Ezekiel 16:26

Translations

Modern

You prostituted yourself with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, and increased your promiscuity to provoke Me to anger.

Traditional

Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.

Literal

And you prostituted yourself with the sons of Egypt, your neighbors, greatly fleshly, and you multiplied your prostitutions to provoke Me to anger.

Latin

…et fornicata es cum filiis Ægypti, vicinis tuis, magnarum carnium: et multiplicasti fornicationem tuam ad irritandum me.

Original

Hebrew

English

You prostituted yourself with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, and increased your promiscuity to provoke Me to anger.

Notes

Ezekiel 16:26–29

Jerusalem eagerly sought close relationships with Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia. These political alliances cost a great deal of money. They also failed to bring the help and protection that the leaders expected.

Even if these agreements had brought clear political benefits, they would still have been wrong. They showed that Jerusalem did not trust the Lord. Instead of depending on him, the city looked to other nations for safety.

These alliances also led to another serious problem. Israel began to worship the gods of those nations. Political dependence slowly became spiritual unfaithfulness.

Ezekiel 16:1–63

In Ezekiel 16, Jerusalem is described as an unfaithful wife and a prostitute. This language is very strong. Even in English, the chapter can be difficult to read. In its ancient setting, it would have sounded even more shocking.

Ezekiel used graphic language to show how serious Judah’s sin was. He did not try to make his message softer or more polite. He spoke in a direct and forceful way.

This strong language is the main point of the chapter. Ezekiel wanted the people to feel how terrible their sin was in God’s sight. The shocking description helped them understand that God’s judgment was not unfair.

If Ezekiel had used softer words, the people might not have understood the full seriousness of their sin. The strong picture was necessary to show why God’s judgment was justified (that is, right and fair).

Ezekiel 15:1–24:14

This section includes eight metaphors, each showing from a different angle the certainty of Jerusalem's upcoming judgment. The images are of:

a worthless vine (Ezekiel 15);
a faithless wife (Ezekiel 16);
a vine and two eagles (Ezekiel 17);
Sour grapes (Ezekiel 18);
a lion and her cubs (Ezekiel 19);
a sword (Ezekiel 21);
two corrupt sisters (Ezekiel 23); and
a cooking pot (Ezekiel 24).

Theme notes and profiles

Apostasy and Renewal Biblical Marriage God’s Covenants The Broken Covenant

Events

Prophecies of Ezekielc. 593 BC

Related verses

Ezekiel 23:19–21
Yet she multiplied her promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth, when she had prostituted herself in the land of Egypt
Ezekiel 20:7–8
And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’
Ezekiel 8:17
“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger? Look, they are even putting the branch to their nose!
Isaiah 30:21
And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”
Ezekiel 23:8
She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their lust upon her.
Jeremiah 7:18–19
The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger.
Deuteronomy 29:16–17
For you yourselves know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we passed through the nations on the way here.
Ezekiel 8:14
Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, weeping for Tammuz.
Ezekiel 23:3
…and they played in Egypt, prostituting themselves from their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin bosoms caressed.
Ezekiel 8:10
So I went in and looked, and engraved all around the wall was every kind of crawling creature and detestable beast, along with all the idols of the house of Israel.
Exodus 32:4
He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
Joshua 24:14
Now, 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.

Places

Egypt: Ancient nation; Israelites enslaved there; plagues and Exodus

Glossary

Adultery Bride of Christ Ezekiel, Book of High Place Hittites Sexual Immorality

Topics

High Places: Licentious Practices At High Places: The Jews: Condemned for Building Lasciviousness: Figurative

Ezekiel 16:26

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