Bible Strands
Ezekiel 23:3
and they played in Egypt, prostituting themselves from their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin bosoms caressed.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Ezekiel addresses exiled Israel through the allegory of two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah, representing Samaria and Jerusalem. The verse states that these women engaged in sexual and covenantal unfaithfulness from their youth while residing in Egypt.
The words — The Hebrew verbs תִּזְנֶינָה (tiznei nah) and זָנוּ (zenu) both mean "they acted as prostitutes," while מֹעֲכוּ (mo'achu) translates to "they were handled" or "fondled." These terms specify the physical and spiritual violation that occurred in Egypt.
The thread — This motif of early idolatry in Egypt appears in Leviticus 17:7 regarding sacrifices to goat demons, Joshua 24:14's command to abandon ancestral foreign gods, and Ezekiel 16:22's indictment that Jerusalem forgot her naked youth. The references trace a consistent biblical pattern linking covenant unfaithfulness to Egypt-originated idolatry.
Why it lands — The text plainly records that spiritual compromise began with youthful exposure to foreign religious practices. It requires the reader to identify and dismantle foundational allegiances that originated outside covenant boundaries.
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
And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 17:7 They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’
- Joshua 24:14 Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
- Ezekiel 16:22 And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood.
- Deuteronomy 29:16 For you yourselves know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we passed through the nations on the way here.
- 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.
- 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.
- Ezekiel 23:19 Yet she multiplied her promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth, when she had prostituted herself in the land of Egypt
- Ezekiel 23:21 So you revisited the indecency of your youth, when the Egyptians caressed your bosom and pressed your young breasts.
- Hosea 2:15 There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.