Ezekiel 16:8
in Ezekiel 16Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord Jehovah, and thou becamest mine.
KJV
Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 16
Commentary
14 notes on this verseWas the time of love - Thou wast marriageable. I spread my skirt over thee - I espoused thee. This was one of their initiatory marriage ceremonies. See Rth 3:9. I - entered into a covenant with thee - Married thee. Espousing preceded marriage.
This site's exposition
you were indeed old enough for love
The Lord spreads his skirt over her, compare Ruth 3:9, swears an oath, and Jerusalem becomes his. Keil reads this as the Sinai covenant pictured as a wedding. Gill notes love and covenant come before any of the adorning that follows, so nothing she wears is ever hers by right.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
When we are of a greater age and can therefore sin, angels look for a chance to influence us, and that is as true of the angels of God as it is of the angels of Satan.
Let us pray that the mercy of God will come on us and wash away the blood from our souls.
(Verse 8.) And I passed through you, and I saw you: and behold, your time, the time of lovers. And I spread my garment over you, and covered your shame. Septuagint: And I passed through you, and I saw you, and behold, your time, the time of those who divert: and I spread my wings over you, and covered your shame. What mercy! It was not enough to see her trampled in blood once, and to provoke her to repentance: but again he visited the sinner, and because she was naked, and full of confusion, he came and visited her again, and behold, her time, the time of lovers; whether according to the Septuagint, those who divert, or according to the interpretation of Aquila, the second συναλλαγῆς, namely the betrothal and wedding time; according to the first edition of the same and Theodotion, μαστῶν, which means of breasts: for which Symmachus translates ἀγαπῆς, which signifies love. Therefore, that was the time when women could join men and endure marital intercourse. However, merciful God spread His wings, and He took them in and carried them on His shoulders, according to what is written in the Gospel: \"How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing\" (Luke 12:34)? Or rather, He extended His garment as wings; for this is what the term \"pterygium\" means, with which Ruth covered her feet while sleeping at Boaz's feet (Ruth 3). And on the border, that is, on the hem of our garment, we are commanded to attach hyacinth fringes. This was done in order to cover the shame of Jerusalem, revealing the female genitalia under this name. Indeed, according to the Apostle: We surround the dishonorable parts of our body with greater honor (I Cor. XII, 13). Hence, the Psalmist sings: Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven, and whose sins are covered (Ps. XXXI, 1). […]
But from hence infer not thy punishment only, but also the boundless longsuffering of God. How often at least have we put our hands to the same evil deeds, and yet He suffers long! But let us not be sanguine, but fear; since Pharaoh too, had he been taught by the first plague, would not have experienced the later ones; he would not afterwards have been drowned, his host and all together.
Let us turn our thoughts on what we said about Jerusalem to our own soul, which, as long as it remains in infancy, is free from sin. But when the time of its adulthood comes, there are many lovers of demons and heretics, and of perverse teachings, who desire to lead it astray. They are repelled by the protection of God, so that it may not receive the satellites of the devil, but rather the ministers of the Savior.
7 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
I spread my skirt - Espoused thee, as Ruth iii, 9. Entered into a covenant - This was done at Mount Sinai, when the covenant between God and Israel was sealed and ratified. Those to whom God gives spiritual life, he takes into covenant with himself.
Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee,....
It was the kindness and love of God our Saviour that sent Christ to redeem us, that sends the Spirit to sanctify us, that brought us out of a state of nature into a state of grace. That was a time of love indeed, distinguishing love, when God manifested his love to us, and courted our love to him. Then was I in his eyes as one that found favour, Cant. viii.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The cloak is often used as a bed coverlet in the East. God explains what He means, "I entered into . . . covenant with thee," that is, at Sinai. So Israel became "the wife of God's covenant" (Isa 54:5;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2438: “"Two Immutable Things"” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
DURING this last summer I took a little journey into the country, as I had an opportunity of preaching and visiting in the region where I lived as a little child and where I afterwards spent some of my school-boy days. Everything was very vividly interesting to me, much more so than it could have been to anybody who was a stranger to the district. Now I want some of you, especially you who love the Lord, to go back in thought to your early days when you were children in Grace.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2438: “"Two Immutable Things"” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
DURING this last summer I took a little journey into the country, as I had an opportunity of preaching and visiting in the region where I lived as a little child and where I afterwards spent some of my school-boy days. Everything was very vividly interesting to me, much more so than it could have been to anybody who was a stranger to the district. Now I want some of you, especially you who love the Lord, to go back in thought to your early days when you were children in Grace. Yes, go back even further than that—to the time of your spiritual birth—those first hours when your love to your Lord was true and fervent, and everything round about you was fresh and bright and joyous. Biographies are generally interesting if they are biographies, that is to say, if the events of the person's life are truly told. But I think that the most interesting biography to any man is his own life. Take that book down from the shelf and look into it. You say that you have not kept a diary? Well, perhaps not, but you have one in your memory. You may have read Pepys' Diary, or Evelyn's Diary—they are interesting—but I want to get you to read your own! Turn over the pages of the book of memory and think of those first times when you sought and found the Savior, when you repented, when you believed, when you yielded yourself up to Jesus—when He took you to be His and you took Him to be yours! I am sure that this exercise will awaken many happy thoughts and I feel equally certain that it will suggest many regrets. But the happiness will be good for you if it excites your gratitude—and the regrets will be good for you if they deepen your penitence. I want you, then, to go back for a little time and think of what God did for you, then, and of what He has done for you since.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Now when ... - Or, Then I passed by thee ... and behold. The espousal of the damsel represents God’s entering into covenant with the people in the wilderness at Mt. Sinai Exo 34:27.
