Ezekiel 16:23 kjv
And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the LORD GOD;)
Ezekiel 16:23 nkjv
"Then it was so, after all your wickedness?'Woe, woe to you!' says the Lord GOD?
Ezekiel 16:23 niv
"?'Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign LORD. In addition to all your other wickedness,
Ezekiel 16:23 esv
"And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! declares the Lord GOD),
Ezekiel 16:23 nlt
"What sorrow awaits you, says the Sovereign LORD. In addition to all your other wickedness,
Ezekiel 16 23 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Hos 2:5 | "For their mother has played the harlot... She said, ‘I will go after my lovers’" | Israel's idolatry as spiritual harlotry. |
| Jer 3:8-9 | "She played the harlot also, and I saw that for all the adulteries... Judah also was not afraid" | Judah's unfaithfulness likened to harlotry. |
| Eze 23:37-39 | "They committed adultery... they slew their children for their idols... desecrated My sanctuary" | Samaria and Jerusalem as harlots, a double woe. |
| Rev 17:1-5 | "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot... with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication" | Symbolic harlotry of spiritual Babylon. |
| Isa 5:20-22 | "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil... who are wise in their own eyes... mighty at drinking wine" | Series of 'woe' pronouncements for various sins. |
| Hab 2:6,9,12,15,19 | "Woe to him who piles up stolen goods... Woe to him who gets evil gain... Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed" | Fivefold 'woe' against injustice. |
| Zep 3:1 | "Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city!" | Prophetic 'woe' against Jerusalem. |
| Mt 23:13-36 | "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" | Jesus' seven woes against religious leaders. |
| Lk 6:24-26 | "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort... woe to you who laugh now... woe when all people speak well of you" | Jesus' woes concerning misplaced comfort. |
| Rev 8:13 | "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth at the blasts of the other trumpets." | Escalation of divine judgment. |
| Am 3:7 | "For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets." | God's prior communication of His judgments. |
| Nu 23:19 | "God is not a man, that he should lie... Has he said, and will he not do it?" | Certainty of God's declared word. |
| 1 Sam 15:29 | "The Glory of Israel will not lie or change his mind." | God's unchangeable purpose and truth. |
| Jer 1:9-10 | "I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down" | Authority behind prophetic pronouncements. |
| Heb 4:12-13 | "For the word of God is living and active... discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart... before whom we are exposed." | The power and discerning nature of God's word. |
| Rom 2:5 | "But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath." | Cumulative nature of unrepented sin. |
| Jas 5:1 | "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you." | Warning of impending judgment due to injustice. |
| Heb 10:26-27 | "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins." | Severe consequences for persistent, willful sin. |
| 2 Pet 2:20-21 | "For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world... they are again entangled... the last state has become worse" | Greater guilt after light received and rejected. |
| Gen 6:6 | "The Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart." | God's deep sorrow over human wickedness. |
| Ps 78:40 | "How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert!" | Israel's persistent rebellion grieving God. |
| Isa 63:10 | "But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy and himself fought against them." | Consequences of grieving God's Spirit. |
| Mt 23:37 | "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children." | Jesus' lament over Jerusalem's rejection. |
Ezekiel 16 verses
Ezekiel 16 23 Meaning
Ezekiel 16:23 is a profound and emotionally charged interjection by the Lord God within His prophetic allegory of Jerusalem. It declares a divine "woe"—a lament, a warning, and a pronouncement of certain judgment—upon Jerusalem/Israel for the sheer totality and pervasive nature of her accumulated spiritual wickedness. The verse signifies that God's forthcoming severe actions are not arbitrary, but a direct, just, and sovereign response to His people's complete and unwavering abandonment of Him after receiving immense grace.
Ezekiel 16 23 Context
Ezekiel chapter 16 is a sustained, elaborate, and often shocking allegory in which God graphically describes Jerusalem's history, origin, rise, fall, and eventual restoration. Before this verse, God likens Jerusalem to an abandoned, unloved infant (v. 4) rescued, nourished, and elevated by Him (vv. 6-14). He made a covenant with her, adorning her with lavish wealth and beauty, making her exquisitely glorious among nations. However, intoxicated by her own beauty and gifts (vv. 15-16), she turned to spiritual prostitution. She used God's own blessings—gold, silver, precious clothes, oil, and flour—to create idols and offer sacrifices, even immolating her own children, engaging in extreme perversions (vv. 17-22). Verse 23 acts as a dramatic culmination of this detailed indictment, summarizing her utterly depraved actions before the pronouncement of judgment begins to intensify. Historically, Ezekiel delivers this message to Jewish exiles in Babylon, challenging their perception of divine justice and justifying the severity of the exile by revealing the profound extent of Israel's infidelity.
Ezekiel 16 23 Word analysis
- and after (וְאַחֲרֵי, ve'acharei): This conjunctive phrase denotes a temporal sequence, meaning "following upon" or "subsequently." More significantly, it implies a causal connection, indicating "in light of" or "in consequence of." It signals that what follows—the "woe"—is a direct result of all the preceding actions described in vivid detail from verse 15 onward.
