Ezekiel 23:19
in Ezekiel 23Yet she multiplied her promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth, when she had prostituted herself in the land of Egypt
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, remembering the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
KJV
Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
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This verse in Ezekiel 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Egypt - The kings of Judah played alternately Egypt against Babylon, and Babylon against Egypt. Jehoahaz was displaced by Necho for Jehoiakim, who then turned to the Chaldaeans, and afterward rebelling sought aid from Egypt. So Zedekiah was continually meditating help from Egypt, against which Jeremiah and Ezekiel were continually protesting.
This site's exposition
she multiplied her whoredoms
on Ezekiel 23:19-21
Jerusalem's infidelity turns backward, calling to remembrance the days of her youth in Egypt. Henry reads the regression as the chapter's diagnosis of an appetite that cannot be satisfied by any single ally. Clarke notes the coarse figure of verse 20 is deliberately unflattering, stripping any romance from alliances.
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
Yet she multiplied her whoredoms,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Israel first "called" her lusts, practised when in Egypt, "to her (fond) remembrance," and then actually returned to them. Mark the danger of suffering the memory to dwell on the pleasure felt in past sins.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתַּרְבֶּ֖ה | vatarbeh | and she increased | H7235 → | 227 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| תַּזְנוּתֶ֑יהָ | taznuteiha | prostitution<s> her | H8457 → | 20 times |
| לִזְכֹּר֙ | lizkor | to remember | H2142 → | 230 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְמֵ֣י | yemei | [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| נְעוּרֶ֔יהָ | neureiha | youth<s> her | H5271 → | 47 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | when | H834 → | 5497 times |
| זָנְתָ֖ה | zanetah | she acted as a prostitute | H2181 → | 94 times |
| בְּאֶ֥רֶץ | beeretz | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִצְרָֽיִם׃ | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
וַתַּרְבֶּ֖הand she increased
vatarbehH7235 →227 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
תַּזְנוּתֶ֑יהָprostitution<s> her
taznuteihaH8457 →20 times
לִזְכֹּר֙to remember
lizkorH2142 →230 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְמֵ֣י[the] days of
yemeiH3117 →2304 times
נְעוּרֶ֔יהָyouth<s> her
neureihaH5271 →47 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhen
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
זָנְתָ֖הshe acted as a prostitute
zanetahH2181 →94 times
בְּאֶ֥רֶץin [the] land of
beeretzH776 →2504 times
מִצְרָֽיִם׃Egypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 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
Ezekiel 20:7And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:8
But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 18:3
You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you.…
- Ezekiel 20:8
Through
Amos 4:4“Go to Bethel and transgress; rebel even more at Gilgal! Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days.
it leads to
- Hosea 4:15
Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’
- Ezekiel 20:39
And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you…
- Numbers 28:3–4
And tell them that this is the offering made by fire you are to present to the LORD as a regular burnt offering each day: two unblemished year-old male lambs.
- Matthew 23:32
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.
- Hosea 12:11
Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.
- Hosea 4:15
Through
Ezekiel 23:8She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their lust upon her.
it leads to
- Exodus 32:4
He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of…
- Exodus 32:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.