Ezekiel 16:24 kjv
That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.
Ezekiel 16:24 nkjv
that you also built for yourself a shrine, and made a high place for yourself in every street.
Ezekiel 16:24 niv
you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square.
Ezekiel 16:24 esv
you built yourself a vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square.
Ezekiel 16:24 nlt
you built a pagan shrine and put altars to idols in every town square.
Ezekiel 16 24 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Exod 34:15-16 | "You shall not worship their gods...take of their daughters...to prostitute with their gods." | Warning against idolatry & intermarriage. |
| Lev 17:7 | "So they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they prostitute." | Forbids offering to idols, equating it to prostitution. |
| Num 33:52 | "you shall destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places." | God's command to destroy sites of idolatry. |
| Deut 12:2-3 | "You shall utterly destroy all the places...on the high mountains and on the hills...their sacred pillars...burn with fire." | Commanded destruction of pagan altars. |
| Judg 2:17 | "But they soon turned aside...prostituted themselves to other gods." | Israel's cycle of turning to other gods. |
| 1 Kgs 11:7 | "Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh...and for Molech..." | Solomon's sin of building high places for idols. |
| 2 Kgs 17:7-18 | Describes Israel's unfaithfulness, worship on high places. | Israel's widespread idolatry and judgment. |
| Isa 1:7-9 | Description of Judah's desolate land due to widespread sin. | Consequences of pervasive national sin. |
| Isa 50:1 | "Where is your mother's certificate of divorce...?" | Israel as a divorced wife due to unfaithfulness. |
| Jer 2:20 | "From of old you broke your yoke...you said, 'I will not serve!'...on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed down as a harlot." | Jerusalem's brazen, public harlotry. |
| Jer 3:6-9 | "Judah played the harlot on every high hill and under every green tree...played the harlot also." | Sister Judah's open spiritual harlotry. |
| Jer 7:31 | "they have built the high places of Topheth...to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire." | High places used for child sacrifice. |
| Jer 9:2 | "Oh that I had in the desert a travelers' lodging place...a dwelling of traitors." | Describes widespread deceit and unfaithfulness. |
| Hos 1:2 | "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry..." | Hosea's marriage as an illustration of Israel's unfaithfulness. |
| Hos 2:5 | "For their mother has played the harlot; she who conceived them has acted shamefully." | God accusing Israel, the mother, of harlotry. |
| Hos 3:1 | "Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress..." | God's persistent love for an adulterous Israel. |
| Hos 4:13 | "They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn incense on the hills..." | Ritual sacrifices in pagan high places. |
| Hos 10:8 | "the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed; thorn and thistle shall grow up on their altars." | Prophecy of destruction of pagan altars. |
| Ezek 6:1-7 | Prophecy against the mountains of Israel, their high places and altars. | God's judgment on Israel's idolatrous sites. |
| Ezek 23:36-49 | Details the harlotry of Oholah and Oholibah (Samaria and Jerusalem). | Extended metaphor of two sister prostitutes. |
| Rom 1:28-32 | Describes the widespread nature of sin in ungodly societies. | General societal descent into public sin. |
| Rev 17:1-6 | Depiction of the "great prostitute" and her influence. | A symbolic portrayal of ultimate spiritual harlotry. |
Ezekiel 16 verses
Ezekiel 16 24 Meaning
Ezekiel 16:24 portrays Jerusalem as having built prominent, public structures dedicated to her spiritual promiscuity and idolatrous practices. These were not hidden acts but openly displayed sites for her unfaithfulness, demonstrating a brazen rejection of her covenant with God, making her spiritual harlotry pervasive and accessible throughout the city.
Ezekiel 16 24 Context
Ezekiel chapter 16 is a vivid and extended allegory where God addresses Jerusalem directly, portraying her life story from birth to judgment. She is depicted as a helpless infant, abandoned and destined to die, whom God rescued, raised, and adorned into a queenly bride, making a solemn covenant with her. However, instead of remaining faithful, Jerusalem, in her beauty and splendor (gifts from God), used her elevated status to become a promiscuous harlot, selling herself to various foreign nations and their idolatrous gods. Verse 24 is part of God's indictment, detailing the specific, audacious actions Jerusalem took in her betrayal, constructing overt, public shrines and "high places" throughout her squares and streets for her illicit spiritual activities. This whole discourse occurs during the Babylonian exile, serving to explain to the exiles why such severe judgment has befallen them, attributing it to their consistent and egregious covenant-breaking.
