New Living Translation
Ezekiel 16:4
4On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and 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, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins. 3Give her this message from the Sovereign Lord: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth. 5No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die. 6“But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘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 would not listen. They did not get rid of the vile images they were obsessed with, or forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I threatened to pour out my fury on them to satisfy my anger while they were still in Egypt.
- Genesis 15:13Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.
- Exodus 1:11So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king.
- Exodus 2:23Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God.
- Exodus 5:16“We are given no straw, but the slave drivers still demand, ‘Make bricks!’ We are being beaten, but it isn’t our fault! Your own people are to blame!”
- Deuteronomy 5:6“I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.
- Deuteronomy 15:15Remember that you were once slaves in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you! That is why I am giving you this command.
- Joshua 24:2Joshua said to the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.
- Nehemiah 9:7“You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him from Ur of the Chaldeans and renamed him Abraham.
- Hosea 2:3Otherwise, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will leave her to die of thirst, as in a dry and barren wilderness.
- Acts 7:6God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.
- Lamentations 2:20“O Lord, think about this! Should you treat your own people this way? Should mothers eat their own children, those they once bounced on their knees? Should priests and prophets be killed within the Lord’s Temple?
- Luke 2:7She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
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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