New English Translation
Ezekiel 16:4
4As for your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water; you were certainly not rubbed down with salt, nor wrapped with blankets.
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, confront Jerusalem with her abominable practices 3and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. As for your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water; you were certainly not rubbed down with salt, nor wrapped with blankets. 5No eye took pity on you to do even one of these things for you to spare you; you were thrown out into the open field because you were detested on the day you were born. 6“‘I passed by you and saw you kicking around helplessly in your blood. I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “Live!” I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “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 20:8But they rebelled against me, and refused to listen to me; no one got rid of their detestable idols, nor did they abandon the idols of Egypt. Then I decided to pour out my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 15:13Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.
- Exodus 1:11So they put foremen over the Israelites to oppress them with hard labor. As a result they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
- Exodus 2:23During that long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry because of their slave labor went up to God.
- Exodus 5:16No straw is given to your servants, but we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are even being beaten, but the fault is with your people.”
- Deuteronomy 5:6“I am the Lord your God, he who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery.
- Deuteronomy 15:15Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today.
- Joshua 24:2Joshua told all the people, “Here is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘In the distant past your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates River, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshiped other gods,
- Nehemiah 9:7“You are the lord God who chose Abram and brought him forth from Ur of the Chaldeans. You changed his name to Abraham.
- Hosea 2:3Otherwise, I will strip her naked, and expose her like she was when she was born. I will turn her land into a wilderness and make her country a parched land, so that I might kill her with thirst.
- Acts 7:6But God spoke as follows: ‘Your descendants will be foreigners in a foreign country, whose citizens will enslave them and mistreat them for four hundred years.
- Lamentations 2:20Look, O Lord! Consider! Whom have you ever afflicted like this? Should women eat their offspring, their healthy infants? Should priest and prophet be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary? ש (Sin/Shin)
- Luke 2:7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place 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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