Ezekiel 16 24 Word analysis
You (
’attah): This second-person masculine singular pronoun directly addresses Jerusalem, personified as a woman. It emphasizes her personal agency and full culpability in these actions, making it clear these were her deliberate choices.built yourself (
banît lāḵ): From the Hebrew verbbanah(Strong's H1129, to build, establish) and the reflexive pronounlāḵ(to/for yourself). This construction highlights Jerusalem's active, self-initiated construction. It underscores that these places were established by her, for her own sinful pleasure and purpose, rather than being imposed upon her.a shrine (
gāb): From Hebrewgāb(Strong's H1354). This word has multiple meanings including "back," "brow," "elevation," or "vaulted chamber." In this context, often understood as a raised platform, a cultic mound, or a "brothel." It signifies a distinct, possibly humble yet significant, structure or platform for carrying out idolatrous or cultic-sexual practices. It implies a place for profane acts.and made yourself (
wə-‘aśît lāḵ): From the Hebrew verb‘asah(Strong's H6213, to do, make, produce) and the reflexivelāḵ. Similar to "built yourself," this repetition reinforces Jerusalem's deliberate, active, and self-serving creation of these sites for her spiritual harlotry. It underlines her independent decision-making in her unfaithfulness.a high place (
mârâh): This Hebrew wordmârâh(Strong's H4717), from the rootmar"to be high or exalted", implies an elevated place. In prophetic literature, "high place" is typically associated with illicit pagan worship and fertility cults, often contravening YHWH's command for centralized worship. Paired withgāb, it signifies prominent and public structures designated for worship of false gods and associated fertility rituals, including cultic prostitution.in every square (
bə-ḵol rəḥôḇ): From the prepositionbə(in, at),kol(Strong's H3605, all, every), andrəḥôḇ(Strong's H7339, broad place, public square, street). This phrase powerfully communicates the widespread, ubiquitous, and completely public nature of Jerusalem’s sin. Her spiritual harlotry was not hidden; it was brazenly displayed and made accessible to everyone in every public gathering place, indicating a complete societal immersion in idolatry.You built yourself a shrine and made yourself a high place: This phrase emphasizes Jerusalem's intentional and autonomous establishment of facilities for her spiritual promiscuity. The repetition of "yourself" amplifies her agency and responsibility, showing that these actions were not forced upon her but were self-willed acts of betrayal against her covenant with God. The juxtaposition of "shrine" and "high place" indicates different forms or locations of idolatrous structures, both prominent and for illicit purposes.
in every square: This critical phrase signifies the absolute pervasiveness and public shamelessness of Jerusalem's spiritual harlotry. Her infidelity permeated all aspects of public life, indicating a total abandonment of God's covenant and a societal endorsement of idolatry and its associated profane practices. It underscores the lack of any attempt to conceal her transgressions.
Ezekiel 16 24 Bonus section
The specific Hebrew terms gāb and mârâh may not always refer to grand, ornate temples, but possibly simpler altars or elevated platforms, which ironically made her spiritual harlotry seem even more widespread and pervasive. The common association of "high places" (bamot) in Israelite history with forbidden cultic activities further intensifies the gravity of her actions. This deliberate, widespread erection of such places symbolizes a full cultural capitulation to the practices of the surrounding pagan nations, completely inverting her identity as God's exclusive covenant people. Her public display of spiritual adultery contrasted sharply with the hidden and private acts usually associated with harlotry, making her actions more outrageous and defiant in the eyes of a covenant-keeping God.
Ezekiel 16 24 Commentary
Ezekiel 16:24 offers a scathing indictment of Jerusalem's profound unfaithfulness, depicting her as a once-beloved bride who flagrantly betrays her covenant with God. The "shrine" (gāb) and "high place" (mârâh) symbolize actual physical structures, likely crude altars or platforms rather than formal temples, erected for pagan worship and associated ritual prostitution—common practices in the Ancient Near East for fertility cults. These structures were deliberately built "in every square," revealing the blatant and public nature of her apostasy. This wasn't a private sin; it was a societal declaration of allegiance to false gods, making her infidelity ubiquitous and accessible throughout the city. The verse powerfully communicates God's perception of Jerusalem's actions: not just a deviation, but a widespread, audacious, and self-initiated rebellion that profoundly grieved Him, leading inevitably to His just judgment.