Verses 23, 24. - A fresh section opens, and the prophet addresses himself, not to Jerusalem only, but to the whole land. A land that is not cleansed. The words admit of the rendering, not shined upon, and this is adopted by Keil. The land is deprived at once of the sunshine and the rain. which are the conditions of fertility. The LXX. gives "not mined upon," and so the two clauses are parallel and state the same fact. So Ewald. The Vulgate gives immunda, and this is followed both by the Authorized Version and the Revised Version (comp. Isaiah 5:6; Amos 4:7).

22:23-31 All orders and degrees of men had helped to fill the measure of the nation's guilt. The people that had any power abused it, and even the buyers and sellers find some way to oppress one another. It bodes ill to a people when judgments are breaking in upon them, and the spirit of prayer is restrained. Let all who fear God, unite to promote his truth and righteousness; as wicked men of every rank and profession plot together to run them down.And the word of the Lord came unto me,.... The word of prophecy from the Lord, as the Targum:

saying; as follows: