Ezekiel 45:9 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 45:9
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD.
an oracle · noun, common masculine singular construct
Lord
אֲדֹנָ֣י'a.do.Nai
H136
the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
GOD
יְהוִ֗הYah.weh
H3069
YHWH · proper noun, a title
suffice
רַבrav-
H7227
abundant (in quantity · adjective, masculine singular absolute
princes
נְשִׂיאֵ֣יne.si.'Ei
H5387
properly · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
remove
הָסִ֔ירוּha.Si.ru
H5493
to turn off (literal or figurative) · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
violence
חָמָ֤סcha.Mas
H2555
violence · noun, common masculine singular absolute
spoil
וָשֹׁד֙va.Shod
H7701
violence · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
execute
עֲשׂ֑וּ'a.Su
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
judgment
וּמִשְׁפָּ֥טu.mish.Pat
H4941
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
justice
וּצְדָקָ֖הu.tze.da.Kah
H6666
rightness (abstractly) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
away
הָרִ֤ימוּha.Ri.mu
H7311
to be high actively · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
exactions
גְרֻשֹֽׁתֵיכֶם֙ge.ru.sho.tei.Khem
H1646
(abstractly) dispossession · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
people
עַמִּ֔י'a.Mi
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
saith
אָמַ֞ר'a.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Lord
אֲדֹנָ֥י'a.do.Nai
H136
the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
GOD
יְהוִֽהYah.weh
H3069
YHWH · proper noun, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Zechariah 8:16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Jeremiah 22:3 Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no…
Ezekiel 44:6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all…
Micah 2:9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.
1 Peter 4:3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wi…
Nehemiah 5:1-13 And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.
Job 20:19 Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 45:9-12
We have here some general rules of justice laid down both for prince and people, the rules of distributive and commutative justice; for godliness without honesty is but a form of godliness, will neither please God nor avail to the benefit of any people. Be it therefore enacted, by the authority of the church's King and God, 1. That princes do not oppress their subjects, but duly and faithfully administer justice among them (Eze 45:9): "Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel! that you have been oppressive to the people and have enriched yourselves by spoil and violence, that you have so long fleeced the flock instead of feeding them, and henceforward do so no more." Note, Even princes and gr…
The prince's possession is to consist of two halves, one on the west, the other on the east, of the sacred territory. The prince, as head of the holy community, stands in closest connection with the sanctuary; his possession, therefore, on both sides must adjoin that which was peculiarly the Lord's [FAIRBAIRN].
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 45:9
Take away your exactions from my people - This is the voice of God to all the rulers of the earth.
Take away your exactions; do not oppress the people; they are mine. Abolish all oppressive taxes.
John Gill on Ezekiel 45:9
Thus saith the Lord, let it suffice you, O princes of Israel,.... Christian kings and princes, for such there shall be in those times; and who will have large and ample salaries provided for them, as they should have to support their dignity; and with which they should be content, as they will be, and not encroach upon the properties of their subjects:
remove violence and spoil; from your administration; the sense is, do not use violence, and exercise rapine and spoil, let these be far from you; seize not on the goods of your subjects, or spoil them of them by heavy taxes and impositions, or by vexatious lawsuits, and unjust sentences:
and execute judgment and justice; between men; let eve…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 9) Thus says the Lord God: Enough for you, princes of Israel: cease iniquity and robberies, and execute judgment and justice, and separate your borders from my people, says the Lord God. For because of robberies they have brought misery upon the seventy; for because of borders, oppression. And the meaning is this: Since you, O princes, have received your portion, as the Scripture says: To each prince from this side and that side shall be given a portion of the sanctuary's possession within the city; and your power is so great that one tribe's portion shall be given unto you as possession. Therefore, I command and advise you, that you have done enough in committing iniquity and robberies, while invading and plundering the property of others. And because it is written: Depart from evil, and do good; and contrarywise, judge ye and practice justice (Ps. XXXVI, 27), judging the orphan and vindicating the widow: separate your boundaries from my people, lest you transfer the landmarks. And because this very proximity harms the more humble, who cannot withstand the arrogance of the greater and more powerful, it is said through Isaiah: Woe to those who join house to house, and field to field, even to the boundaries of the place. Let this be said for the people of that time. Moreover, this commandment can also be applied to our leaders, who, like the Pharaoh and the Egyptians, oppress the children of Israel by force, and do not remember the scripture: They have set up a governor over you, do not be exalted, but be among them as one of them (Eccl. XXXII, 1). And also what the Lord speaks in the Gospel according to Luke: But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful (Luke XII, 45, 46). He also instructs his disciples in the Gospel according to Matthew with these teachings: 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Justice · Specially required in rulers — Specially required in rulers
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The determination of the means of support for the priesthood is followed still further by an explanation of the manner in which Jehovah will be their inheritance and possession; in other words, assign to the priests and Levites that portion of the land which was requisite for their abode. This is to be done by His causing a definite tract of land to be set apart for Himself, for the sanctuary, and for His servants, and for the capital, when the country is distributed among the tribes of Israel (Eze 45:1-8). On both sides of this domain the prince is also to receive a possession in land, to guard against all exaction on the part of the princes in time to come. And everywhere unrighteousness i…
One tangible expression of the Lord’s kingly rule was that he distributed the land to the prince as well as to the people. The prince was assigned a large enough piece of his own land to meet his needs and to allow him to support the ministry of the Temple without having to oppress and rob the people.
Rashi on Ezekiel 45:9
take away your evictions Take away [your practice] of evicting My people from their inherited property.
