Bible Strands
Ezekiel 33:24
“Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Ezekiel regarding exiles dwelling in the ruined territories of Israel who invoke Abraham to justify their territorial claim. This pronouncement follows Jerusalem's fall and precedes a direct condemnation of their idolatry and violence.
The words — The text highlights יֹשְׁבֵי הֶחֳרָבוֹת (yo'sheve ha'cheravot), literally "inhabitants of the waste places," and אַדְמַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (adamat Yisrael), "land of Israel." These phrases ground the speaker's identity in desolation and frame their assertion of possession.
The thread — The claim to ancestral privilege mirrors the Abraham reference in Isaiah 51:2 and Acts 7:5, while Ezekiel 33:27 immediately counters it by declaring that those same ruins dwellers will fall by the sword.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to separate covenant inheritance from personal obedience. It demands that territorial or spiritual claims be measured against present conduct rather than family lineage.
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
Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 51:2 Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.
- Ezekiel 33:27 Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I will give to be devoured by wild animals, and those in the strongholds and caves will die by plague.
- Acts 7:5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised to give possession of the land to Abraham and his descendants, even though he did not yet have a child.
- Jeremiah 40:7 When all the commanders and men of the armies in the field heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and children who were the poorest of the land and had not been exiled to Babylon,
- Ezekiel 36:4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and abandoned cities, which have become a spoil and a mockery to the rest of the nations around you.
- Luke 3:8 Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
- Jeremiah 39:10 But Nebuzaradan left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had no property, and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.
- Matthew 3:9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
- Romans 4:12 And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
- Ezekiel 5:3 But you are to take a few strands of hair and secure them in the folds of your garment.