Ezekiel 23:45

But righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of those who commit adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses with blood on their hands.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The prophet Ezekiel delivers this declaration to the exiled community in Babylon regarding the allegorical sisters Oholah and Oholibah, immediately after detailing their idolatrous alliances with foreign nations. The message functions as a formal verdict preceding the military invasion described in the following verse.

The words — The Hebrew יִשְׁפְּטוּ (yish.pe.Tu) translates literally as "they will judge" or "they will sentence," while נֹאֲפ֔וֹת (no.'a.Fot) means "adulteresses." These terms anchor the impending punishment in recognized legal categories rather than arbitrary wrath.

The thread — This verdict mirrors the statutory penalty for adultery in Leviticus 20:10 and reiterates the judgment promised in Ezekiel 16:38. It also directly introduces the mob violence and plunder outlined in Ezekiel 23:46.

Why it lands — The text requires the reader to accept that covenant betrayal produces tangible, historical consequences rather than abstract spiritual lessons. It demands recognition that political and religious infidelity is treated with the same severity as personal moral crimes.

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

וַאֲנָשִׁ֣יםva./'a.na.Shimand/ people צַדִּיקִ֗םtza.di.Kimrighteous הֵ֚מָּהHe.mahthey יִשְׁפְּט֣וּyish.pe.Tuthey will judge אֽוֹתְהֶ֔ם'ot./Hem<obj.>/ them מִשְׁפַּט֙mish.Patjudgment of נֹֽאֲפ֔וֹתno.'a.Fotadulteresses וּמִשְׁפַּ֖טu./mish.Patand/ judgment of שֹׁפְכ֣וֹתsho.fe.Khot[women who] shed דָּ֑םDamblood כִּ֤יkifor נֹֽאֲפֹת֙no.'a.Fot[are] adulteresses הֵ֔נָּהHe.nahthey וְדָ֖םve./Damand/ blood בִּֽידֵיהֶֽן׃ סBi./dei./Hen[is] on/ hands/ their

King James Version

And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.

Cross-references

Leviticus 20:10 If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.
Ezekiel 16:38 And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.
Ezekiel 23:36 Then the LORD said to me: “Son of man, will you pass judgment against Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.
Hosea 6:5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth, and My judgments go forth like lightning.
Leviticus 21:9 If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.
Deuteronomy 22:21 she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house, and there the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous in her father’s house. So you must purge the evil from among you.
Jeremiah 5:14 Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes.
Zechariah 1:6 But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Hosts purposed to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.’”
John 8:3 The scribes and Pharisees, however, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before them