Ezekiel 22 4

Ezekiel 22:4 kjv

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.

Ezekiel 22:4 nkjv

You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries.

Ezekiel 22:4 niv

you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries.

Ezekiel 22:4 esv

You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries.

Ezekiel 22:4 nlt

you are guilty because of the blood you have shed. You are defiled because of the idols you have made. Your day of destruction has come! You have reached the end of your years. I will make you an object of mockery throughout the world.

Ezekiel 22 verses

Ezekiel 22 4 Meaning

Ezekiel 22:4 pronounces God's stern verdict against Jerusalem (representing the people of Israel) for its profound moral and spiritual corruption. The city became irrevocably guilty by shedding innocent blood and thoroughly defiled itself through the widespread practice of idolatry. These egregious sins effectively hastened the arrival of divine judgment, cutting short its allotted time of grace. Consequently, God Himself decreed that Jerusalem would become an object of deep shame and ridicule among all nations and lands.

Ezekiel 22 4 Context

Ezekiel chapter 22 initiates a fierce prophetic "indictment" against Jerusalem, delivered during the Babylonian exile. The prophet, still in Babylon, uses the legal imagery of a capital case, accusing the city, metaphorically named "the bloody city" (v.2), of numerous severe transgressions. These denunciations precede the final destruction of Jerusalem (which would occur around 586 BC) and aim to justify God's impending judgment to the exiles, demonstrating that their suffering is not arbitrary but a righteous consequence of the city's profound moral and spiritual decay. Verse 4 serves as a concentrated summary of two principal evils: the rampant shedding of innocent blood (signifying systemic injustice, murder, and moral depravity) and pervasive idolatry (representing outright rebellion against God's covenant). Historically, Jerusalem had indeed fallen into periods of extreme wickedness, marked by unrighteous rule, corruption of the temple worship, and the adoption of pagan practices, including child sacrifice. This verse underscores that their deliberate rejection of God's ways led directly to their self-destruction and their ultimate disgrace before the nations.

