Ezekiel 20:16

because they kept rejecting My ordinances, refusing to walk in My statutes, and profaning My Sabbaths; for their hearts continually went after their idols.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses the rebellious house of Israel to explain His wilderness oath not to deliver them into the promised land.

The words — The Hebrew מָאָ֗סוּ (ma'asu) means "they rejected," directly paired with לֹא הָלְכ֣וּ (lo halkhu) "they did not walk," denoting active refusal rather than passive neglect.

The thread — This lawlessness mirrors the refusal to cast away abominations in Ezekiel 20:8 and the idolatrous hearts condemned in Ezekiel 14:3, while the surrounding context in Ezekiel 20:15–17 frames the withheld judgment as pity.

Why it lands — The text states that persistent rejection of ordinances, statutes, and Sabbaths while pursuing idols justifies the withheld inheritance, leaving the reader to acknowledge that divine restraint stems from mercy, not approval.

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

יַ֜עַןYa.'anbecause בְּמִשְׁפָּטַ֣יbe./mish.pa.Ta/i<in>/ judgments/ my מָאָ֗סוּma.'A.suthey had rejected וְאֶת־ve./'Etand/ <obj.>חֻקּוֹתַי֙chu.ko.Ta/istatutes/ my לֹא־lo'-not הָלְכ֣וּha.le.Khuthey had walkedבָהֶ֔םva./Hemin/ themוְאֶת־ve./'Etand/ <obj.>שַׁבְּתוֹתַ֖יsha.be.to.Ta/isabbaths/ my חִלֵּ֑לוּchi.Le.luthey had profaned כִּ֛יkifor אַחֲרֵ֥י'a.cha.Reiafter גִלּוּלֵיהֶ֖םgi.lu.lei./Hemidols/ their לִבָּ֥םli.Ba/mheart/ their הֹלֵֽךְ׃ho.Lekh[was] walking

King James Version

Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

Cross-references

Numbers 15:39 These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes.
Ezekiel 14:3 “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I consult with them in any way?
Ezekiel 20:8 But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 32:1 Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!”
Numbers 25:2 who also invited them to the sacrifices for their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to these gods.
Ezekiel 20:13 Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness.
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.
Amos 5:25 Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
Acts 7:39 But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.