Bible Strands
Ezekiel 23:28
For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hands of those you hate, from whom you turned away in disgust.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses the allegorical cities representing Israel and Judah, marking the moment just before He details their coming punishment for abandoning their past idolatry and pursuing new alliances.
The words — The phrase כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה (khoh 'a.Mar 'a.do.Nai Yah.weh) translates to 'thus says the Lord Yahweh,' while נֹֽתְנָ֔/ךְ (no.te.Na/kh) functions as a participle meaning '[am] about to give' you.
The thread — The motif of God delivering His people into the hands of their enemies appears in Jeremiah 34:20 and Ezekiel 16:37, while Ezekiel 23:17 introduces the Babylonian alliance that initiates the cycle of defilement.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to acknowledge that covenant unfaithfulness automatically produces the very consequences the people once despised, demanding a clear-eyed accounting of personal compromise rather than evasion.
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
For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated:
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 34:20 I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
- Ezekiel 16:37 therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you before them, and they will see you completely naked.
- Ezekiel 23:17 Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. But after she had been defiled by them, she turned away in disgust.
- Ezekiel 23:22 Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will incite your lovers against you, those from whom you turned away in disgust. And I will bring them against you from every side—
- Jeremiah 21:7 ‘After that,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officers, and the people in this city who survive the plague and sword and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will not spare them or show pity or compassion.’
- Jeremiah 24:8 But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt.