God’s Word Translation
Ezekiel 16:17
17You took your beautiful gold and silver jewelry that I had given you and made male idols for yourself. Then you committed adultery with them.
Ezekiel 16:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,
- New International Version (NIV)You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them.
- English Standard Version (ESV)You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore.
- New King James Version (NKJV)You have also taken your beautiful jewelry from My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images and played the harlot with them.
Context of Ezekiel 16:17
15“ ‘But you trusted your beauty, and you used your fame to become a prostitute. You had sex with everyone who walked by. 16You took some of your clothes and made your worship sites colorful. This is where you acted like a prostitute. Such things shouldn’t happen. They shouldn’t occur. You took your beautiful gold and silver jewelry that I had given you and made male idols for yourself. Then you committed adultery with them. 18You took off your embroidered clothes and covered the idols with them. You offered my olive oil and incense in their presence. 19You also offered them sweet and fragrant sacrifices. You gave flour, olive oil, and honey—all the food that I gave you to eat. This is what happened, declares the Almighty Lord.
Read all of Ezekiel 16Ezekiel 16:17 word by word
וַתִּקְחִ֞י כְּלֵ֣י תִפְאַרְתֵּ֗ךְ מִזְּהָבִ֤י וּמִכַּסְפִּי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נָתַ֣תִּי לָ֔ךְ וַתַּעֲשִׂי־לָ֖ךְ צַלְמֵ֣י זָכָ֑ר וַתִּזְנִי־בָֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Thou hast also takenלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
- thy fairתִּפְאָרָהtiph'ârâh tiph'ereth · beautyH8597
- jewelsכְּלִיkelîy · article/utensilH3627
- of my goldזָהָבzâhâb · goldH2091
- and of my silverכֶּ֫סֶףkeseph · silver: moneyH3701
- which I had givenנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- thee, and madestעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
- to thyself imagesצֶ֫לֶםtselem · imageH6754
- of menזָכָרzâkâr · maleH2145
- and didst commit whoredomזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181
Cross-references for Ezekiel 16:17
- Ezekiel 7:19They will throw their silver and gold into the streets like garbage. Their silver and gold won’t be able to rescue them on the day of the Lord’s anger. It will no longer satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs. Their silver and gold caused them to fall into sin.
- Ezekiel 23:14Yet, she carried her prostitution even further. She saw pictures of men carved on walls. They were figures of Babylonian men, painted in bright red.
- Exodus 32:1When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. They said to him, “We don’t know what has happened to this Moses, who led us out of Egypt. Make gods who will lead us.”
- Hosea 2:13I will punish her for all the times she burned incense as an offering to other gods—the Baals. She put on her rings and jewelry, and she chased after her lovers. She forgot me,” declares the Lord.
- Hosea 10:1The people of Israel are like vines that used to produce fruit. The more fruit they produced, the more altars they built. The more their land produced, the more stone markers they set up ⌞to honor other gods⌟.
- Isaiah 44:19No one stops to think. No one has enough knowledge or understanding to say, “I burned half of the wood in the fire. I also baked bread over its coals. I roasted meat and ate it. Now I am making the rest of the wood into a disgusting thing and bowing to a block of wood.”
- Isaiah 57:7You’ve made your bed on a high and lofty mountain. You’ve gone to offer sacrifices there.
- Jeremiah 2:27You call wood your father. You call stone your mother. You’ve turned your backs, not your faces, to me. But when you’re in trouble, you ask me to come and rescue you.
- Jeremiah 3:9Because she wasn’t concerned about acting like a prostitute, she polluted the land and committed adultery with standing stones and wood pillars.
Commentaries on Ezekiel 16:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17And madest to thyself images of men - זכר צלמי tsalmey zachar, male images. Priapi are here meant, which were carried about in the ceremonies of Osiris, Bacchus, and Adonis; and were something like the lingam among the Hindoos. Herodotus, lib. ii, c. 48, 49, gives us an account of these male images: , , , ͅ ͅ . This was done at the worship of Bacchus in Egypt: and they who wish to see more may consult Herodotus as above. In this phallic worship the women…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Possibly an allusion to the custom of bearing about shrines. Compare Amos 5:26; Acts 7:43.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15-19Jerusalem did not appreciate the good things God gave her. She used her fame and beauty for false gods. She offered clothes, jewels, food, and oil to idols instead of honoring God.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. my gold ... my silver--(Hag 2:8). images of men--rather, "of the phallus," the Hindu lingam, or membrum virile [Havernick], deified as the emblem of fecundity; man making his lust his god. English Version, however, is appropriate; Israel being represented as a woman playing the harlot with "male images," that is, images of male gods, as distinguished from female deities.Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 16:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezekiel 16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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