Ezekiel 16 22

Ezekiel 16:22 kjv

And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.

Ezekiel 16:22 nkjv

And in all your abominations and acts of harlotry you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, struggling in your blood.

Ezekiel 16:22 niv

In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.

Ezekiel 16:22 esv

And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood.

Ezekiel 16:22 nlt

In all your years of adultery and detestable sin, you have not once remembered the days long ago when you lay naked in a field, kicking about in your own blood.

Ezekiel 16 verses

Ezekiel 16 22 Meaning

Ezekiel 16:22 encapsulates the indictment against Judah (personified as Jerusalem) for its profound spiritual amnesia and unfaithfulness. After being adopted, raised, and richly blessed by Yahweh from a state of utter destitution, the nation completely forgot its humble, helpless beginnings. In the midst of their rampant idolatry and covenant-breaking acts (figuratively "abominations" and "prostitutions"), they failed to recall the desperate vulnerability and hopelessness from which God had rescued them in their "youth" (referring to Israel's formative period in Egypt and the wilderness, as described in earlier verses of the chapter). This verse highlights the deep ingratitude and deliberate forgetfulness of God's redemptive grace, which preceded and therefore magnified their subsequent sin.

Ezekiel 16 22 Context

Ezekiel chapter 16 is a profound and extensive allegorical sermon depicting the history of Jerusalem (representing the kingdom of Judah and its people) as a tragic tale of God's extravagant love met with gross betrayal. The chapter portrays Jerusalem as an abandoned infant, cast out and left to die in a desolate field (Ez 16:3-5). Yahweh finds this helpless, blood-soaked child, commands her to "live," and then cleanses, clothes, raises, and betroths her as His own, showering her with unparalleled beauty, wealth, and status (Ez 16:6-14). This benevolent adoption and covenant marriage symbolize God's gracious selection of Israel, delivering them from Egyptian bondage, nurturing them in the wilderness, and establishing them as His special people in the promised land.

However, once Jerusalem became prosperous and beautiful, she used her blessings for harlotry, prostituting herself to surrounding nations and their idols (Ez 16:15-21). This included sacrificing her own children to pagan gods, which the previous verse (Ez 16:21) describes as detestable. Verse 22 acts as a stinging culmination to this section of her heinous unfaithfulness. It accuses Jerusalem of a deliberate, profound forgetting of her wretched origins and God's saving act, intensifying the condemnation of her "abominations and prostitutions" as not merely sinful but profoundly ungrateful and without excuse. The historical/cultural context of the original audience includes Judah's persistent idol worship, making alliances with pagan nations (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon), and adopting their spiritual practices, often involving cultic prostitution and child sacrifice, all of which were grave breaches of their covenant with Yahweh. This served as a polemic against the pervasive Canaanite fertility cults and their destructive influence, highlighting God's abhorrence of such practices and their spiritual meaning as betrayal.

