ezekiel 5:14 I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.
Ezekiel 16:57 before your wickedness was uncovered? Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all those around her, and by the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you.
Ezekiel 22:2 “As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations
Leviticus 26:32 And I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who dwell in it will be appalled.
Numbers 32:14 Now behold, you, a brood of sinners, have risen up in place of your fathers to further stoke the burning anger of the LORD against Israel.
Deuteronomy 28:37 You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
Deuteronomy 29:24 So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’
1 Kings 9:7 then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.