Bible Strands
Ezekiel 18:15
He does not eat at the mountain or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Ezekiel addresses a hypothetical son in a multi-generational line of sinners, outlining the specific behavioral boundaries that would demonstrate the son's independent righteousness.
The words — The verb אָכַל ('a.Khal, "he has eaten") is paired with עַל־ הָרִים ('al-ha.Rim, "on the mountains") to describe participation in a localized cultic meal. The phrase נָשָׂא עֵינָיו (na.Sa 'ei.Nav, "he has lifted up his eyes") uses the preposition אֶל־ ('el-) to denote a fixed gaze toward the idols of Israel.
The thread — This identical description of abstaining from mountain worship and idolatry appears in Ezekiel 18:6, while Ezekiel 18:11 explicitly lists these same acts as the defining marks of the wicked father.
Why it lands — The text establishes righteousness through the concrete refusal to engage in sanctioned idolatrous rites and sexual immorality, demonstrating that personal obedience, not ancestral lineage, determines one's standing before God.
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
That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour’s wife,
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 18:6 He does not eat at the mountain or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her period.
- Ezekiel 18:11 though the father has done none of them: Indeed, the son eats at the mountain and defiles his neighbor’s wife.