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Ezekiel 16:17

in Ezekiel 16

You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Thou didst also take thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thee images of men, and didst play the harlot with them;

KJV

Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

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This verse in Ezekiel 16

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

(Verse 17) And you took the vessels of your adornment from my gold and silver, which I gave to you; and you made for yourself male images, and you committed fornication with them. According to the letter of the Lord's Law, it was commanded that incense burners, vases, candlesticks, the Ark of the Covenant, and all things golden or gilded, and other things made of silver, were to be made. All of these were made in Jerusalem and turned into idols of Baal, Baalim, Chemosh, Ashtaroth, and Milcom.

This site's exposition

But thou didst trust in thine own beauty

on Ezekiel 16:15-19

The turn is abrupt and total: trust in her own beauty becomes harlotry offered to every passerby, and the very gifts of gold, oil, incense and fine flour the Lord gave her are melted into idols and burned before them. Calvin reads the idol-making from God's own gold as the chapter's sharpest irony, ingratitude turning the giver's gifts into weapons against him. Fairbairn notes the political sense running underneath, the high places and foreign shrines built with royal wealth during the divided kingdom.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

And madest to thyself images of men - צלמי זכר tsalmey zachar, male images. Priapi are here meant, which were carried about in the ceremonies of Osiris, Bacchus, and Adonis; and were something like the lingam among the Hindoos. Herodotus, lib. ii, c. 48, 49, gives us an account of these male images: Πηχυαια αγαλματα νευροσπαστα, τα περιφορεουσι κατα κωμας ται γυναικες, νευον το αιδοιον, ου πολλῳ τεῳ ελασσον εον του αλλου σωματος. This was done at the worship of Bacchus in Egypt: and they who wish to see more may consult Herodotus as above.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַתִּקְחִ֞יand you took

    vatikchiH3947 →966 times

  • כְּלֵ֣י[the] articles of

    keleiH3627 →325 times

  • תִפְאַרְתֵּ֗ךְbeauty your

    tifartekhH8597 →51 times

  • מִזְּהָבִ֤יsome of gold my

    mizehaviH2091 →389 times

  • וּמִכַּסְפִּי֙and some of silver my

    umikaspiH3701 →403 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • נָתַ֣תִּיI had given

    natatiH5414 →2011 times

  • לָ֔ךְto you

    lakh

  • וַתַּעֲשִׂי־and you made

    vataasi-H6213 →2628 times

  • לָ֖ךְfor yourself

    lakh

  • צַלְמֵ֣יimages of

    tzalmeiH6754 →17 times

  • זָכָ֑רa male

    zakharH2145 →

  • וַתִּזְנִי־and you acted as a prostitute

    vatizni-H2181 →94 times

  • בָֽם׃with them

    vam

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

13 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Ezekiel 23:14–21But Oholibah carried her prostitution even further. She saw the men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans, engraved in vermilion,4 worksEzekiel 7:19–20They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem unclean. Their silver and gold cannot save them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetites or fill their stomachs with wealth, for it became the stumbling block that brought their iniquity.3 worksExodus 32:1–4Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!”3 worksHosea 2:13I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.3 worksJeremiah 3:9Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.3 worksHosea 10:1Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars.3 works
The other 7 cross-references, with their words ▾
Ezekiel 16:11I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck.3 worksIsaiah 44:19–20And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”3 worksJeremiah 2:27–28say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces, yet in the time of trouble they beg, ‘Rise up and save us!’3 worksIsaiah 57:7–8On a high and lofty hill you have made your bed, and there you went up to offer sacrifices.3 worksExodus 32:2So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold earrings that are on your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”3 worksEzekiel 23:16At the sight of them, she lusted for them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.2 worksRevelation 13:14Because of the signs it was given to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image to the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet had lived.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Hosea 2:13

    I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares…

    it leads to

    • Judges 3:7

      So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

    • Hosea 13:6

      When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.

    • Hosea 13:1

      When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel. But he incurred guilt through Baal, and he died.

    • Hosea 11:2

      But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images.

    • Jeremiah 7:9

      Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,

  • Through

    Jeremiah 3:9

    Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 2:27

      say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces, yet in the time of trouble…

    • Isaiah 57:6

      Your portion is among the smooth stones of the valley; indeed, they are your lot. Even to them you have poured out a drink offering and offered a grain offering. Should I relent because…

    • Jeremiah 3:2

      “Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been violated? You sat beside the highways waiting for your lovers, like a nomad in the…

Where this verse is studied

About Ezekiel

The Prophet Ezekiel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Prophet Ezekiel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Ezekiel: the study guide →Read Ezekiel 16 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Calvin, Commentaries on the First Twenty Chapters of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.

Read on in Ezekiel 16 →