Ezekiel 20:30
in Ezekiel 20Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: Will you defile yourselves the way your fathers did, prostituting yourselves with their abominations?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Do ye pollute yourselves after the manner of your fathers? and play ye the harlot after their abominations?
KJV
Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?
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This verse in Ezekiel 20
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
polluted after the manner of your fathers
on Ezekiel 20:30-31
The present generation is charged with the same whoredom after their fathers' abominations. The child sacrifice named at pollute yourselves with all your idols is a practice some among them still kept unto this day. The refusal from verse three returns unchanged, I will not be enquired of by you.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 30, 31.) Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Lord God says: You are defiling yourselves in the way of your fathers and indulging in their abominations; you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. Shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.'
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He must say to the present house of Israel, some of whose elders were now sitting before him, " Are you polluted after the manner of your fathers? After all that God has said against you by a succession of prophets, and done against you by a series of judgments, yet will you take no warning?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God,.... To the elders, as before: are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? they were: and commit ye whoredoms after their abominations? spiritual adultery; that is, idolatry, in the same abominable manner? they did, as appears by what follows:
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The interrogation implies a strong affirmation, as in Eze 20:4, "Are ye not polluted . . . ? Or, connecting this verse with Eze 20:31, "Are ye thus polluted . . . and yet (do ye expect that) I shall be inquired of by you?"
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֞ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אֱמֹ֣ר׀ | ʾemor | say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| כֹּ֤ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֙ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| הַבְּדֶ֥רֶךְ | habederekh | ¿ in [the] way? of | H1870 → | 707 times |
| אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם | ʾavoteikhem | ancestors your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| אַתֶּ֣ם | ʾatem | [are] you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| נִטְמְאִ֑ים | nitmeim | making yourselves unclean | H2930 → | 162 times |
| וְאַחֲרֵ֥י | veacharei | and after | H310 → | 715 times |
| שִׁקּוּצֵיהֶ֖ם | shikutzeihem | detestable things their | H8251 → | 28 times |
| אַתֶּ֥ם | ʾatem | [are] you? | H859 → | 1094 times |
| זֹנִֽים׃ | zonim | acting as prostitutes | H2181 → | 94 times |
לָכֵ֞ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
אֱמֹ֣ר׀say
ʾemorH559 →5305 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
כֹּ֤הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַר֙he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
הַבְּדֶ֥רֶךְ¿ in [the] way? of
habederekhH1870 →707 times
אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֖םancestors your
ʾavoteikhemH1 →1212 times
אַתֶּ֣ם[are] you
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
נִטְמְאִ֑יםmaking yourselves unclean
nitmeimH2930 →162 times
וְאַחֲרֵ֥יand after
veachareiH310 →715 times
שִׁקּוּצֵיהֶ֖םdetestable things their
shikutzeihemH8251 →28 times
אַתֶּ֥ם[are] you?
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
זֹנִֽים׃acting as prostitutes
zonimH2181 →94 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
Judges 2:19But when the judge died, the Israelites became even more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They would not give up their evil practices…
it leads to
- Judges 8:33
And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.
- Judges 4:1
After Ehud died, the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Judges 8:33
Through
Jeremiah 7:26Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.
it leads to
- Matthew 23:32
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 23:32
Through
Jeremiah 16:12And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you follows the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying Me.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 7:26
Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.
- Jeremiah 13:10
These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this…
- Jeremiah 7:26
Through
Matthew 23:32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.
it leads to
- Genesis 15:16
In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
- Genesis 15:16
Through
Jeremiah 9:14Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 7:24
Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
- Jeremiah 3:17
At that time Jerusalem will be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations will be gathered in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. They will no longer follow the…
- Jeremiah 7:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Ezekiel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.
