Ezekiel 16:2 kjv
Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
Ezekiel 16:2 nkjv
"Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
Ezekiel 16:2 niv
"Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices
Ezekiel 16:2 esv
"Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations,
Ezekiel 16:2 nlt
"Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins.
Ezekiel 16 2 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ez 2:1 | He said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet and I will speak to you." | God addressing Ezekiel |
| Dan 7:13 | I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man... | Messianic figure |
| Matt 8:20 | Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes... but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." | Jesus' self-designation |
| Isa 1:21 | How the faithful city has become a whore! She who was full of justice... | Jerusalem's spiritual unfaithfulness |
| Jer 3:8 | For all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I sent her away with a decree of divorce... | Israel's covenant breaking |
| Hos 2:5 | For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. | Idolatry as harlotry |
| Lam 1:8 | Jerusalem has sinned grievously; therefore she has become filthy... | Acknowledgment of Jerusalem's severe sin |
| Ez 22:2-3 | Son of man, will you judge the bloodthirsty city? Then confront her with all her detestable practices. | Similar call to expose Jerusalem's sins |
| Mic 3:8 | But as for me, I am filled with power... to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. | Prophetic duty to declare sin |
| Lev 18:22 | You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. | Explicit sexual abomination |
| Deut 18:9 | You shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. | Pagan idolatry and child sacrifice as abominations |
| Prov 6:16-19 | There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him... | Specific acts considered abominable by God |
| 2 Chr 33:2 | And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominable practices of the nations... | Manasseh's idolatry and abominations |
| Jer 7:10 | Will you steal, murder, commit adultery... and come and stand before me...? And then you call me? | Hypocrisy and false worship |
| Zeph 3:1 | Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city! | Denouncing the corrupt city |
| Rom 3:20 | For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. | Law reveals sin |
| Rom 7:7 | Is the law sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. | Law's role in knowing sin |
| Jas 1:23-25 | For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. | Mirror of God's Word reveals truth/sin |
| 1 John 1:8 | If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. | Acknowledging sin is crucial |
| John 16:8 | When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. | Holy Spirit's role in revealing sin |
| Jer 44:22 | The Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and the abominations that you committed. | Reason for divine judgment |
| Lev 20:23 | You shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. | Nations detested for abominations |
Ezekiel 16 verses
Ezekiel 16 2 Meaning
Ezekiel 16:2 is an authoritative command from God to the prophet Ezekiel. It instructs him to vividly confront Jerusalem, representing the nation of Judah and its inhabitants, with the full extent and detestable nature of her sins. The purpose is to bring forth a clear, undeniable awareness of the heinous actions that have offended God and led to the nation's judgment and exile.
Ezekiel 16 2 Context
Ezekiel's prophecy occurred during the Babylonian exile (around 593-571 BC). He spoke to a dispirited community, many of whom struggled to comprehend why God had allowed such devastation to befall His chosen people and city. Chapter 16, introduced by this verse, initiates a powerful, extended allegory. God portrays Jerusalem as a foundling infant, utterly helpless and abandoned, whom He mercifully raised, nourished, clothed, and eventually married as His beloved bride. The shocking and detailed description that follows chronicles Jerusalem's betrayal of this covenant by becoming a spiritual prostitute, engaging in flagrant idolatry, violence, and injustice with surrounding nations. The primary aim of this prophetic message was to strip away any self-justification, demonstrate God's unwavering faithfulness against Jerusalem's shocking unfaithfulness, and thereby explain the divine judgment of exile. This serves as a polemic against the people's lingering beliefs in their inviolability or the idea that their practices were acceptable, while also condemning the idolatrous rituals of their pagan neighbors that they had so eagerly adopted.
