Ezekiel 23:34
in Ezekiel 23You will drink it and drain it; you will dash it to pieces, and tear your breasts. For I have spoken,’ declares the Lord GOD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt even drink it and drain it out, and thou shalt gnaw the sherds thereof, and shalt tear thy breasts; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah.
KJV
Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.
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This verse in Ezekiel 23
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThou shalt - pluck off thine own breasts - Thou shalt tear them; a frequent action in extreme sorrow and desolation. Weeping, tearing the bosom, and beating the breasts. Tunc vero rupique sinus, et pectora planxi. Ovid’s Ep. 5.
This site's exposition
Thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision
on Ezekiel 23:32-35
The cup figure returns from the shared sentence of verse 31, filled with drunkenness and sorrow. Barnes reads the physical detail of verse 34 as grief turned inward once judgment lands. Henry notes the reason is stated once more, because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back.
This site's exposition
tear your breasts
Jerusalem drains the cup and then smashes it in grief. Clarke explained tearing the breast as an ancient act of extreme sorrow, known also from Ovid. The shame of the earlier verses turns into anguish.
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 Awakening3 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
20 ), as men in great anguish tear their hair, and throw every thing from them. Finding there is no remedy, but it must be drank (for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God ), thou shalt have no manner of patience in the drinking of it." 3. They shall be intoxicated by it, made sick, and be at their wits' end, as men in drink are, staggering, and stumbling, and ready to fall (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+odd-straight-quotes
Thou shalt even drink it, and suck it out,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
break . . . sherds--So greedily shalt thou suck out every drop like one drinking to madness (the effect invariably ascribed to drinking God's cup of wrath, Jer 51:7; Hab 2:16) that thou shalt crunch the very shreds of it; that is, there shall be no evil left which thou shalt not taste. pluck off thine own breasts--enraged against them as the ministers to thine adultery.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשָׁתִ֨ית | veshatit | and you will drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
| אוֹתָ֜הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וּמָצִ֗ית | umatzit | and you will drain [it] | H4680 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| חֲרָשֶׂ֛יהָ | charaseiha | fragments its | H2789 → | |
| תְּגָרֵ֖מִי | tegaremi | you will break | H1633 → | |
| וְשָׁדַ֣יִךְ | veshadayikh | and breasts your | H7699 → | 24 times |
| תְּנַתֵּ֑קִי | tenateki | you will tear out | H5423 → | |
| כִּ֚י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| דִבַּ֔רְתִּי | dibarti | I have spoken | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| נְאֻ֖ם | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֥י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִֽה׃ ס | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
וְשָׁתִ֨יתand you will drink
veshatitH8354 →217 times
אוֹתָ֜הּ<obj.> it
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
וּמָצִ֗יתand you will drain [it]
umatzitH4680 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
חֲרָשֶׂ֛יהָfragments its
charaseihaH2789 →
תְּגָרֵ֖מִיyou will break
tegaremiH1633 →
וְשָׁדַ֣יִךְand breasts your
veshadayikhH7699 →24 times
תְּנַתֵּ֑קִיyou will tear out
tenatekiH5423 →
כִּ֚יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
דִבַּ֔רְתִּיI have spoken
dibartiH1696 →1141 times
נְאֻ֖ם[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
אֲדֹנָ֥י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִֽה׃ סYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 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 75:8For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the…
it leads to
- Job 21:20
Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 25:15
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink…
- Psalms 11:6
On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His…
- Revelation 14:9–10
And a third angel followed them, calling out in a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand,
- Job 21:20
Through
Revelation 18:7As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow…
it leads to
- Isaiah 47:7–9
You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome.
- Zephaniah 2:15
This carefree city that dwells securely, that thinks to herself: “I am it, and there is none besides me,” what a ruin she has become, a resting place for beasts. Everyone who passes by…
- Isaiah 47:7–9
Through
Isaiah 51:17Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men…
it leads to
- Isaiah 52:1
Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.
- Isaiah 52:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.