Ezekiel 23:16
in Ezekiel 23At the sight of them, she lusted for them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And as soon as she saw them she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
KJV
And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
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This verse in Ezekiel 23
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis 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 Awakening2 voices
), joined in alliance with that kingdom, invited them to come and settle in Jerusalem, that they might refine the genius of the Jewish nation and make it more polite; nay, they sent for patterns of their images, altars, and temples, and made use of them in their worship. Thus was she polluted with her whoredoms (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them,.... As lustful women, on the sight of the pictures of men, fall in love with them, and are mad after them; such a vehement desire after the idols of the Chaldeans prevailed, upon seeing their images: and sent messengers unto them in Chaldea; to make alliances with the Chaldeans, and to have their idols, and worship them.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
It was she that solicited the Chaldeans, not they her. Probably the occasion was when Judah sought to strengthen herself by a Chaldean alliance against a menaced attack by Egypt (compare 2Ki 23:29-35; God made the object of their sinful desire the instrument of their punishment.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The sending of “messengers” refers to the act of Ahaz 2Ki 16:7.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתַּעְגְּבָ֥ה | vata'gavh | and she lusted ! | H5689 → | 7 times |
| עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם | ʾaleihem | on them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| לְמַרְאֵ֣ה | lemareh | to [the] sight of | H4758 → | 103 times |
| עֵינֶ֑יהָ | ʾeineiha | eyes her | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וַתִּשְׁלַ֧ח | vatishlach | and she sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| מַלְאָכִ֛ים | malakhim | messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כַּשְׂדִּֽימָה׃ | kasdimah | Chaldea towards | H3778 → | 80 times |
וַתַּעְגְּבָ֥הand she lusted !
vata'gavhH5689 →7 times
עֲלֵיהֶ֖םon them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
לְמַרְאֵ֣הto [the] sight of
lemarehH4758 →103 times
עֵינֶ֑יהָeyes her
ʾeineihaH5869 →887 times
וַתִּשְׁלַ֧חand she sent
vatishlachH7971 →845 times
מַלְאָכִ֛יםmessengers
malakhimH4397 →213 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֖םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
כַּשְׂדִּֽימָה׃Chaldea towards
kasdimahH3778 →80 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
Job 31:1“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
it leads to
- James 1:14–15
But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 6:25
Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 5:28–29
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
- Psalms 119:37
Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.
- James 1:14–15
Through
Matthew 5:28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
it leads to
- Exodus 20:17
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
- 2 Samuel 11:2
One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
- Exodus 20:17
Through
Ezekiel 16:17You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 23:14–21
But Oholibah carried her prostitution even further. She saw the men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans, engraved in vermilion,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 23:14–21
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.