Ezekiel 16:7
in Ezekiel 16I made you thrive like a plant of the field. You grew up and matured and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I caused thee to multiply as that which groweth in the field, and thou didst increase and wax great, and thou attainedst to excellent ornament; thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair was grown; yet thou wast naked and bare.
KJV
I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.
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This verse in Ezekiel 16
Commentary
7 notes on this verseI have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field,.... Or, "made thee millions" (m); like the spires of grass in the field. This refers to the multiplication of the children of Israel in Egypt, especially after the death of Joseph, and even while they were sorely afflicted, and likewise in later times.
This site's exposition
Then I passed by and saw you wallowing in your blood
on Ezekiel 16:6-7
The Lord's word to the dying infant is a single command spoken twice, Live, and the girl grows under that word alone. Clarke reads the doubled command as covenant language. The growth marks Israel's development from Egypt to the kingdom, still owing everything to the word first spoken over her.
This site's exposition
like a plant of the field
Gill connects the growth with the people of Israel multiplying in Egypt, as at Exodus 1:7. The girl grew up and became beautiful, yet she was still naked and bare. She had life and no covering.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 6, 7.) But passing by you, I saw you trampled in your own blood. And I said to you when you were in your own blood, live: I said to you, indeed, in your own blood, live. I made you multiply like the growth of the field, and you entered and came to womanhood. Your breasts swelled, and your hair grew: and you were naked and full of confusion. LXX: And I passed by you, and saw you mixed in your own blood, and I said to you, multiply your life from your blood, as I gave you growth like the plants of the field, and you multiplied, and you were magnified, and you entered into cities of cities. Your breasts were erect, and your hair was grown; but you were naked and full of shame. After you were cast down on the face of the field, or on the face of the earth, because of the wickedness of your soul, I no longer deserved to help you. Nevertheless, passing by, I saw you trampled upon, or mixed in your own blood, that is, guilty of mortal crimes. And I provoked you, granting you repentance, and said to you: Though you are in blood, nevertheless live in conversion; and there was such an abundance of all things in you, that you had the likeness of the most fertile land, and the blessing of Jacob, with which his father blessed him, saying: Behold the smell of my son is like the smell of a full field, which the Lord has blessed (Gen. XXVII, 27); and you would enter the inner chambers of the Lord, and say with the bride: The king brought me into his chamber (Cant. I, 3); and you would go to the world of women, for which the Seventy translated: and you entered into the cities of cities; so that just as the Song of Songs is called the world of worlds; so let cities be called the cities of cities. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
In Canaan they did eat bread to the full, the finest of the wheat, Deut. xxxii. Those whom God takes into covenant with himself are fed with the bread of life, clothed with the robe of righteousness, adorned with the graces and comforts of the spirit. The hidden man of the heart is that which is incorruptible.
How she is dignified who at first had scarcely her life given her for a prey: I swore unto thee and entered into covenant with thee. This was done at Mount Sinai: "when the covenant between God and Israel was sealed and ratified then thou becamest mine. " God called them his people, and himself the God of Israel.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I caused “thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou” didst increase “and” wax “great, and thou” didst come “to excellent” beauty; “thy breasts” were “fashioned and thine hair” was grown, yet wast “thou naked and bare.” The prophet has arrived at the time at which the child grew up to maturity. God preserved the life of the infant which must without His help have died Eze 16:6; and the child grew up to womanhood, but was still desolate and unprotected.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רְבָבָ֗ה | revavah | ten thousand | H7233 → | |
| כְּצֶ֤מַח | ketzemach | like [the] growth of | H6780 → | 12 times |
| הַשָּׂדֶה֙ | hasadeh | the field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| נְתַתִּ֔יךְ | netatikh | I made you | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| וַתִּרְבִּי֙ | vatirbi | and you grew | H7235 → | 227 times |
| וַֽתִּגְדְּלִ֔י | vatigdeli | and you grew up | H1431 → | 117 times |
| וַתָּבֹ֖אִי | vatavoi | and you came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בַּעֲדִ֣י | baadi | into adornment | H5716 → | 14 times |
| עֲדָיִ֑ים | ʾadayim | ornaments | H5716 → | 14 times |
| שָׁדַ֤יִם | shadayim | breasts | H7699 → | 24 times |
| נָכֹ֙נוּ֙ | nakhonu | they were firm | H3559 → | 217 times |
| וּשְׂעָרֵ֣ךְ | usearekh | and hair your | H8181 → | |
| צִמֵּ֔חַ | tzimeach | it had grown | H6779 → | 33 times |
| וְאַ֖תְּ | veat | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| עֵרֹ֥ם | ʾerom | [were] nakedness | H5903 → | 10 times |
| וְעֶרְיָֽה׃ | veeryah | and bareness | H6181 → | 6 times |
רְבָבָ֗הten thousand
revavahH7233 →
כְּצֶ֤מַחlike [the] growth of
ketzemachH6780 →12 times
הַשָּׂדֶה֙the field
hasadehH7704 →334 times
נְתַתִּ֔יךְI made you
netatikhH5414 →2011 times
וַתִּרְבִּי֙and you grew
vatirbiH7235 →227 times
וַֽתִּגְדְּלִ֔יand you grew up
vatigdeliH1431 →117 times
וַתָּבֹ֖אִיand you came
vatavoiH935 →2568 times
בַּעֲדִ֣יinto adornment
baadiH5716 →14 times
עֲדָיִ֑יםornaments
ʾadayimH5716 →14 times
שָׁדַ֤יִםbreasts
shadayimH7699 →24 times
נָכֹ֙נוּ֙they were firm
nakhonuH3559 →217 times
וּשְׂעָרֵ֣ךְand hair your
usearekhH8181 →
צִמֵּ֔חַit had grown
tzimeachH6779 →33 times
וְאַ֖תְּand you
veatH859 →1094 times
עֵרֹ֥ם[were] nakedness
ʾeromH5903 →10 times
וְעֶרְיָֽה׃and bareness
veeryahH6181 →6 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
Isaiah 62:3You will be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, a royal diadem in the palm of your God.
it leads to
- Isaiah 28:5
On that day the LORD of Hosts will be a crown of glory, a diadem of splendor to the remnant of His people,
- Zechariah 9:16
On that day the LORD their God will save them as the flock of His people; for like jewels in a crown they will sparkle over His land.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:19
After all, who is our hope, our joy, our crown of boasting, if it is not you yourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?
- Isaiah 28:5
Through
Exodus 1:7but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
it leads to
- Genesis 46:3
“I am God,” He said, “the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.
- Deuteronomy 26:5
and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty…
- Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature…
- Genesis 47:27
Now the Israelites settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and became fruitful and increased greatly in number.
- Genesis 46:3
Through
Deuteronomy 1:10The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.
it leads to
- Genesis 22:17
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- Genesis 22:17
Where this verse is studied
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.