Ezekiel 23:14
in Ezekiel 23But Oholibah carried her prostitution even further. She saw the men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans, engraved in vermilion,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And she increased her whoredoms; for she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,
KJV
And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,
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This verse in Ezekiel 23
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
After Israel’s captivity Judah intrigued first with Assyria, then with Babylon, courting their monarchs, imitating their customs, and learning their idolatries. Pourtrayed upon the wall - The monuments of Nineveh show how the walls of its palaces were adorned with figures precisely answering to this description. There is evidence that these sculptures were highly colored with vermilion, or rather, red ochre.
This site's exposition
she increased her whoredoms
on Ezekiel 23:14-18
Jerusalem's course moves past living armies to painted ones, wall images of Chaldean officers in vermilion drawing her eyes before any Babylonian ever arrived, and she sends messengers into Chaldea on the strength of a picture. Fairbairn reads the detail as the chapter's sharpest satire, an infatuation with mere portraits rather than substance, the alliance with Babylon pursued before any real need for it existed. Barnes notes the outcome the moment the affair is finished, my mind was alienated from her, the same verdict already passed on Samaria now falling on Jerusalem in the same words.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 11 seqq.) When her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more wicked than her, and her desire for sexual immorality surpassed that of her sister. Shamelessly, she displayed her prostitution to the sons of Assyria, to their captains and leaders who came to her. She was dressed in various (or costly) garments, riding on horses with riders, all of them handsome young men. And I saw that both of them had defiled the same path, and they multiplied their sexual immorality.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And that she increased her whoredoms,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
vermilion--the peculiar color of the Chaldeans, as purple was of the Assyrians. In striking agreement with this verse is the fact that the Assyrian sculptures lately discovered have painted and colored bas-reliefs in red, blue, and black.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Men pourtrayed upon the wall - See on Eze 8:10 (note).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And she increased her harlotries to lust for images that she had not seen [in actuality], only their likeness,
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתּ֖וֹסֶף | vatosef | and she added | H3254 → | 212 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| תַּזְנוּתֶ֑יהָ | taznuteiha | prostitution<s> her | H8457 → | 20 times |
| וַתֵּ֗רֶא | vatere' | and she saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אַנְשֵׁי֙ | ʾanshei | men of | H582 → | 566 times |
| מְחֻקֶּ֣ה | mechukeh | a carved [thing] | H2707 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַקִּ֔יר | hakir | the wall | H7023 → | 75 times |
| צַלְמֵ֣י | tzalmei | [the] images of | H6754 → | 17 times |
| כַשְׂדִּ֔ים | khasdiyim | [the] Chaldeans | H3778 → | 80 times |
| חֲקֻקִ֖ים | chakukim | inscribed | H2710 → | |
| בַּשָּׁשַֽׁר׃ | bashashar | with <the> vermilion | H8350 → |
וַתּ֖וֹסֶףand she added
vatosefH3254 →212 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
תַּזְנוּתֶ֑יהָprostitution<s> her
taznuteihaH8457 →20 times
וַתֵּ֗רֶאand she saw
vatere'H7200 →1300 times
אַנְשֵׁי֙men of
ʾansheiH582 →566 times
מְחֻקֶּ֣הa carved [thing]
mechukehH2707 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַקִּ֔ירthe wall
hakirH7023 →75 times
צַלְמֵ֣י[the] images of
tzalmeiH6754 →17 times
כַשְׂדִּ֔ים[the] Chaldeans
khasdiyimH3778 →80 times
חֲקֻקִ֖יםinscribed
chakukimH2710 →
בַּשָּׁשַֽׁר׃with <the> vermilion
bashasharH8350 →
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
Jeremiah 50:2“Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 21:9
Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 46:1
Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
- Jeremiah 51:47
Therefore, behold, the days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her entire land will suffer shame, and all her slain will lie fallen within her.
- Isaiah 21:9
Through
Isaiah 46:1Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:44
I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him spew out what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him; even the wall of Babylon will fall.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 50:2
“Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced,…
- Jeremiah 51:44
Through
Ezekiel 8:10So I went in and looked, and engraved all around the wall was every kind of crawling creature and detestable beast, along with all the idols of the house of Israel.
it leads to
- Exodus 20:4
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Romans 1:23
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
- Exodus 20:4
Through
Jeremiah 22:14who says, ‘I will build myself a great palace, with spacious upper rooms.’ So he cuts windows in it, panels it with cedar, and paints it with vermilion.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 7:2
he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
- 2 Samuel 7:2
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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 Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.