Here God summarizes his reasons for punishing the leaders of Jerusalem. You have multiplied your slain in this city means they murdered many people; and have filled its streets with the slain means they filled the city with dead bodies. By not listening to the warnings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, the leaders had prolonged the fighting, and in this way they were responsible for many deaths among their fellow Jews. This verse probably also points to many people who had died as a result of political, economic and judicial oppression, in which the leaders robbed and killed the poor and were able to get away with it. The implication is that very many people died in this way. A possible model for this verse is:

• You have murdered so many people in this city that its streets are filled with dead bodies!

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .