Ezekiel 16:54
in Ezekiel 16So you will bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you did to comfort them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be ashamed because of all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
KJV
That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
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This verse in Ezekiel 16
Commentary
9 notes on this verseFor of whom is it doubted that among three sinners, rather sinners, a gentile, a heretic, and a churchman, he is more deserving of greater punishments, who is deserving of greater dignity? For the powerful, as we have said, endure torments powerfully (Wisdom 6:7). But he who is least deserving is deserving of mercy. And the servant who knows the will of his master, and does not do it, will be beaten with many (Luke 12:47). Therefore Peter also says: It is time for judgment to begin with God's house (1 Peter 4:17).
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Verse 53, 54.) And I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters. And I will restore your own fortune among them, so that you may bear your shame and be confounded in everything you have done, consoling them.
Consider and observe, my hearer, that if God had given a hope to Sodom and to its fellows, he would not have overthrown them with fire and brimstone, the sign of the last day of the world, but would have delivered them over to one of the kingdoms to be chastised.
It is plain that the just and good God of the law and the gospels is one and the same and that he does good with justice and punishes in kindness, since neither goodness without justice nor justice without goodness can describe the dignity of the divine nature.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
That thou mayest bear thine own shame,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
bear thine own shame--by being put on a level with those whom thou hast so much despised. thou art a comfort unto them--since they see thee as miserable as themselves. It is a kind of melancholy "comfort" to those chastised to see others as sorely punished as themselves (Eze 14:22, 23).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
IT IS NOT a comfortable state to be at enmity with God, and the sinner knows this. Although he perseveres in his rebellion against the Most High, and turns not at the rebuke of the Almighty, but still goeth on in his iniquity, desperately seeking his own destruction, yet is he aware in his own conscience that he is not in a secure position. Hence it is that all wicked men are constantly on the look out for excuses. They find these either in pretended resolutions to reform at some future period, or else in the declaration that reformation is out of their power, and that, acting according to their own nature, they must continue to go on in their iniquities. When a man is willing to find an excuse for being God’s enemy he need never be at a loss. He who hath to find a fact may find some difficulty; but he who would forge a lie may sit at his own fireside and do it. Now, the excuses of sinners are all of them false; they are refuges of lies; and therefore we need not wonder that they are exceedingly numerous, and very easy to come at. One way in which sinners frequently excuse themselves is by endeavoring to get some apology for their own iniquities from the inconsistencies of God’s people. This is the reason why there is much slander in the world. A true Christian is a rebuke to the sinner, wherever he goes he is a living protest against the evil of sin. Hence it is that the worldling makes a dead set upon a pious man. His language in his heart is, “He accuses me to my face; I cannot bear the sight of his holy character; it makes the blackness of my own life appear the more terrible, when I see the whiteness of his innocence contrasting with it.” And then the worldling opens all his eyes, and labors to find a fault with the virtuous.
IT IS NOT a comfortable state to be at enmity with God, and the sinner knows this. Although he perseveres in his rebellion against the Most High, and turns not at the rebuke of the Almighty, but still goeth on in his iniquity, desperately seeking his own destruction, yet is he aware in his own conscience that he is not in a secure position. Hence it is that all wicked men are constantly on the look out for excuses.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thou art a comfort unto them - The degradation of Judah would be a kind of consolation to others. Compare Isa. 14.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְמַ֙עַן֙ | lemaan | so that | H4616 → | 272 times |
| תִּשְׂאִ֣י | tisi | you may bear | H5375 → | 656 times |
| כְלִמָּתֵ֔ךְ | khelimatekh | disgrace your | H3639 → | 30 times |
| וְנִכְלַ֕מְתְּ | venikhlamt | and you will be ashamed | H3637 → | 38 times |
| מִכֹּ֖ל | mikol | from all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָשִׂ֑ית | ʾasit | you have done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בְּנַחֲמֵ֖ךְ | benachamekh | when comfort you | H5162 → | 108 times |
| אֹתָֽן׃ | ʾotan | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
לְמַ֙עַן֙so that
lemaanH4616 →272 times
תִּשְׂאִ֣יyou may bear
tisiH5375 →656 times
כְלִמָּתֵ֔ךְdisgrace your
khelimatekhH3639 →30 times
וְנִכְלַ֕מְתְּand you will be ashamed
venikhlamtH3637 →38 times
מִכֹּ֖לfrom all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עָשִׂ֑יתyou have done
ʾasitH6213 →2628 times
בְּנַחֲמֵ֖ךְwhen comfort you
benachamekhH5162 →108 times
אֹתָֽן׃<obj.> them
ʾotanH853 →10935 times
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
Ezekiel 16:63so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”
it leads to
- Psalms 39:9
I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.
- Romans 3:19
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Ezekiel 36:31–32
Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations.
- Titus 3:3–7
For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
- Job 40:4–5
“Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.
- Psalms 39:9
Through
Ezekiel 16:52So now you must bear your disgrace, since you have brought justification for your sisters. For they appear more righteous than you, because your sins were more vile than theirs. So you too must…
it leads to
- Matthew 7:1–5
“Do not judge, or you will be judged.
- Jeremiah 23:40
And I will bring upon you everlasting shame and perpetual humiliation that will never be forgotten.”
- Ezekiel 44:13
They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed.
- Matthew 7:1–5
Where this verse is studied
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Aphrahat the Persian Sage, DEMONSTRATIONS 21:6; Charles Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 264: “How Saints May Help the Devil” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 2:5.3.