Ezekiel 23:31
in Ezekiel 23Because you have followed the path of your sister, I will put her cup into your hand.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thy hand.
KJV
Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.
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This verse in Ezekiel 23
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThou hast walked in the way of thy sister,.... Samaria, or the ten tribes of Israel; followed them in their idolatrous practices, were guilty of the same: therefore will I give her cup into thine hand; the cup of her vengeance, as the Targum; inflict the same punishment on the two tribes as on the ten, and suffer them to be carried captive as they had been.
This site's exposition
I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest
on Ezekiel 23:28-31
The Lord states the same sentence a second time. Gill reads the repetition as the chapter's method throughout, saying the same judgment more than once. Wesley notes verse 31's turn formally joins Jerusalem's sentence to Samaria's by name, one cup for both sisters because one sin ran through both.
This site's exposition
the path of your sister
The cup is a prophetic picture of God's wrath, handed to the guilty to drink. Gill called it the cup of Samaria's vengeance, the same destruction the northern kingdom suffered. Her road brings her end.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 28 and following) For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom your soul is sated. And they will deal with you in hatred, and they will take away all your labors, and they will leave you naked and full of shame, and the shame of your fornications will be revealed. Your wickedness and your fornications have done this to you, because you have prostituted yourself to the nations, among whom you have defiled yourself with their idols.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Smite the scorner and the simple will beware. The judgments of God upon some are designed to teach others, and happy are those who receive instruction from them not to tread in the steps of sinners, lest they be taken in their snares; those who would be taught this must know God is the Lord (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
, &c.): " Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister, notwithstanding the warning thou hast had given thee, by the fatal consequences of her wickedness; and therefore I will give her cup, her portion of miseries, into thy hand, the cup of the Lord's fury, which will be to thee a cup of trembling. " Now, 1. This cup is said to be deep and large, and to contain much (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּדֶ֥רֶךְ | bederekh | in [the] way of | H1870 → | 707 times |
| אֲחוֹתֵ֖ךְ | ʾachotekh | sister your | H269 → | 114 times |
| הָלָ֑כְתְּ | halakhet | you have walked | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְנָתַתִּ֥י | venatati | and I will put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| כוֹסָ֖הּ | khosah | cup her | H3563 → | 34 times |
| בְּיָדֵֽךְ׃ ס | beyadekh | in hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
בְּדֶ֥רֶךְin [the] way of
bederekhH1870 →707 times
אֲחוֹתֵ֖ךְsister your
ʾachotekhH269 →114 times
הָלָ֑כְתְּyou have walked
halakhetH1980 →1546 times
וְנָתַתִּ֥יand I will put
venatatiH5414 →2011 times
כוֹסָ֖הּcup her
khosahH3563 →34 times
בְּיָדֵֽךְ׃ סin hand your
beyadekhH3027 →1618 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
2 Kings 21:13I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping…
it leads to
- Amos 7:7–8
This is what He showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing by a wall true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand.
- Lamentations 2:8
The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw His hand from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls lament; together…
- Isaiah 34:11
The desert owl and screech owl will possess it, and the great owl and raven will dwell in it. The LORD will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos and a plumb…
- Jeremiah 25:9
behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents,…
- Isaiah 10:22
Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
- Amos 7:7–8
Through
Daniel 9:12You have carried out the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a great disaster. For under all of heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 5:9
Because of all your abominations, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again.
- Lamentations 1:12
Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see! Is there any sorrow like mine, which was inflicted on me, which the LORD made me suffer on the day…
- Lamentations 2:13
What can I say for you? To what can I compare you, O Daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may console you, O Virgin Daughter of Zion? For your…
- Ezekiel 5:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.