The Meaning of Ezekiel 22:30 Explained

Ezekiel 22:30

KJV: And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

YLT: And I seek of them a man making a fence, And standing in the breach before Me, In behalf of the land -- not to destroy it, And I have not found.

Darby: And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the fence, and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.

ASV: And I sought for a man among them, that should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And I sought  for a man  among them, that should make up  the hedge,  and stand  in the gap  before  me for the land,  that I should not destroy  it: but I found  none. 

What does Ezekiel 22:30 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Yahweh had looked for one of the Judahites who would lead a reformation that would defend the people from God"s judgment, but He could not find anyone. [1] Building up the wall and standing in the gap formed by a breach in the wall were appropriate figures for fortifying the people in their hour of need.
In chapter14the Lord said that no righteous person could deliver the nation from judgment by his own righteousness, not even Noah, Daniel , or Job. Here He said that He could find no one who could lead the people back to God.
"Such a statement is hyperbole, purposeful exaggeration for effect. It hardly means that no one at all in Jerusalem in the early580s was righteous.... It means rather that there were so few among the people who were righteous that the net effect was as if no one at all cared about God"s Will." [2]
Obviously there were prophets who were faithful to the Lord in Judah during its last days, like Jeremiah ,, Habakkuk , and Zephaniah. Evidently the Lord did not mean that He was without any faithful representatives but that even these men were ineffective in stemming the tide of ungodliness. They did not fail because they were deficient but because the people were so thoroughly defiant. No one could return them to following the Mosaic Covenant faithfully as, for example, Hezekiah had done earlier and as Josiah had tried to do. Furthermore, Jeremiah and his fellow prophets lacked the political authority to lead Judah back from the brink of disaster.
Moses had been a "gap man" in his day ( Exodus 32:11; cf. Genesis 20:7). He had turned aside the Lord"s wrath from the Israelites with His intercessory prayers. God responded to Moses" pleas for mercy because the people were still malleable enough to repent. He did not respond to Jeremiah"s prayers for mercy because the Judahites were now hardened in opposition to His will ( Jeremiah 7:16-17; Jeremiah 14:11-12).

Chapter Summary: Ezekiel 22

1  A catalogue of sins in Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jews in consequence
17  God will burn them as dross in his furnace
23  The general corruption of prophets, priests, princes, and the people

What do the individual words in Ezekiel 22:30 mean?

So I sought among them for a man who would make a wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land that I should not destroy it but no one I found
וָאֲבַקֵּ֣שׁ מֵהֶ֡ם אִ֣ישׁ גֹּֽדֵר־ גָּדֵר֩ וְעֹמֵ֨ד בַּפֶּ֧רֶץ לְפָנַ֛י בְּעַ֥ד הָאָ֖רֶץ לְבִלְתִּ֣י שַׁחֲתָ֑הּ וְלֹ֖א מָצָֽאתִי

וָאֲבַקֵּ֣שׁ  So  I  sought 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, first person common singular
Root: בָּקַשׁ  
Sense: to seek, require, desire, exact, request.
מֵהֶ֡ם  among  them 
Parse: Preposition-m, Pronoun, third person masculine plural
Root: הֵם 
Sense: they, these, the same, who.
אִ֣ישׁ  for  a  man 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
גֹּֽדֵר־  who  would  make 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: גָּדַר  
Sense: to wall up, wall off, close off, build a wall.
גָּדֵר֩  a  wall 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: גָּדֵר  
Sense: fence, wall.
וְעֹמֵ֨ד  and  stand 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: עָמַד  
Sense: to stand, remain, endure, take one’s stand.
בַּפֶּ֧רֶץ  in  the  gap 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: פֶּרֶץ  
Sense: breach, gap, bursting forth.
לְפָנַ֛י  before  Me 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
בְּעַ֥ד  on  behalf 
Parse: Preposition
Root: בַּעַד 
Sense: behind, through, round about, on behalf of, away from, about.
הָאָ֖רֶץ  of  the  land 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
לְבִלְתִּ֣י  that  I  should  not 
Parse: Preposition-l
Root: בִּלְתִּי  
Sense: not, except adv.
שַׁחֲתָ֑הּ  destroy  it 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Infinitive construct, third person feminine singular
Root: שָׁחַת  
Sense: to destroy, corrupt, go to ruin, decay.
וְלֹ֖א  but  no  one 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
מָצָֽאתִי  I  found 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: מָצָא  
Sense: to find, attain to.