God’s Word Translation
Ezekiel 16:3
3Tell them, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says to the people of Jerusalem: Your birthplace and your ancestors were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.
Ezekiel 16:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And say, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.
- New International Version (NIV)and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
- English Standard Version (ESV)and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
- New King James Version (NKJV)and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: “Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
Context of Ezekiel 16:3
1The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, 2“Son of man, make known to the people of Jerusalem the disgusting things they have done. Tell them, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says to the people of Jerusalem: Your birthplace and your ancestors were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. 4When you were born, your umbilical cord wasn’t cut. You weren’t washed with water to make you clean. You weren’t rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloth. 5No one who saw you felt sorry enough for you to do any of these things. But you were thrown into an open field. You were rejected when you were born.
Read all of Ezekiel 16Ezekiel 16:3 word by word
וְאָמַרְתָּ֞ כֹּה־אָמַ֨ר אֲדֹנָ֤י יְהוִה֙ לִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם מְכֹרֹתַ֙יִךְ֙ וּמֹ֣לְדֹתַ֔יִךְ מֵאֶ֖רֶץ הַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֑י אָבִ֥יךְ הָאֱמֹרִ֖י וְאִמֵּ֥ךְ חִתִּֽית׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- the Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
- Godיְהֹוִהyehôvih · YHWH/GodH3069
- unto Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
- Thy birthמְכֹרָהmekûrâh mekôrâh · originH4351
- and thy nativityמוֹלֶ֫דֶתmôledeth · relativesH4138
- of the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- of Canaanכְּנַעֲנִיkena‛anîy · CanaaniteH3669
- thy fatherאָב'âb · fatherH1
- an Amoriteאֱמֹרִי'ĕmôrîy · AmoriteH567
- and thy motherאֵם'êm · motherH517
- an Hittiteחִתִּיchittîy · HittiteH2850
Cross-references for Ezekiel 16:3
- Ezekiel 16:45You are your mother’s daughter. She rejected her husband and her children. You are exactly like your sisters. They rejected their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite.
- Ezekiel 21:30“ ‘Return your sword to its scabbard. In the place where you were created, in the land where you were born, there I will judge you.
- Genesis 11:25After he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
- Joshua 24:14“Fear the Lord, and serve him with integrity and faithfulness. Get rid of the gods your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve only the Lord.
- Nehemiah 9:7You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and took him from Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.
- Isaiah 1:10Listen to the Lord’s word, you rulers of Sodom! Pay attention to the teachings from our God, you people of Gomorrah!
- Isaiah 51:1Listen to me, you people who pursue what is right and seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were dug.
- Matthew 3:7But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he said to them, “You poisonous snakes! Who showed you how to flee from God’s coming anger?
- Matthew 11:24I can guarantee that judgment day will be better for Sodom than for you.”
- Luke 3:7Crowds of people were coming to be baptized by John. He would say to them, “You poisonous snakes! Who showed you how to flee from God’s coming anger?
- John 8:44You come from your father, the devil, and you desire to do what your father wants you to do. The devil was a murderer from the beginning. He has never been truthful. He doesn’t know what the truth is. Whenever he tells a lie, he’s doing what comes naturally to him. He’s a liar and the father of lies.
- Ephesians 2:3All of us once lived among these people, and followed the desires of our corrupt nature. We did what our corrupt desires and thoughts wanted us to do. So, because of our nature, we deserved God’s anger just like everyone else.
- 1 John 3:10This is the way God’s children are distinguished from the devil’s children. Everyone who doesn’t do what is right or love other believers isn’t God’s child.
- Genesis 15:16In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, because the sin of the Amorites will not have run its course until then.”
- Deuteronomy 20:17You must claim the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites for the Lord and completely destroy them, as the Lord your God has commanded you.
- 1 Kings 21:26He did many disgusting things as a result of worshiping idols as the Amorites had done. (The Lord confiscated their land for Israel.)
Commentaries on Ezekiel 16:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan - It would dishonor Abraham to say that you sprung from him: ye are rather Canaanites than Israelites. The Canaanites were accursed; so are ye. Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite - These tribes were the most famous, and probably the most corrupt, of all the Canaanites. So Isaiah calls the princes of Judah rulers of Sodom, Isaiah 1:10; and John the Baptist calls the Pharisees a generation…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Birth - See the margin; the word represents “origin” under the figure of “cutting out stone from a quarry” (compare Isaiah 51:1). An Amorite - the Amorite, a term denoting the whole people. The Amorites, being a principal branch of the Canaanites, are often taken to represent the whole stock Genesis 15:16; 2 Kings 21:11. An Hittite - Compare Genesis 26:34. The main idea is that the Israelites by their doings proved themselves to be the very children of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-3Ezekiel begins by describing Jerusalem’s weak and unlikely beginnings. He says the city came from Canaanite roots and was like the child of an Amorite father and a Hittite mother. The city existed long before Israel entered the land under Joshua. During Joshua’s campaign, Israel did not fully capture Jerusalem. The city remained in the hands of its original Canaanite population. Later, King David captured Jerusalem and made it his capital. Even then, the…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. birth ... nativity--thy origin and birth; literally, "thy diggings" (compare Is 51:1) "and thy bringings forth." of ... Canaan--in which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sojourned before going to Egypt, and from which thou didst derive far more of thy innate characteristics than from the virtues of those thy progenitors (Eze 21:30). an Amorite ... an Hittite--These, being the most powerful tribes, stand for the whole of the Canaanite nations (compare Jos 1:4…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 16:3
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
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