Ezekiel 16 2 Word analysis
- Son of man (Hebrew: ben-adam בֶּן־אָדָם): This is God's frequent and unique address to Ezekiel, appearing over 90 times in the book. It highlights Ezekiel's humanity, mortality, and dependence on God, while also identifying him as a representative of humanity before God. The term contrasts the divine speaker with the earthly messenger, emphasizing the vast gulf between them. This phrase later holds messianic significance, especially in Daniel and the New Testament, where Jesus frequently refers to Himself as the "Son of Man." In this context, it grounds Ezekiel's authority as directly from God while acknowledging his human vessel.
- cause... to know (Hebrew: hodia' הוֹדַע): The verb is an imperative in the Hifil stem, signifying a causative action: "make known," "inform," "declare." It is not merely to suggest or hint, but to forcefully and explicitly reveal. This command demands a direct confrontation with the truth. God requires Ezekiel to strip away ignorance, denial, or self-deception from Jerusalem, compelling her to face the full reality of her spiritual state.
- Jerusalem (Hebrew: Lîrûšālayim לִירוּשָׁלִַם): This refers to the city itself, but more significantly, to its inhabitants, the people of Judah, and their spiritual and political leadership. In the ensuing chapter, Jerusalem is personified as an individual, often a female. It represents the covenant community that God established and uniquely favored. The city's fall represented the nation's spiritual failure.
- her abominations (Hebrew: tôʿăḇōṯeyhā תּוֹעֲבֹתֶֽיהָ): Toʿevah (plural toʿevoth) is a very strong theological term for practices that are inherently detestable, morally repulsive, and offensive to God's holy nature. These are not minor transgressions but deeply offensive actions that provoke divine wrath. In biblical context, toʿevah often includes idolatry (worshipping other gods, building high places, offering child sacrifices), sexual perversion (incest, bestiality, homosexuality), and grave social injustices (dishonest weights, shedding innocent blood, oppression of the vulnerable). The use of the plural emphasizes the multiplicity and widespread nature of Jerusalem's offensive acts against her covenant God. It encompasses every form of covenant infidelity.
- Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know: This phrase underscores the prophet's divine mandate. Ezekiel is not sharing his own opinion but acting as God's mouthpiece, directly delivering a confronting message. The combination of "Son of man" and "cause to know" implies that the message is both humanly intelligible and divinely authoritative, aimed at intellectual and spiritual comprehension. It sets up the legal charge against Jerusalem.
- Jerusalem to know her abominations: This phrase signifies the need for self-reflection and the end of spiritual blindness. God insists that Jerusalem become fully aware of her guilt and the horrific nature of her conduct. It is a judgment of exposure before it is a judgment of destruction, calling the recipient to understand the righteousness of the ensuing punishment. The term "her" emphasizes the personal responsibility and culpability of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 16 2 Bonus section
The "cause to know" in this verse holds a judicial flavor, much like presenting evidence in a legal proceeding. God is laying out His case against Jerusalem, meticulously detailing the charges so that no one can deny the righteousness of His judgment. This legalistic aspect runs throughout Ezekiel's prophecies, where God, through the prophet, functions as both accuser and judge, justifying His actions before His covenant people and the watching nations. The graphic detail of the subsequent allegory (beginning in v.3) about Jerusalem's "abominations" was intentionally shocking to break through the spiritual apathy and hardness of heart among the exiles. Such explicit language served as a form of "shock therapy" to compel them to internalize the severity of their unfaithfulness and recognize God's grief and anger over their betrayal of the covenant.
Ezekiel 16 2 Commentary
Ezekiel 16:2 is a severe divine indictment. God commands Ezekiel, His humble human messenger, to expose the depth of Jerusalem's moral and spiritual depravity, personified as a once-beloved bride turned harlot. The word "abominations" highlights acts not just sinful but detestable, profoundly offensive to God's holy character, especially relating to rampant idolatry, spiritual infidelity, and moral perversion. This verse serves as a crucial preface to one of the most extended and graphic allegories in the Bible, demonstrating God's meticulous case against His chosen people. The goal is to shatter their denial, affirm God's justice in their punishment, and prompt a realization of their profound unfaithfulness, providing context and explanation for the Babylonian exile to a questioning and suffering populace.