Ezekiel 16 22 Word analysis

• And in all: This conjunction emphasizes continuity from the preceding enumeration of sins. "All" (כֹּל, kol) indicates the widespread and comprehensive nature of their transgressions, not merely isolated acts. It suggests a life permeated by rebellion.
• your abominations: (תּוֹעֲבֹתַיִךְ, to'evotayikh, from תּוֹעֵבָה, to'evah). This Hebrew term denotes something detestable, disgusting, or morally repulsive, particularly in the eyes of God. It is frequently used for idolatry, pagan worship practices, and grave moral offenses (Lev 18:22, Deut 18:12). Here, it refers to the countless pagan rites, sacrifices (including child sacrifice), and foreign religious practices Jerusalem adopted, which were abhorrent to Yahweh and violated His holy nature. The plural signifies the multitude and variety of their offensive acts.
• and your prostitutions: (וּבִזְנוּתַיִךְ, uviz'nutayikh, from זְנוּת, z'nut). This term literally means harlotry or promiscuity, but it is almost exclusively used metaphorically in the prophets for Israel's spiritual unfaithfulness. It signifies the breaking of the sacred covenant marriage relationship with God through worship of other gods and seeking illicit alliances with pagan nations (Jer 3:9, Hos 1:2). The term underscores the deep betrayal and infidelity involved, framing their relationship with God as a broken marriage.
• you did not remember: (לֹא זָכַרְתְּ, lo zachart, from זָכַר, zakhar). This is a crucial phrase. Zachar means to remember, to call to mind, but in biblical context, it often implies active engagement and recognition of past events and their implications. "Did not remember" suggests more than mere forgetfulness; it implies a willful or negligent disregard for their history with God. They failed to actively keep God's past grace and their origins in mind, a spiritual amnesia that erased their foundational story of rescue and covenant. This deliberate omission enabled their continued sin.
• the days of your youth: (יְמֵי נְעוּרַיִךְ, yemei ne'urayikh). Refers to the foundational period of Israel's nationhood, depicted in Ez 16:3-7 as an abandoned, helpless infant. This metaphorical "youth" corresponds to the time in Egypt, the Exodus, and the wilderness wandering where God found and nurtured them, making them His own. It represents their spiritual infancy, a time of utter vulnerability and dependence on God, contrasting sharply with their later pride and independence.
• when you were naked and bare: (הֱיוֹתֵךְ עֵרוֹם וְעֶרְיָה, hiyotekh 'erom ve'eryah). "Naked" ('erom) emphasizes lack of clothing and protection, signifying extreme vulnerability, helplessness, and potential shame. "Bare" ('eryah) often reinforces the first term, indicating absolute exposure, defencelessness, and destitution (Mic 1:11). Together, they depict Israel's original state of total impoverishment and lack of inherent worth or power before God's intervention. This imagery resonates with Adam and Eve's state before the fall and the shame that accompanied it.
• struggling in your blood: (מִתְבּוֹסֶסֶת בְּדָמָיִךְ, mitbosest bedamayikh). This vivid phrase, explicitly echoing Ez 16:6, describes a newborn abandoned at birth, lying in its own afterbirth blood, unwashed and uncared for, on the verge of death. The term "struggling" (mitbosest) conveys writhing, wallowing, or trampling, highlighting the desperate, squalid, and perilous state from which God delivered them. This powerfully depicts Israel's utter depravity and the immediate need for divine rescue, a powerful symbol of grace undeserved.

Ezekiel 16 22 Bonus section

The concept of "not remembering" in this verse extends beyond simple forgetfulness; it is a culpable act of neglecting to draw upon past experiences of divine grace as a safeguard against present temptation and a reminder of divine expectations. In the Old Testament, the command to "remember" (zakhar) God's works and covenant is central to maintaining faithfulness, serving as a proactive counter-measure against apostasy. Israel's "youth" being characterized by extreme vulnerability is crucial. God chose them not because of any inherent greatness or power, but out of His sovereign love and pity for their abject state, making His rescue an act of pure grace (Deut 7:7). Their forgetfulness therefore amounted to a profound denial of divine election and their entire identity as God's redeemed people. This also provides a theological backdrop for New Testament teachings, where believers are exhorted to remember their redemption from a state of spiritual death (Eph 2:1-5), emphasizing that constant recollection of divine grace is vital for faithful living. The "blood" here is not redemptive but a stark image of death and defilement, contrasting powerfully with the cleansing and life that God then offers.

Ezekiel 16 22 Commentary

Ezekiel 16:22 serves as a sharp accusation against Jerusalem, highlighting a monumental failure of memory that directly fueled her egregious sin. God's adopted bride, richly adorned and blessed, had sunk into deep spiritual unfaithfulness, indulging in pagan "abominations" and "prostitutions." What intensified her guilt was the deliberate forgetting of her origin story: a helpless, despised infant abandoned to die, rescued and nurtured by God's unilateral grace. This verse underscores that her current idolatry was not an isolated failing, but a profound ingratitude rooted in an active dismissal of God's prior redemptive acts. To forget their humble beginnings (symbolized by being "naked and bare, struggling in your blood") was to forget the identity bestowed by God and the covenant established through His undeserved love. It wasn't simply a matter of forgetting historical facts, but of severing the gratitude and dependence that should have defined their relationship with Yahweh. This wilful amnesia justified the coming judgment, for they had effectively erased the foundation of their covenant with the divine Benefactor.