Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Ezekiel addresses the people of Israel and Judah, using the allegory of two sisters to recount their spiritual history. He speaks at this moment to explain why God will hand them over to their former lovers, the Assyrians, as judgment for their idolatry.
The words — The Hebrew phrase תַּזְנוּתֶ֤י/הָ (taz.nu.Tei./ha) translates literally to "her prostitution," while עָזָ֔בָה ('a.Za.vah) means "she forsook" or "she did not give up" in this negative context. These terms anchor the metaphor in the persistent sexual immorality that began during the Egyptian period.
The thread — This theme of unrepentant early idolatry resurfaces in Ezekiel 23:3, which notes they played in Egypt from their youth, and Ezekiel 23:19, which records her multiplying promiscuity by remembering those early days. The narrative arc concludes in Ezekiel 23:9, where God delivers her to the Assyrians she lusted after.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that past spiritual compromises are not erased by later alliances or rituals. It requires the reader to see that persistent idolatry directly triggers divine judgment rather than mere historical regret.
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
Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.
Cross-references
- Exodus 32:4 He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
- Ezekiel 23:3 and they played in Egypt, prostituting themselves from their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin bosoms caressed.
- Ezekiel 23:19 Yet she multiplied her promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth, when she had prostituted herself in the land of Egypt
- 1 Kings 12:28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
- 2 Kings 10:29 but he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
- 2 Kings 17:16 They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal.
- Ezekiel 23:21 So you revisited the indecency of your youth, when the Egyptians caressed your bosom and pressed your young breasts.