Bible Strands
Ezekiel 16:45
You are the daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and children. You are the sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet delivers this oracle to exiled Jerusalem, identifying her as the direct descendant of a mother who despised her husband and children. The speech occurs within a prophetic allegory where Jerusalem is compared to her sisters Samaria and Sodom to illustrate shared generational corruption.
The words — The text highlights `גֹּעֶ֥לֶת (go.'E.let)` meaning "loathed" or "despised," describing the mother's active rejection of her family. It pairs this with `אַ֔תְּ ('At)` meaning "you," directly fixing the accusation on the addressed daughter.
The thread — This proverb about inherited corruption echoes Isaiah 1:4’s description of a "brood of evildoers," Zechariah 11:8’s account of detestation, and Deuteronomy 12:31’s warning against adopting foreign abominations. The immediate context in Ezekiel 16:44 and 16:46 explicitly frames the "like mother, like daughter" saying to link Jerusalem, Samaria, and Sodom.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that moral failure operates through inherited patterns and shared culpability. It requires the reader to confront how familial and national identity shapes behavior without offering excuses for the corruption described.
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
Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 1:4 Alas, O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who act corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him.
- Zechariah 11:8 And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me.
- Deuteronomy 12:31 You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
- Ezekiel 16:8 Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD.
- 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.
- Ezekiel 23:2 “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother,
- Ezekiel 23:37 For 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.
- Deuteronomy 5:9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
- Ezekiel 16:20 You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?
- Romans 1:30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents.