Ezekiel 16:4
in Ezekiel 16On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to cleanse thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
KJV
And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
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This verse in Ezekiel 16
Commentary
15 notes on this verseIt follows: And you were not washed in water for salvation. The bodies of babies, as soon as they are born from the womb, are usually washed with water: so too does the spiritual generation require the saving washing. For no one is clean from filth, not even if his life were of only one day. And in the Psalms we read: In iniquities I was conceived, and in sins my mother conceived me. The second birth dissolves the first birth.
This site's exposition
On the day of your birth your cord was not cut
on Ezekiel 16:4-5
The vision moves to an exposed infant, unwashed, unsalted, unswaddled, and thrown into an open field. Calvin reads the details against birth customs, so the scene lands as total abandonment. Wesley draws the point forward: Jerusalem owed her life to nothing in herself, and every kindness that follows is unearned.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Not everyone is washed for salvation. We who have received the grace of baptism in the name of Christ are washed, but I do not know who is washed for salvation.
It is quite difficult that he who is washed should be washed in order to be saved. Listen, catechumens, listen, and from what is said, prepare yourselves, while you are catechumens, while you are not yet baptized, and come to the bath and be baptized for salvation. Do not be so baptized that you are washed but not for salvation.
The soul that is reborn is barely out of the bath before being enveloped with towels.
(Verse 4, 5.) And when you were born, on the day of your birth your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were not washed in water for your own health, nor were you sprinkled with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling clothes. No eye had pity on you, to do any of these things out of compassion for you: but you were thrown out into the open field, in the abjection of your soul, on the day you were born. LXX: And on the day you were born, they did not bind your breasts, and your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were not washed in water for your own health, nor were you sprinkled with salt, and you were not wrapped in swaddling clothes; no eye had pity on you, to do any of these things for you, and allow anything to happen to you, and you were thrown out into the open field, in the corruption of your soul, on the day you were born. Let us discuss each point in the order of the reading. When Jerusalem was born from her father Amorite and her mother Hittite, and was poured out from the womb, her umbilicus was not cut, with which fetuses are nourished in the womb like trees and plants, which are nourished by the hidden moisture of the earth through their roots. And just as the seed of men is signified in the loins, so the genitalia of women are called umbilicus in honorable speech according to the custom of the Scriptures, as witnessed by Job, who speaks figuratively of the devil as a dragon: His strength is in his loins, and his power is in the navel of his belly (Job 40:11). For this ancient dragon serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, deceives the world; he has power over men in their loins, and over women in their navels. […]
It is a great work to be rubbed with salt. If we are seasoned with salt, we are full of grace.
8 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
To take an example from human relationships, if the Holy Spirit gives, then I travel on to Jesus Christ and God the Father.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Terrible judgments threatened, ver. 35-43. An aggravation of their sin and of their punishment, ver. 44-59. A promise of mercy to a remnant, ver. 60-63 Commentary on Chapter XVI
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-35/44/60-anchored-1-5
In the day - In the day I called Abraham to leave his idolatry. Salted - Salt was used to purge, dry, and strengthen the new-born child. Nor swaddled - So forlorn was the state of the Jews in their birth, without beauty, without strength, without friend.
And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born,....
Note, We owe the preservation of our infant lives to the natural pity and compassion which the God of nature has put into the hearts of parents and nurses towards new-born children. This infant is said to be cast out, to the loathing of her person; it was a sign that she was loathed by those that bore her, and she appeared loathsome to all that looked upon her.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
As for thy nativity, etc. - This verse refers to what is ordinarily done for every infant on its birth. The umbilical cord, by which it received all its nourishment while in the womb, being no longer necessary, is cut at a certain distance from the abdomen: on this part a knot is tied, which firmly uniting the sides of the tubes, they coalesce, and incarnate together.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Its very life was a miracle (Ex 1:15-22). navel . . . not cut--Without proper attention to the navel cord, the infant just born is liable to die. neither . . . washed in water to supple thee--that is, to make the skin soft. Rather, "for purification"; from an Arabic root [MAURER].
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To supple thee - i. e., to cleanse thee.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמוֹלְדוֹתַ֗יִךְ | umoldotayikh | and birth<s> your | H4138 → | 22 times |
| בְּי֨וֹם | beyom | on [the] day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הוּלֶּ֤דֶת | huledet | were born | H3205 → | 496 times |
| אֹתָךְ֙ | ʾotokh | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| כָרַּ֣ת | kharat | it was cut off | H3772 → | 288 times |
| שָׁרֵּ֔ךְ | sharekh | umbilical cord your | H8270 → | |
| וּבְמַ֥יִם | uvemayim | and with water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| רֻחַ֖צְתְּ | ruchatzt | you were washed | H7364 → | 72 times |
| לְמִשְׁעִ֑י | lemishi | for cleansing | H4935 → | |
| וְהָמְלֵ֙חַ֙ | vehameleach | and certainly <to be salted> | H4414 → | |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הֻמְלַ֔חַתְּ | humlachat | you were rubbed with salt | H4414 → | |
| וְהָחְתֵּ֖ל | vehachetel | and certainly <to be wrapped> | H2853 → | |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| חֻתָּֽלְתְּ׃ | chutalet | you were wrapped | H2853 → |
וּמוֹלְדוֹתַ֗יִךְand birth<s> your
umoldotayikhH4138 →22 times
בְּי֨וֹםon [the] day
beyomH3117 →2304 times
הוּלֶּ֤דֶתwere born
huledetH3205 →496 times
אֹתָךְ֙<obj.> you
ʾotokhH853 →10935 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
כָרַּ֣תit was cut off
kharatH3772 →288 times
שָׁרֵּ֔ךְumbilical cord your
sharekhH8270 →
וּבְמַ֥יִםand with water
uvemayimH4325 →581 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
רֻחַ֖צְתְּyou were washed
ruchatztH7364 →72 times
לְמִשְׁעִ֑יfor cleansing
lemishiH4935 →
וְהָמְלֵ֙חַ֙and certainly <to be salted>
vehameleachH4414 →
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
הֻמְלַ֔חַתְּyou were rubbed with salt
humlachatH4414 →
וְהָחְתֵּ֖לand certainly <to be wrapped>
vehachetelH2853 →
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
חֻתָּֽלְתְּ׃you were wrapped
chutaletH2853 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Genesis 15:13Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
it leads to
- Acts 7:6–7
God told him that his descendants would be foreigners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
- Exodus 1:11
So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
- Exodus 12:40–41
Now the duration of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt was 430 years.
- Acts 7:17
As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number.
- Acts 7:6–7
Through
Hosea 2:3Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her like the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and turn her into a parched land, and I will let her…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 16:22
And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood.
- Jeremiah 13:22
And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity that your skirts have been stripped off and your body has been exposed.
- Ezekiel 16:22
Through
Joshua 24:2And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and…
it leads to
- Joshua 24:15
But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods…
- Ezekiel 16:3
and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a…
- Joshua 24:15
Where this verse is studied
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On this verse
About Ezekiel
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 4:16.4-5; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Calvin, Commentaries on the First Twenty Chapters of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 6:5 and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 6:6.