Ezekiel 23:18
in Ezekiel 23When Oholibah openly prostituted herself and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So she uncovered her whoredoms, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister.
KJV
So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister.
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This verse in Ezekiel 23
Commentary
7 notes on this verseHow could the pure and holy God any longer take delight in such a lewd generation? Note, Sin alienates God's mind from the sinner, and justly, for it is the alienation of the sinner's mind from God; but woe, and a thousand woes, to those from whom God's mind is alienated; for whom he turns from he will turn against.
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. Fairbairn reads the detail as the chapter's sharpest satire, an infatuation with mere portraits. Barnes notes the outcome the moment the affair is finished, my mind was alienated from her.
This site's exposition
exposed her nakedness
The same word of disgust now describes God's response to Judah. Henry wrote that sin estranges God from the sinner, as it first estranges the sinner from God. Samaria's rejection in verse 9 is now Jerusalem's.
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
So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness,....
And that the Assyrians, whom they had been so fond of, should be employed in executing judgments upon them was very remarkable, and shows how God, in a way of righteous judgment, often makes that a scourge to sinners which they have inordinately set their hearts upon.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
my mind was alienated from her--literally, "was broken off from her." Just retribution for "her mind being alienated (broken off) from the Chaldeans" (Eze 23:17), to whom she had sworn fealty (Eze 17:12-19). "Discovered" implies the open shamelessness of her apostasy.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתְּגַל֙ | vategal | and she uncovered | H1540 → | 186 times |
| תַּזְנוּתֶ֔יהָ | taznuteiha | prostitution<s> her | H8457 → | 20 times |
| וַתְּגַ֖ל | vategal | and she uncovered | H1540 → | 186 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֶרְוָתָ֑הּ | ʾervatah | nakedness her | H6172 → | 54 times |
| וַתֵּ֤קַע | vateka' | and it was alienated | H3363 → | |
| נַפְשִׁי֙ | nafshi | self my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| מֵֽעָלֶ֔יהָ | mealeiha | from <the> with her | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נָקְעָ֥ה | nakeah | it had been alienated | H5361 → | 3 times |
| נַפְשִׁ֖י | nafshi | self my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| מֵעַ֥ל | meal | from with | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֲחוֹתָֽהּ׃ | ʾachotah | sister her | H269 → | 114 times |
וַתְּגַל֙and she uncovered
vategalH1540 →186 times
תַּזְנוּתֶ֔יהָprostitution<s> her
taznuteihaH8457 →20 times
וַתְּגַ֖לand she uncovered
vategalH1540 →186 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֶרְוָתָ֑הּnakedness her
ʾervatahH6172 →54 times
וַתֵּ֤קַעand it was alienated
vateka'H3363 →
נַפְשִׁי֙self my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
מֵֽעָלֶ֔יהָfrom <the> with her
mealeihaH5921 →5755 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֛רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
נָקְעָ֥הit had been alienated
nakeahH5361 →3 times
נַפְשִׁ֖יself my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
מֵעַ֥לfrom with
mealH5921 →5755 times
אֲחוֹתָֽהּ׃sister her
ʾachotahH269 →114 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
Psalms 78:59On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:19
When the LORD saw this, He rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 106:40
So the anger of the LORD burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance.
- Deuteronomy 32:19
Through
Jeremiah 12:8My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against Me; therefore I hate her.
it leads to
- Amos 6:8
The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared: “I abhor Jacob’s pride and detest his citadels, so I will deliver up the city and everything in it.”
- Hosea 9:15
All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them from My house for the wickedness of their deeds. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are…
- Amos 6:8
Through
Psalms 106:40So the anger of the LORD burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance.
it leads to
- Judges 2:14
Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they…
- Judges 2:14
Through
Jeremiah 8:12Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 3:3
Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.
- Jeremiah 3:3
Through
Jeremiah 6:8Be forewarned, O Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land without inhabitant.”
it leads to
- Hosea 9:12
Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away from them!
- Jeremiah 17:23
Yet they would not listen or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and would not listen or receive My discipline.
- Hosea 9:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel

This page draws on 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.
