Bible Strands
Ezekiel 23:16
At the sight of them, she lusted for them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Ezekiel addresses the exiled community of Israel and Judah through the allegory of two sisters representing spiritual unfaithfulness. At this narrative moment, the metaphorical northern sister shifts her focus from her previous lovers to the Babylonian officers she encounters.
The words — The Hebrew verb עֲגַב (ʿāḇaḇ) means "to lust" or "to long after," describing a visceral desire. The phrase לְמַרְאֵה עֵינֶיהָ (le-maʾareh ʿeînêhā) literally translates to "to the sight of her eyes," indicating that visual exposure directly provokes her pursuit.
The thread — This sequence of sight leading to active pursuit of foreign alliances appears in Ezekiel 16:29, where the same figure extends her promiscuity to Chaldea. It establishes the pattern later summarized in Matthew 5:28, where looking with lust is equated with committing adultery in the heart.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that covenant betrayal originates in deliberate visual fixation and is completed through active correspondence. It demands a clear-eyed assessment of how external attractions are translated into concrete actions that violate divine boundaries.
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The Hebrew words
King James Version
And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 16:29 So you extended your promiscuity to Chaldea, the land of merchants—but even with this you were not satisfied!
- Matthew 5:28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
- Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
- Genesis 6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.
- Genesis 39:7 and after some time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.”
- 2 Samuel 11:2 One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
- 2 Kings 24:1 During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded. So Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, until he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.
- Job 31:1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
- Psalms 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.
- Proverbs 6:25 Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.