Ezekiel 16:29

So you extended your promiscuity to Chaldea, the land of merchants—but even with this you were not satisfied!

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel to the allegorical city of Jerusalem, positioned between the mention of her Assyrian alliances and the declaration that her heart is weak-willed.

The words — תַּזְנוּתֵךְ (taz.nu.tekh) means "your prostitution," and וַתּרבי (va.tarbi) translates "and you increased," marking the shift toward Chaldea as a deliberate escalation of unfaithfulness.

The thread — This cycle of abandoning the God who delivered Israel for foreign powers appears in Judges 2:12 and 2 Kings 21:9, where such substitutions are consistently recorded as escalating rebellion.

Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that seeking security or identity outside of God produces no fulfillment, demanding a clear-eyed assessment of where one's loyalty actually rests.

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

וַתַּרְבִּ֧יva./tar.Biand/ you increased אֶת־'et-<obj.>תַּזְנוּתֵ֛ךְtaz.nu.Te/khprostitution/ your אֶל־'el-to אֶ֥רֶץ'E.retza land of כְּנַ֖עַןke.Na.'anmerchant[s]כַּשְׂדִּ֑ימָהkas.Di.ma/hChaldea/ towards וְגַם־ve./gam-and/ also בְּזֹ֖אתbe./Zotby/ this לֹ֥אlo'not שָׂבָֽעַתְּ׃sa.Va.'atyou were satisfied

King James Version

Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.

Cross-references

Judges 2:12 Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger,
2 Kings 21:9 But the people did not listen and Manasseh led them astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.
Ezekiel 13:14 I will tear down the wall you whitewashed and level it to the ground, so that its foundation is exposed. The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
Ezekiel 23:14 But Oholibah carried her prostitution even further. She saw the men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans, engraved in vermilion,