God’s Word Translation
Ezekiel 16:4
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.
Ezekiel 16:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
- New International Version (NIV)On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.
- New King James Version (NKJV)As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.
Context of Ezekiel 16:4
2“Son of man, make known to the people of Jerusalem the disgusting things they have done. 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. When 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. 6“ ‘Then I went by you and saw you kicking around in your own blood. I said to you, “Live.”
Read all of Ezekiel 16Ezekiel 16:4 word by word
וּמוֹלְדוֹתַ֗יִךְ בְּי֨וֹם הוּלֶּ֤דֶת אֹתָךְ֙ לֹֽא־כָרַּ֣ת שָׁרֵּ֔ךְ וּבְמַ֥יִם לֹֽא־רֻחַ֖צְתְּ לְמִשְׁעִ֑י וְהָמְלֵ֙חַ֙ לֹ֣א הֻמְלַ֔חַתְּ וְהָחְתֵּ֖ל לֹ֥א חֻתָּֽלְתְּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- thy nativityמוֹלֶ֫דֶתmôledeth · relativesH4138
- in the dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- thou wast bornיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
- thy navelשֹׁרshôr · umbilical cordH8270
- was not cutכָּרַתkârath · to cut: cutH3772
- neither wast thou washedרָחַץrâchats · to wash: washH7364
- in waterמַיmayim · waterH4325
- to suppleמִשְׁעִיmish‛îy · cleansingH4935
- thou wast not saltedמָלַחmâlach · to saltH4414
- nor swaddledחָתַלchâthal · to entwineH2853
Cross-references for Ezekiel 16:4
- Ezekiel 20:8“ ‘But they rebelled against me and refused to listen to me. Not one of them got rid of the detestable idols that they looked to for help. They didn’t abandon the disgusting idols of Egypt. So I was going to pour out my fury on them and unleash my anger on them in Egypt.
- Genesis 15:13God said to Abram, “You can know for sure that your descendants will live in a land that is not their own, where they will be slaves, and they will be oppressed for 400 years.
- Exodus 1:11So the Egyptians put slave drivers in charge of them in order to oppress them through forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.
- Exodus 2:23After a long time passed, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites still groaned because they were slaves. So they cried out, and their cries for help went up to God.
- Exodus 5:16We’re given no straw, and yet we’re told to make bricks. We’re being beaten, but your men are at fault.”
- Deuteronomy 5:6“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 15:15Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God freed you. That’s why I’m giving you this command today.
- Joshua 24:2Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Long ago your ancestors, Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor, lived on the other side of the Euphrates River and served other gods.
- 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.
- Hosea 2:3If she refuses, I will strip her. I will leave her as naked as the day she was born. I will turn her into a dry and barren land, and she will die of thirst.
- Acts 7:6God told Abraham that his descendants would be foreigners living in another country and that the people there would make them slaves and mistreat them for 400 years.
- Lamentations 2:20“O Lord, look and consider: Have you ever treated anyone like this? Should women eat their own children, the children they have nursed? Should priests and prophets be killed in the Lord’s holy place?
- Luke 2:7She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there wasn’t any room for them in the inn.
Commentaries on Ezekiel 16:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4As for thy nativity, etc. - This verse refers to what is ordinarily done for every infant on its birth. The umbilical cord, by which it received all its nourishment while in the womb, being no longer necessary, is cut at a certain distance from the abdomen: on this part a knot is tied, which firmly uniting the sides of the tubes, they coalesce, and incarnate together. The extra part of the cord on the outside of the ligature, being cut off from the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4To supple thee - i. e., to cleanse thee.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-5Jerusalem’s parents are described as cruel and uncaring. They did not care for her when she was born. They did not do the normal things people did to help a newborn baby. Usually, someone cut the umbilical cord. They washed the baby. They rubbed salt and oil on the child’s skin to clean and protect her. Then they wrapped the baby tightly in cloth to keep her warm and safe. But none of this happened to Jerusalem. Instead, she was thrown into an open field…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. Israel's helplessness in her first struggling into national existence, under the image of an infant (Ho 2:3) cast forth without receiving the commonest acts of parental regard. Its very life was a miracle (Ex 1:15-22). navel ... not cut--Without proper attention to the navel cord, the infant just born is liable to die. neither ... washed in water to supple thee--that is, to make the skin soft. Rather, "for purification"; from an Arabic root [Maurer]…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 16:4
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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