- all (כָּל־, kol-): This intensifier emphasizes totality and comprehensiveness. It indicates that every facet, every act, and every period of Jerusalem's wickedness is accounted for, leaving no sin unacknowledged. The judgment is not for isolated transgressions, but for the full scope and cumulative weight of her unfaithfulness.
- your wickedness (רָעָתֵךְ, ra'atech): Ra'ah (evil, harm, wickedness, disaster) in Hebrew is a broad term for moral depravity. Here, in the context of the chapter's allegory, it specifically refers to Jerusalem's deep-seated spiritual corruption, her idolatry, and covenant betrayal depicted as explicit prostitution and abominations (v. 20-22). It represents her rejection of God's covenant love for the fleeting pleasures and alliances of foreign gods and nations.
- Woe, woe (הוֹי הוֹי, hoy hoy): Hoy is a powerful prophetic interjection in Hebrew, a lament, a cry of sorrow, warning, or an announcement of judgment. It signifies distress, pity, and impending doom. Its repetition profoundly amplifies the intensity and certainty of the coming calamity. It is a divine utterance expressing both deep anguish over the chosen people's behavior and unalterable judicial condemnation.
- to you! (לָךְ, lach): This feminine singular pronoun directly addresses Jerusalem/Israel, ensuring the audience knows precisely who the "woe" is for. It is personal, direct, and unsparing.
- declares (נְאֻם, ne'um): This is a classic prophetic formula meaning "the utterance/oracle of." It serves to authenticate the preceding words as a direct, authoritative message from God Himself. It leaves no room for doubt that this "woe" is a divine decree, not merely human sentiment or warning.
- the Lord GOD (אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה, Adonai Yahweh): This is a crucial compound divine title.
- Adonai: Signifies "Lord" or "Master," emphasizing God's absolute sovereignty, supreme authority, and ownership.
- Yahweh (represented by GOD): Refers to God's covenant name, highlighting His faithfulness, enduring presence, and covenant relationship with Israel. The combination stresses that this solemn declaration comes from the ultimate, faithful, and sovereign God, rendering the judgment absolutely certain and just.
- Words-group Analysis:
- "and after all your wickedness": This phrase succinctly encapsulates the cumulative, extensive, and deliberate nature of Jerusalem's apostasy. It establishes a direct cause-and-effect relationship, grounding the subsequent "woe" firmly in her unfaithful actions.
- "(woe, woe to you!)": This parenthetical exclamation functions as a climactic judicial sentence or a solemn oath from God. It dramatically interrupts the narrative, emphasizing the inescapable gravity and immediate pronouncement of judgment, charged with both lament and righteous anger.
- "declares the Lord GOD!": This formula provides the ultimate authority and immutability to the "woe." It transforms the lament into a binding divine verdict, revealing that the very sovereign and covenant-keeping God is the one condemning this deep betrayal.
Ezekiel 16 23 Bonus section
- Rhetorical Power: The use of the parenthetical exclamation "(woe, woe to you!)" is a significant rhetorical device. It injects raw emotion and directness into the prophetic narrative, capturing the listener's attention and underscoring the severity of the declaration immediately. It breaks the descriptive flow with an abrupt, powerful outburst of divine sorrow and condemnation.
- Prophetic Climax: This verse acts as a dramatic climax within Ezekiel's sustained indictment of Jerusalem's spiritual harlotry. It is the point where God shifts from detailing the crime to pronouncing the sentence, setting the stage for the severe consequences outlined in the subsequent verses and chapter.
- Contrast with Divine Grace: The full weight of the "woe" is amplified by the contrast with God's initial overwhelming grace and love detailed in the opening verses of Ezekiel 16, where He rescues Jerusalem from utter abandonment and elevates her to glory. Her subsequent and pervasive "wickedness" thus constitutes a colossal betrayal, making the divine "woe" tragically inevitable.
Ezekiel 16 23 Commentary
Ezekiel 16:23 marks a pivotal turn in the divine indictment of Jerusalem, transitioning from the vivid description of her grotesque spiritual prostitution to the pronouncement of inevitable judgment. The repeated "woe" serves as a direct, emotionally intense, and undeniably final summation by God himself. It communicates both His profound sorrow over Israel's pervasive betrayal despite His lavish grace and His righteous anger leading to severe retribution. The phrase emphasizes the totality of Jerusalem's "wickedness"—meaning the accumulation of every idolatrous act and broken covenant—leaving no doubt that the impending divine judgment is fully warranted. This declaration, from "the Lord GOD," underscores that it is the faithful, sovereign, and just God who is speaking, lending absolute certainty to the solemn warning. This verse is not just a lament but a judicial verdict, signifying that Jerusalem has crossed an irreversible threshold, cementing her doom unless she fundamentally repents, which this immediate context suggests is not foreseen.