Ezekiel 23:21
in Ezekiel 23So you revisited the indecency of your youth, when the Egyptians caressed your bosom and pressed your young breasts.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in the handling of thy bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of thy youth.
KJV
Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.
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This verse in Ezekiel 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseWhen they began to set their affections upon Egypt, they encouraged themselves to put a confidence in that kingdom, because of the old acquaintance they had with it, as if they still retained the gust and relish of the leeks and onions they ate there, or rather of the idolatrous worship they learned there, and brought up with them thence.
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.
This site's exposition
the indecency of your youth
Turning to Egypt for help revived the oldest habit in Israel's history. Henry saw Judah trusting Egypt on the strength of old acquaintance, like the Israelites who longed for its food in the wilderness. Barnes followed the kings who played Egypt against Babylon.
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
Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth,....
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽתִּפְקְדִ֔י | vatifkedi | and you sought | H6485 → | |
| אֵ֖ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| זִמַּ֣ת | zimat | [the] licentiousness of | H2154 → | 29 times |
| נְעוּרָ֑יִךְ | neurayikh | youth<s> your | H5271 → | 47 times |
| בַּעְשׂ֤וֹת | ba'sot | when squeezed | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| מִמִּצְרַ֙יִם֙ | mimitzrayim | since Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| דַּדַּ֔יִךְ | dadayikh | nipples your | H1717 → | 4 times |
| לְמַ֖עַן | lemaan | on account of | H4616 → | 272 times |
| שְׁדֵ֥י | shedei | [the] breasts of | H7699 → | 24 times |
| נְעוּרָֽיִךְ׃ ס | neurayikh | youth<s> your | H5271 → | 47 times |
וַֽתִּפְקְדִ֔יand you sought
vatifkediH6485 →
אֵ֖ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
זִמַּ֣ת[the] licentiousness of
zimatH2154 →29 times
נְעוּרָ֑יִךְyouth<s> your
neurayikhH5271 →47 times
בַּעְשׂ֤וֹתwhen squeezed
ba'sotH6213 →2628 times
מִמִּצְרַ֙יִם֙since Egypt
mimitzrayimH4714 →641 times
דַּדַּ֔יִךְnipples your
dadayikhH1717 →4 times
לְמַ֖עַןon account of
lemaanH4616 →272 times
שְׁדֵ֥י[the] breasts of
shedeiH7699 →24 times
נְעוּרָֽיִךְ׃ סyouth<s> your
neurayikhH5271 →47 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.