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֶעֱבֹ֨ר | vaeevor | and I passed by | H5674 → | 556 times |
| עָלַ֜יִךְ | ʾalayikh | at you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וָאֶרְאֵ֗ךְ | vaerekh | and I saw you | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֤ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| עִתֵּךְ֙ | ʾitekh | time your | H6256 → | 296 times |
| עֵ֣ת | ʾet | [was] a time of | H6256 → | 296 times |
| דֹּדִ֔ים | dodim | love<s> | H1730 → | |
| וָאֶפְרֹ֤שׂ | vaefros | and I spread out | H6566 → | 67 times |
| כְּנָפִי֙ | kenafi | [the] skirt of garment my | H3671 → | 109 times |
| עָלַ֔יִךְ | ʾalayikh | over you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וָאֲכַסֶּ֖ה | vaakhaseh | and I covered | H3680 → | 152 times |
| עֶרְוָתֵ֑ךְ | ʾervatekh | nakedness your | H6172 → | 54 times |
| וָאֶשָּׁ֣בַֽע | vaeshava' | and I swore an oath | H7650 → | |
| לָ֠ךְ | lakh | to you | ||
| וָאָב֨וֹא | vaavo' | and I came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בִבְרִ֜ית | vivrit | in a covenant | H1285 → | 284 times |
| אֹתָ֗ךְ | ʾotakh | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
| נְאֻ֛ם | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֥י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| וַתִּ֥הְיִי | vatihyi | and you belonged | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לִֽי׃ | li | to me |
וָאֶעֱבֹ֨רand I passed by
vaeevorH5674 →556 times
עָלַ֜יִךְat you
ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 times
וָאֶרְאֵ֗ךְand I saw you
vaerekhH7200 →1300 times
וְהִנֵּ֤הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
עִתֵּךְ֙time your
ʾitekhH6256 →296 times
עֵ֣ת[was] a time of
ʾetH6256 →296 times
דֹּדִ֔יםlove<s>
dodimH1730 →
וָאֶפְרֹ֤שׂand I spread out
vaefrosH6566 →67 times
כְּנָפִי֙[the] skirt of garment my
kenafiH3671 →109 times
עָלַ֔יִךְover you
ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 times
וָאֲכַסֶּ֖הand I covered
vaakhasehH3680 →152 times
עֶרְוָתֵ֑ךְnakedness your
ʾervatekhH6172 →54 times
וָאֶשָּׁ֣בַֽעand I swore an oath
vaeshava'H7650 →
לָ֠ךְto you
lakh
וָאָב֨וֹאand I came
vaavo'H935 →2568 times
בִבְרִ֜יתin a covenant
vivritH1285 →284 times
אֹתָ֗ךְwith you
ʾotakhH854 →929 times
נְאֻ֛ם[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
אֲדֹנָ֥י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
וַתִּ֥הְיִיand you belonged
vatihyiH1961 →3559 times
לִֽי׃to me
li
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
Romans 5:8But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
it leads to
- John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
- John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- Romans 5:6
For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
- 1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
- 1 John 4:9–10
This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.
- John 15:13
Through
Isaiah 43:4Because you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you and nations in place of your life.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:6–8
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of…
- 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
- Jeremiah 31:3
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.
- Deuteronomy 7:6–8
Where this verse is studied
About Ezekiel
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2438: “"Two Immutable Things"” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 43:5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 6:8 and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 6:9.