Ezekiel 23:3
in Ezekiel 23and they played in Egypt, prostituting themselves from their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin bosoms caressed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and they played the harlot in Egypt; they played the harlot in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity.
KJV
And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
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This verse in Ezekiel 23
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Even so early in their history as their Egyptian sojourn, they committed idolatries (see on Eze 20:6-8; 14). in their youth--an aggravation of their sin. It was at the very time of their receiving extraordinary favors from God (Eze 16:6, 22). they bruised--namely, the Egyptians.
This site's exposition
The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying
on Ezekiel 23:1-4
Two sisters, daughters of one mother, are named, Aholah the elder standing for Samaria and Aholibah standing for Jerusalem. Henry reads the shared mother as the common stock of the twelve tribes. Gill notes the sisters' names carry meaning in Hebrew, her own tent and my tent is in her.
This site's exposition
they played in Egypt
The unfaithfulness is traced back to Egypt, before the covenant at Sinai. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown linked it to 20:7 and 8, where Israel refused to throw away the idols of Egypt. The early start made the sin worse.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 23, verses 1 onwards) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. And they played the harlot in Egypt, in their youth they played the harlot. There their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms were broken (or, as it is in the Septuagint, There their breasts fell and there they were deflowered). Their names were Oholah the elder (or, the elder sister), and Oholibah her sister. And I took them (whether they were given to me) and they bore sons and daughters.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): They committed whoredoms in Egypt, for there they were guilty of idolatry, as we read before, ch. xx. The representing of those sins which are most provoking to God and most ruining to a people by the sin of whoredom plainly intimates what an exceedingly sinful sin uncleanness is, how offensive, how destructive.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And they committed whoredoms in Egypt,....
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתִּזְנֶ֣ינָה | vatizneinah | and they acted as prostitutes | H2181 → | 94 times |
| בְמִצְרַ֔יִם | vemitzrayim | in Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| בִּנְעוּרֵיהֶ֖ן | binureihen | in youth<s> their | H5271 → | 47 times |
| זָנ֑וּ | zanu | they acted as prostitutes | H2181 → | 94 times |
| שָׁ֚מָּה | shamah | there <towards> | H8033 → | 834 times |
| מֹעֲכ֣וּ | moakhu | they were handled | H4600 → | |
| שְׁדֵיהֶ֔ן | shedeihen | breasts their | H7699 → | 24 times |
| וְשָׁ֣ם | vesham | and there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| עִשּׂ֔וּ | ʾisu | they squeezed | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| דַּדֵּ֖י | dadei | [the] nipples of | H1717 → | 4 times |
| בְּתוּלֵיהֶֽן׃ | betuleihen | virginiti<es> their | H1331 → |
וַתִּזְנֶ֣ינָהand they acted as prostitutes
vatizneinahH2181 →94 times
בְמִצְרַ֔יִםin Egypt
vemitzrayimH4714 →641 times
בִּנְעוּרֵיהֶ֖ןin youth<s> their
binureihenH5271 →47 times
זָנ֑וּthey acted as prostitutes
zanuH2181 →94 times
שָׁ֚מָּהthere <towards>
shamahH8033 →834 times
מֹעֲכ֣וּthey were handled
moakhuH4600 →
שְׁדֵיהֶ֔ןbreasts their
shedeihenH7699 →24 times
וְשָׁ֣םand there
veshamH8033 →834 times
עִשּׂ֔וּthey squeezed
ʾisuH6213 →2628 times
דַּדֵּ֖י[the] nipples of
dadeiH1717 →4 times
בְּתוּלֵיהֶֽן׃virginiti<es> their
betuleihenH1331 →
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
Joshua 24:14Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 12:24
Above all, fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.
- Deuteronomy 10:12
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your…
- Genesis 35:2
So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.
- Joshua 24:23
“Now, therefore,” he said, “get rid of the foreign gods among you and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”
- 2 Corinthians 1:12
And this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom,…
- 1 Samuel 12:24
Through
Hosea 2:15There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:2
“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 11:1
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 28:26
And there they will dwell securely, build houses, and plant vineyards. They will dwell securely when I execute judgments against all those around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that…
- Jeremiah 2:2
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 Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.