Ezekiel 22 4 Word analysis

• You (וְאַ֣תְּ / ve'at): A direct, emphatic feminine singular pronoun, personally addressing Jerusalem as a moral agent. It places culpability directly on the city.
• have become guilty (חָטַ֤אתְּ / kha'tat): Derived from the Hebrew root חטא (ḥaṭa’), meaning "to sin," "to miss the mark," or, as here, "to incur guilt." This verb signifies that Jerusalem's state of guilt is a consequence of its own active, responsible actions, not an accidental state.
• by the blood (בְּדָמֵךְ֙ / b'damekh): From דָם (dam), meaning "blood." The preposition be (by/through) attributes Jerusalem's guilt directly to the shedding of innocent blood. This phrase strongly refers to murder, judicial injustice, and the violence against the vulnerable, which Levitical law (Num 35:33) explicitly stated defiled the land and incurred divine wrath.
• that you have shed (אֲשֶׁ֣ר שָׁפַ֗כְתְּ / asher shafakht): From the verb שפך (shafak), "to pour out" or "to shed." This emphasizes the active and repeated nature of the violence; Jerusalem was actively and continually pouring out innocent blood, not merely tolerating it.
• and have defiled yourself (וַתִּטְמְאִ֔י / va'tit'me'i): From the root טמא (ṭama’), meaning "to be unclean" or "to become defiled." This indicates a self-inflicted spiritual and ritual impurity. Jerusalem's actions, particularly idolatry, corrupted its inherent holiness and separated it from a holy God, rendering it abominable.
• by the idols (בְּגִלּוּלַ֖יִךְ / b'gillulyaikh): From גִּלּוּל (gillul), a distinctively Ezekielian pejorative term for idols, literally meaning "dung pellets," "worthless things," or "filth." This polemical choice of word expresses God's utter contempt and the disgusting nature of false worship in His sight.
• that you have made (אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשִׂ֑ית / asher asit): From עשה (asa), "to make" or "to do." This highlights the deliberate and active creation and worship of false gods, not a passive falling into error. It was a conscious choice and ongoing effort.
• And you have brought your days near and have come to your years (וַתַּקְרִ֣יבִי יָמַ֔יִךְ וַתָּבֹ֖א עַד־שְׁנוֹתָ֑יִךְ / va'taqrivi yamayikh va'tavo ad-shnotayikh): This dual phrase emphasizes the acceleration of divine judgment and the hastening of an appointed end. Jerusalem's sins were so profound and cumulative that they actively shortened its period of grace and brought forward the time of its national destruction. It implies reaching the "fullness of time" for punishment due to accumulated iniquity (cf. Gen 15:16).
• Therefore (עַל־כֵּ֗ן / al-ken): A strong causal conjunction indicating direct consequence. It introduces God's punitive action as an inescapable result of Jerusalem's specified sins.
• I have made you (נְתַתִּ֤יךְ / n'tatikkh): From נתן (natan), "to give," "to place," "to set." This signifies God's sovereign and deliberate action in executing judgment, transforming Jerusalem's status in the world.
• a reproach (חֶרְפָּה֙ / kherpa): "Shame," "disgrace," "humiliation." Jerusalem, once meant to be a praise among nations, would become an object of deep scorn and public humiliation.
• to the nations (לַגּוֹיִ֔ם / la'goyim): To the Gentile peoples. God's own covenant people would become a negative spectacle for those they were meant to enlighten about God.
• and a mockery (וּלְקַלָּסָ֖ה / u'l'qallasa): From קָלָס (qalas), "to mock," "to scorn." This word intensifies the meaning of "reproach," signifying a deep and derisive public humiliation.
• to all the lands (לְכָל־הָאֲרָצֽוֹת׃ / l'khol-ha'aratsot): Emphasizes the wide, universal scope of Jerusalem's public disgrace. Its downfall would be witnessed and derided globally, fulfilling prior covenant curses (Deut 28:37).

Ezekiel 22 4 Bonus section

The strong pairing of "blood" and "idols" in this verse highlights a recurring theological theme throughout the prophets: the intrinsic link between horizontal injustice (sins against humanity) and vertical apostasy (sins against God). Jerusalem's spiritual infidelity—turning from God to "dung-pellet" idols—inevitably led to a moral vacuum filled with violence and social injustice. This suggests that genuine worship of God should produce righteousness in societal dealings, and conversely, a failure in social ethics often points to a prior corruption in one's relationship with God. The phrase "brought your days near and have come to your years" is not about natural life span but signifies reaching the 'full measure' of their iniquity, thus necessitating a full-scale divine response as seen in the ultimate Babylonian destruction. The humiliation before the nations also carries theological weight; Israel was meant to draw nations to God through its righteous conduct (e.g., Isa 2:2-4), but their profound wickedness instead caused God's name to be blasphemed among the Gentiles, becoming an anti-testimony (Rom 2:24).

Ezekiel 22 4 Commentary

Ezekiel 22:4 distills the essence of Jerusalem's crimes and their inevitable divine repercussions. It unequivocally links the city's self-inflicted guilt and defilement directly to two cardinal sins: rampant bloodshed—representative of its profound social injustice and violence—and egregious idolatry, denoting its complete spiritual apostasy. These deliberate and pervasive transgressions were not passive errors but active choices that precipitated divine judgment. The powerful imagery of "bringing your days near and coming to your years" graphically illustrates how Jerusalem, through its persistent rebellion, rapidly exhausted God's long-suffering and hastened its own divinely appointed time for destruction and ruin. Consequently, God's righteous verdict transforms the city from a beacon of covenant to a symbol of ignominy and derision, exposed to the scorn of all surrounding nations. This verse starkly reminds us that deviation from God's moral and spiritual standards results in both self-destruction and divine retribution, turning intended blessing into public humiliation.