Ezekiel 23:37
in Ezekiel 23For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, in the fire as food for their idols.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass through the fire unto them to be devoured.
KJV
That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.
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This verse in Ezekiel 23
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah
on Ezekiel 23:36-39
JFB reads verse 39 as the chapter's most severe count, child sacrifice followed on the same day by entering the Lord's sanctuary to worship there. Keil notes the phrase profaned my sabbaths ties the sexual and political figure back to the plain covenant law the book keeps returning to.
This site's exposition
sacrificed their children
The children are called those whom the sisters bore to God, so the offering took what belonged to Him. Barnes pointed to the idolatries of Manasseh's reign in 2 Kings 21, which exceeded all before them. Adultery and bloodshed are the two charges of the trial.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 36, 37 onwards) And the Lord said to me, saying: Son of man, do you judge Oholah and Oholibah and announce to them their crimes (or iniquities): for they are adulteresses (or have committed adultery), and there is blood on their hands, and they have committed adultery with their idols (or inventions): moreover, they have offered to devour (or have led) their sons whom they have borne to me through fire. But they have also done this to me, they have defiled my sanctuary on that day: and they have profaned my Sabbaths.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 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
This is the first and worst of the abominations he is to charge them with. They have committed the most barbarous murders, in sacrificing their children to Moloch, a sin so unnatural that they deserve to hear of it upon all occasions: Blood is in their hands, innocent blood, the blood of their own children, which they have caused to pass through the fire (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
), not that they might be dedicated to the idols, but that they might be devoured, a sign that they loved their idols better than that which was dearest to them in the world.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
That they have committed adultery,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Blood - One of the chief sins of Manasseh was that he shed innocent blood 2Ki 21:16; 2Ki 24:4.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נִאֵ֗פוּ | niefu | they have committed adultery | H5003 → | 31 times |
| וְדָם֙ | vedam | and blood | H1818 → | 360 times |
| בִּֽידֵיהֶ֔ן | bideihen | [is] on hands their | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and with | H854 → | 929 times |
| גִּלּֽוּלֵיהֶ֖ן | giluleihen | idols their | H1544 → | 48 times |
| נִאֵ֑פוּ | niefu | they have committed adultery | H5003 → | 31 times |
| וְגַ֤ם | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנֵיהֶן֙ | beneihen | children their | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָֽלְדוּ־ | yaldu- | they bore | H3205 → | 496 times |
| לִ֔י | li | to me | ||
| הֶעֱבִ֥ירוּ | heeviru | they made pass through | H5674 → | 556 times |
| לָהֶ֖ם | lahem | to them | ||
| לְאָכְלָֽה׃ | leokhlah | to food | H402 → | 18 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
נִאֵ֗פוּthey have committed adultery
niefuH5003 →31 times
וְדָם֙and blood
vedamH1818 →360 times
בִּֽידֵיהֶ֔ן[is] on hands their
bideihenH3027 →1618 times
וְאֶת־and with
veetH854 →929 times
גִּלּֽוּלֵיהֶ֖ןidols their
giluleihenH1544 →48 times
נִאֵ֑פוּthey have committed adultery
niefuH5003 →31 times
וְגַ֤םand also
vegamH1571 →769 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּנֵיהֶן֙children their
beneihenH1121 →4930 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יָֽלְדוּ־they bore
yaldu-H3205 →496 times
לִ֔יto me
li
הֶעֱבִ֥ירוּthey made pass through
heeviruH5674 →556 times
לָהֶ֖םto them
lahem
לְאָכְלָֽה׃to food
leokhlahH402 →18 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
Jeremiah 32:35They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered…
it leads to
- Leviticus 18:21
You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 7:31
They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.
- 2 Chronicles 33:6
He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking…
- Jeremiah 19:5–6
They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I never commanded or mentioned, nor did it even enter My mind.
- Leviticus 20:2–5
“Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him.
- Leviticus 18:21
Through
Jeremiah 7:31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 17:17
They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 23:10
He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.
- Jeremiah 32:35
They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered…
- 2 Kings 17:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset and 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.