Ezekiel 16:19 kjv
My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 16:19 nkjv
Also My food which I gave you?the pastry of fine flour, oil, and honey which I fed you?you set it before them as sweet incense; and so it was," says the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 16:19 niv
Also the food I provided for you?the flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat?you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign LORD.
Ezekiel 16:19 esv
Also my bread that I gave you ? I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey ? you set before them for a pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 16:19 nlt
Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign LORD.
Ezekiel 16 19 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Deut 31:16 | "This people will rise up and play the harlot after the foreign gods of the land..." | Prophecy of Israel's future spiritual unfaithfulness to God. |
| Hos 2:5, 8 | "For their mother has played the harlot... She has gone after her lovers... 'I will go after my lovers...' She did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil..." | Israel's spiritual harlotry, misattributing God's provisions to false gods. |
| Jer 3:6-9 | "Lord said to me, 'Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went on every high hill... and played the harlot...'" | God's condemnation of Israel/Judah's pervasive spiritual harlotry. |
| Ezek 6:4-6 | "Your altars will become desolate... and your idols will be broken..." | Divine judgment specifically targeting altars and idols of unfaithful Israel. |
| Ezek 23:30 | "You will bear the penalty for your harlotry and your lewdness..." | Explicit judgment declared for spiritual adultery against God. |
| Judg 8:27 | "Gideon made an ephod from it and put it in Ophrah... all Israel played the harlot after it..." | Example of an item becoming an object of idolatry among Israelites. |
| Psa 78:58 | "For they provoked Him with their high places and aroused His jealousy with their carved images." | Idolatry presented as a direct provocation and affront to God's exclusive claim. |
| Isa 57:8 | "Behind the door and the doorpost you have set up your memorial..." | Description of Israel's hidden and open acts of idolatry and covenant breaking. |
| Psa 106:36-39 | "And served their idols, which became a snare to them... They mingled with the nations and learned their practices..." | Israel's descent into idolatry by adopting pagan customs and worship. |
| Rom 1:21-23 | "Though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God... exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image..." | Gentile world's turn from knowing God to idol worship, mirroring Israel's sin. |
| Acts 7:42 | "God turned and gave them over to worship the host of heaven..." | God abandoning idolaters to their chosen deities. |
| 1 Cor 10:7 | "Do not be idolaters, as some of them were..." | New Testament warning against the dangers and sin of idolatry. |
| 1 Jn 5:21 | "Little children, guard yourselves from idols." | A clear and direct New Testament admonition to avoid idol worship. |
| Deut 8:12-14 | "When you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses... beware that you do not forget the Lord..." | Warning against forgetting God and attributing prosperity to oneself rather than Him. |
| Hos 8:4 | "They have made kings, but not through Me. They have set up princes, but I knew nothing of it." | Disregarding God's sovereignty and acting independently of His will. |
| Amos 2:8 | "And beside every altar they stretch themselves out on garments taken as pledges..." | Using items taken unlawfully or consecrated items for defiling practices. |
| Mal 1:6-8 | "A son honors his father... 'Where is My honor?' says the Lord..." | Rebuke for dishonoring God by offering defiled sacrifices. |
| Rev 17:1-6 | "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters... with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality..." | Prophetic portrayal of a great spiritual harlotry in the end times. |
| Jas 1:17 | "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights..." | Affirmation that God is the singular source of all benevolent provisions. |
| Deut 32:15-18 | "But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked... Then he forsook God who made him..." | Israel's rebellion and abandonment of God when blessed with abundance. |
| Ezek 7:20 | "They transformed His beautiful ornament into pride, and they made their detestable images of it..." | Using God's glorious provisions for creating objects of abhorrent idolatry. |
| Jer 2:32 | "Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number." | Israel's inexplicable forgetfulness of God, despite His devoted care and adornment. |
Ezekiel 16 verses
Ezekiel 16 19 Meaning
Ezekiel 16:19 vividly describes Jerusalem, presented allegorically as God's richly adorned bride, actively misusing the very blessings He bestowed upon her. She took the luxurious garments, abundant oil, and sacred incense—all lavish gifts from God intended for her splendor and holy worship—and offered them to adorn her pagan idols and render worship to them. This portrays a profound act of covenant betrayal, spiritual adultery, and egregious ingratitude, as she deliberately defiled that which was holy to honor false deities.
