Ezekiel 23:35
in Ezekiel 23Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and have cast Me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and prostitution.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
KJV
Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
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This verse in Ezekiel 23
Commentary
8 notes on this verseTherefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms; that is, thou shalt suffer the punishment of them, and thou alone must bear the blame. Men need no more to sink them than the weight of their own sins; and those who will not part with their lewdness and their whoredoms must bear them.
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
cast Me behind your back
Casting a thing behind the back puts it out of sight on purpose. Henry wrote that sinners need no weight to sink them beyond their own sins. The whole charge rests on forgetting God.
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
Therefore thus saith the Lord God, because thou hast forgotten me,....
Thus God will assert the honour of his broken law and injured government, and let the world know what a just and jealous God he is. (2.) Thus they shall be broken off from their sins: I will cause lewdness to cease out of the land,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
forgotten me--the root of all sin (Jer 2:32; 13:25). cast me behind thy back-- (1Ki 14:9; Ne 9:26). bear . . . thy lewdness--that is, its penal consequences (Pr 1:31).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֗ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| כֹּ֤ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֙ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| יַ֚עַן | yaan | because | H3282 → | 99 times |
| שָׁכַ֣חַתְּ | shakhachat | you have forgotten | H7911 → | |
| אוֹתִ֔י | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וַתַּשְׁלִ֥יכִי | vatashlikhi | and you have thrown | H7993 → | 125 times |
| אוֹתִ֖י | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֣י | ʾacharei | behind | H310 → | 715 times |
| גַוֵּ֑ךְ | gavekh | back your | H1458 → | |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אַ֛תְּ | ʾat | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| שְׂאִ֥י | sei | bear | H5375 → | 656 times |
| זִמָּתֵ֖ךְ | zimatekh | licentiousness your | H2154 → | 29 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| תַּזְנוּתָֽיִךְ׃ ס | taznutayikh | prostitution<s> your | H8457 → | 20 times |
לָכֵ֗ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
כֹּ֤הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַר֙he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
יַ֚עַןbecause
yaanH3282 →99 times
שָׁכַ֣חַתְּyou have forgotten
shakhachatH7911 →
אוֹתִ֔י<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 times
וַתַּשְׁלִ֥יכִיand you have thrown
vatashlikhiH7993 →125 times
אוֹתִ֖י<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 times
אַחֲרֵ֣יbehind
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
גַוֵּ֑ךְback your
gavekhH1458 →
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
אַ֛תְּyou
ʾatH859 →1094 times
שְׂאִ֥יbear
seiH5375 →656 times
זִמָּתֵ֖ךְlicentiousness your
zimatekhH2154 →29 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
תַּזְנוּתָֽיִךְ׃ סprostitution<s> your
taznutayikhH8457 →20 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
Isaiah 17:10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:32
Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 106:21
They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 26:4
Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.
- Deuteronomy 32:18
You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
- Jeremiah 2:32
Through
1 Kings 14:9You have done more evil than all who came before you. You have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me, and you have flung Me behind your back.
it leads to
- Psalms 50:17
For you hate My instruction and cast My words behind you.
- Nehemiah 9:26
But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
- 2 Chronicles 11:15
And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.
- 1 Kings 12:28
After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out…
- Psalms 50:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on 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.