What Does Ezekiel 13:22 Mean in the King James?
Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
False reassurance wounds the aligned and strengthens the very hands that need to turn toward life.
THE MEANING
A false word can make a sound heart carry pain while making a harmful path feel safe. Here, the promise of life obstructs the wrongdoer’s return from that path.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that reassurance is always kind or harmless. When assurance protects a harmful course from being questioned, it deepens the harm instead of opening the way back.
THE ROOT
שׁוּב
shuv
GROWS FROM
שׁ־ו־ב
shin
turn back; return
“return” in this verse is shuv. שׁוּב names a turn back from a course, not a verdict stamped on a person. The lie works by keeping the wrongdoer on the path instead of allowing that change of direction.
ALSO GROWS
teshuvah: return; turning back
תְּשׁוּבָה
This branch makes clear that return is an action, the turn that the false promise prevents.
meshubah: turning away; backsliding
מְשׁוּבָה
The same root can name a turn away, showing how direction determines whether a person returns or remains on a harmful course.
לְחַזֵּק
leḥazzeq
GROWS FROM
ח־ז־ק
ḥet
be strong; make firm; strengthen
“strengthened” in this verse is leḥazzeq. חזק can carry the sense of making strong or holding fast. Here the falsehood reinforces the wicked person’s hands, giving staying power to the very course from which he should turn.
ALSO GROWS
chazaq: strong; firm
חָזָק
This branch shows that the speech gives the harmful course firmness, rather than merely expressing approval.
heḥezik: held fast; took hold
הֶחֱזִיק
This branch echoes the verse’s image of hands being strengthened to keep the person holding to the path.
לְהַחֲיוֹתוֹ
lehaḥayoto
GROWS FROM
ח־י־ה
ḥet
live; bring to life; keep alive
The form here means to make him live or keep him alive. The lie offers life while the same sentence says it prevents the return that would change his course.
ALSO GROWS
chai: alive; living
חַי
This branch gives life its concrete sense of being alive, the promise held out in the verse.
chayyim: life; living
חַיִּים
This branch shows the shared root behind the promise of life and the verb for living.
THE PATTERN
False assurance can wound those aligned with what is true while strengthening the harmful path it should expose.
They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.THE THREAD
Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?Both verses join the roots שׁוּב (shuv, return) and חָיָה (chayah, live). Here the lie blocks the return that leads to life; this verse states the return and living together, exposing the promise that keeps the person from turning.
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