Ezekiel 16 19 Context
Ezekiel chapter 16 presents a vivid and extended allegory for Jerusalem (representing Judah), tracing her from an abandoned, outcast infant to a divinely beautified queen and bride, who then turns into an unfaithful harlot. God rescued and lavished His love and every good provision upon her—fine linens, ornaments of gold and silver, choice food, and a covenant of marriage. Despite this extraordinary grace, Jerusalem repeatedly prostituted herself with other nations and idols. The preceding verses (16:17-18) describe her constructing male idols from God's precious metals and garments. Verse 19 intensifies this indictment by showing her using even more specific and consecrated divine gifts—her "embroidered garments," "My oil," and "My incense"—not merely for herself, but to adorn her idols and offer them worship. This act encapsulates the depth of Judah's spiritual adultery and egregious rebellion against her divine Benefactor and Husband.
Ezekiel 16 19 Word analysis
- You also took (וַתִּקְחִי - vat-tik-khiy): This verb directly addresses Jerusalem in the feminine singular, highlighting her active, intentional, and personal responsibility in the sin. It signifies a deliberate act of appropriation and initiative rather than passive temptation.
- your embroidered garments (בִּגְדֵי רִקְמָתִי - bigde riq-ma-ti): Refers to luxurious, elaborately crafted clothing, bestowed by God as a sign of high status, beauty, and honor (Ezek 16:10, 13). The "your" indicates these were God's gifts to her, yet she redirected them for sacrilegious purposes. This act transformed covenant blessings into tools for betrayal.
- and covered them (וַתְּכַסִּי - vat-khassiy): A purposeful act of clothing or adorning. "Them" directly refers to the idols or images (from Ezek 16:17) that Jerusalem had created. This implies she used God's beautiful gifts to beautify her detestable pagan gods.
- and you set (וַתִּתְּנִי - vat-tit-t'ni): Another active verb signifying a deliberate act of offering, giving, or placing these items before the idols as part of idolatrous rituals.
- My oil (שַׁמְנִי - sham-ni): Emphatically "My oil," denoting its divine origin and intended sacred use. Oil was a symbol of divine blessing, anointing, abundance, and sustenance (Ezek 16:13; Deut 8:8), often used for temple lights or anointing. Its misappropriation for idols desecrated holy sustenance and blessing.
- and My incense (וּקְטֹרְתִּי - u-qe-to-r'ti): Emphatically "My incense," signifying its specific divine origin and purpose. Incense, composed of aromatic spices, was specifically prescribed for sacred offerings in the Temple as a sweet aroma to God (Exod 30:34-38). To offer it to idols was a supreme act of defilement and spiritual betrayal.
- before them (לִפְנֵיהֶם - lif-ne-hem): Precisely indicates the placement of the offerings "in front of" the idols. This detail confirms the action as direct worship rendered to false gods, underscoring Jerusalem's full embrace of idolatry and explicit repudiation of God.
- your embroidered garments... My oil and My incense: This grouping powerfully demonstrates the systematic perversion of God's grace. These items, representing divine favor, provision, and sacred worship, were used not only to defy God but also to honor His rivals. The possessive "My" for oil and incense heightens the blasphemy, as Jerusalem essentially used God's own possessions against Him.
Ezekiel 16 19 Bonus section
The detailed enumeration of specific items used in this act of idolatry is highly significant. By specifying "embroidered garments," "My oil," and "My incense," the passage highlights the extent to which Jerusalem systematically diverted every category of divine blessing—be it aesthetic beauty, physical sustenance, or spiritual worship—towards rival deities. This systematic repurposing of divine gifts underscored not just a single instance of idolatry, but a pervasive and ingrained apostasy that permeated all aspects of Judah's life. The rhetorical question implicit in the use of "My oil" and "My incense" powerfully conveys God's shock and hurt at this gross misappropriation, turning His very identity as Provider and Receiver of worship into a means for her spiritual adultery. The imagery is profoundly effective as a legal indictment, leaving no doubt about the severity of Judah's transgression and her utter lack of justification for such flagrant unfaithfulness to her divine husband.
Ezekiel 16 19 Commentary
Ezekiel 16:19 serves as a stark commentary on the depth of Jerusalem's covenant unfaithfulness. After God rescued and generously enriched her, adorning her with the finest garments, sustaining her with oil, and receiving worship through incense, she deliberately and actively inverted the purpose of these divine provisions. Rather than reflecting His glory or using them in holy service to Him, she used these very tokens of His love—luxurious garments, sacred oil, and holy incense—to adorn and offer worship to lifeless idols. This passage emphasizes that her sin was not one of passive omission, but an aggressive, conscious perversion of divine blessing, effectively employing God's own gifts as instruments of His greatest offense: idolatry and spiritual harlotry. It highlights profound ingratitude and a complete abandonment of her covenant marriage vows to God, painting a devastating picture of betrayal.