And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.

EZEKIEL 7:21KJV
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Ezekiel 7:21 (KJV)

What does Ezekiel 7:21 mean?

Ezekiel 7:21 says that God will hand over the treasures and valuables of Jerusalem to foreigners and wicked people as loot, and these outsiders will defile what was once considered holy. This is a warning that the things the people valued most will be taken away and treated with disrespect because of their unfaithfulness.

In this verse, God is speaking through the prophet Ezekiel to the people of Judah, warning them about the coming destruction of Jerusalem. The situation is one of judgment: because the people have turned away from God, even the sacred things in the city will be given over to enemies, who are described as "strangers" and "the wicked of the earth." The verse emphasizes the seriousness of the coming punishment and the loss of what was once protected and revered.

The Hebrew behind Ezekiel 7:21

  • "Strangers" (זָרִים, zarim): This word refers to foreigners or people outside the community of Israel. Here, it highlights that outsiders, not just local enemies, will take possession of Jerusalem’s treasures.
  • "Prey" (מַלְקוֹחַ, malqoach): This word means something taken by force, like plunder or spoil in war. It shows that what was valuable will be seized violently, not just lost.
  • "Pollute" (חָלַל, chalal): This word often means to defile or make something unclean, especially something holy. The verse warns that the city’s treasures, possibly including items from the temple, will be treated with disrespect and lose their sacredness.

Why Ezekiel 7:21 matters

  • This verse clears up the idea that Jerusalem’s treasures, even those considered holy, were not immune to loss if the people were unfaithful; God himself would allow them to be taken.
  • It emphasizes that the punishment would come through outsiders, making the loss even more humiliating and complete for the people of Judah.
  • Ezekiel 7:21 connects to the larger message in Ezekiel 7, which is a warning of total judgment and the end of Jerusalem’s security, showing that nothing would be spared from destruction.

Where else these words appear

“prey” Hebrew H957 · used in 25 verses

  • Numbers 14:3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
  • Jeremiah 2:14 Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?
  • Ezekiel 29:19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.

“spoil” Hebrew H7998 · used in 64 verses

  • Genesis 49:27 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
  • 1 Samuel 30:19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.
  • Proverbs 16:19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

“strangers” Hebrew H2114 · used in 76 verses

  • Exodus 29:33 And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.
  • Psalms 54:3 For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.
  • Isaiah 28:21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

“pollute” Hebrew H2490 · used in 131 verses

  • Genesis 4:26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
  • Judges 20:31 And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
  • Isaiah 56:6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;