Bible Strands
Ezekiel 24:7
For the blood she shed is still within her; she poured it out on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel to the exiled community during the siege of Jerusalem, declaring judgment on the "city of bloodshed."
The words — The Hebrew phrase צְחִיחַ סֶלַע (tze.Chi.ach Se.la') translates literally to "bareness of rock," describing the exposed surface where blood was poured instead of being concealed.
The thread — This deliberate exposure of blood contrasts with the Mosaic requirement to drain blood and cover it with dust (Leviticus 17:13; Deuteronomy 12:16, 24).
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that Jerusalem's violence has been left deliberately exposed to provoke divine wrath rather than concealed by ritual.
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
For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;
Cross-references
- Leviticus 17:13 And if any Israelite or foreigner living among them hunts down a wild animal or bird that may be eaten, he must drain its blood and cover it with dirt.
- Deuteronomy 12:16 but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
- Deuteronomy 12:24 You must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
- 1 Kings 21:19 Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”
- Job 16:18 O earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help never be laid to rest.
- Isaiah 3:9 The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.
- Isaiah 26:21 For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.
- Jeremiah 2:34 Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things
- Jeremiah 6:15 Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD.