Bible Strands
Ezekiel 16:15
But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel to Jerusalem, personified as an unfaithful wife, immediately after declaring that her God-given beauty made her fame spread among the nations.
The words — The Hebrew וַתִּבְטְחִי בְיָפְיֵךְ (vatitbachti be-yafyeikh) translates literally as "and you trusted in your beauty," while וַתִּזְנִי עַל־שְׁמֵךְ (vatizin al-shmekha) means "and you acted as a prostitute on account of your name."
The thread — This motif of trading divine favor for illicit alliances recurs in Isaiah 57:8, Jeremiah 2:20, and continues in Ezekiel 16:25 with the construction of shrines at every street corner.
Why it lands — The text states that privileged status does not justify self-reliance or covenant unfaithfulness, requiring the reader to confront how outward blessing can become the very basis for moral collapse.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 57:8 Behind the door and doorpost you have set up your memorial. Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed; you climbed up and opened it wide. And you have made a pact with those whose bed you have loved; you have gazed upon their nakedness.
- Jeremiah 2:20 “For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute.
- Ezekiel 16:25 At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by.
- Jeremiah 7:4 Do not trust in deceptive words, saying: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
- Ezekiel 23:3 and they played in Egypt, prostituting themselves from their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin bosoms caressed.
- Isaiah 1:21 See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!
- 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.
- Hosea 1:2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He told him, “Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the LORD.”
- Exodus 32:6 So the next day they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
- Numbers 25:1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,