Ezekiel 23:40

Furthermore, you sisters sent messengers for men who came from afar; and behold, when they arrived, you bathed for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The prophet Ezekiel delivers Yahweh’s oracle to the two allegorical sisters, representing the northern and southern kingdoms, immediately after detailing their simultaneous slaughter of children and profanation of the sanctuary.

The words — תִּשְׁלַ֙חְנָה (tishlachnah) translates as “they sent,” and מִמֶּרְחָ֑ק (mimrechak) means “from a distance,” underscoring the deliberate procurement of foreign agents.

The thread — The pattern of ritualized adornment for profane purposes recurs in 2 Kings 9:30, Jeremiah 4:30, and Ezekiel 16:13, where cosmetic preparation precedes covenant violation.

Why it lands — It requires the reader to recognize that spiritual unfaithfulness is a calculated act of self-preparation for foreign alliances, demanding sober accounting of how aesthetic and ritual choices mask idolatrous intent.

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

וְאַ֗ףve./'Afand/ also כִּ֤יkifor תִשְׁלַ֙חְנָה֙tish.Lach.nahthey sent לַֽאֲנָשִׁ֔יםla./'a.na.Shimfor/ men בָּאִ֖יםba.'Im[who] come מִמֶּרְחָ֑קmi./mer.Chakfrom/ a distance אֲשֶׁ֨ר'a.Sherwhom מַלְאָ֜ךְmal.'Akha messenger שָׁל֤וּחַsha.Lu.ach[was] sent אֲלֵיהֶם֙'a.lei./Hemto/ them וְהִנֵּה־ve./hi.neh-and/ there!בָ֔אוּVa.'uthey came לַאֲשֶׁ֥רla./'a.Sherfor/ whom רָחַ֛צְתְּra.Chatztyou bathed כָּחַ֥לְתְּka.Chaltyou painted עֵינַ֖יִךְ'ei.Na.yi/kheyes/ your וְעָ֥דִיתve./'A.ditand/ you put on עֶֽדִי׃'E.diornament[s]

King James Version

And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,

Cross-references

2 Kings 9:30 Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window.
Jeremiah 4:30 And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, though you enlarge your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you; they want to take your life.
Ezekiel 16:13 So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be queen.
Isaiah 3:18 In that day the Lord will take away their finery: their anklets and headbands and crescents;
Isaiah 57:9 You went to Molech with oil and multiplied your perfumes. You have sent your envoys a great distance; you have descended even to Sheol itself.
Ruth 3:3 Therefore wash yourself, put on perfume, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but do not let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.
2 Kings 20:13 And Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
Esther 2:12 In the twelve months before her turn to go to King Xerxes, the harem regulation required each young woman to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months, and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months.
Proverbs 7:10 Then a woman came out to meet him, with the attire of a harlot and cunning of heart.
Ezekiel 23:13 And I saw that she too had defiled herself; both of them had taken the same path.