Ezekiel 16 25

Ezekiel 16:25 kjv

Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.

Ezekiel 16:25 nkjv

You built your high places at the head of every road, and made your beauty to be abhorred. You offered yourself to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your acts of harlotry.

Ezekiel 16:25 niv

At every street corner you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by.

Ezekiel 16:25 esv

At the head of every street you built your lofty place and made your beauty an abomination, offering yourself to any passerby and multiplying your whoring.

Ezekiel 16:25 nlt

On every street corner you defiled your beauty, offering your body to every passerby in an endless stream of prostitution.

Ezekiel 16 verses

Ezekiel 16 25 Meaning

Ezekiel 16:25 graphically portrays Jerusalem's profound spiritual unfaithfulness to God. Using the vivid metaphor of a harlot, it describes her blatant, public, and indiscriminate idolatry. She established cultic sites of pagan worship at every visible place, perverted her God-given splendor and status by engaging with false gods and foreign nations, and relentlessly pursued spiritual adultery, thereby severely betraying her covenant relationship with the Lord.

Ezekiel 16 25 Context

Ezekiel chapter 16 unfolds as a profoundly detailed and often graphic allegory, where God, through the prophet Ezekiel, depicts Jerusalem (representing the entire nation of Israel, particularly Judah) as an abandoned infant rescued by Him. He raises her, enters into a covenant of marriage with her, and lavishes upon her unimaginable splendor, wealth, and status, making her exceedingly beautiful. However, instead of remaining faithful, Jerusalem, in her arrogance and trust in her own beauty, then prostituted herself to various surrounding nations and their gods. Verse 25 fits directly into this extensive indictment by vividly illustrating the widespread, brazen, and unrestrained nature of her spiritual unfaithfulness. Historically, ancient Israel consistently struggled with idolatry, frequently adopting the cultic practices of Canaanite, Assyrian, and Babylonian religions. These practices often included worship at "high places" (pagan altars) built in prominent public locations, like crossroads, and involved various forms of ritual prostitution. This allegorical account emphasizes God's deep grief, offense, and justified anger over His chosen people's persistent betrayal and covenant violation.

Ezekiel 16 25 Word analysis

• Word-by-word analysis:

  • "You built" (וַתִּבְנִי / wattivnî): A direct, emphatic verb. It indicates intentional, deliberate action and systematic effort in establishing idolatrous practices, not passive involvement.
  • "your shrine" (רָמוּת / ramûṯ): Derived from a root meaning "to be high." While bamah (בָּמָה) is the more common term for a pagan "high place," ramûṯ conveys a similar concept: an elevated platform or cultic site. These were illegitimate places of worship for foreign gods, explicitly forbidden by God, who mandated a centralized place for His worship.
  • "at every intersection" (בְּרֹאשׁ כָּל־דֶּרֶךְ / bə·rōš kāl-de·reḵ): Literally, "at the head of every way or road." Crossroads were highly visible and frequented locations in ancient times. This placement signifies the pervasive, public, and unashamed nature of Jerusalem's idolatry, a defiant display rather than a hidden practice.
  • "and made your beauty repulsive" (וַתְּתַעֲבִי אֶת־יָפְיֵךְ / wattə·ṯa‘ăvî ’eṯ-yā·p̄yêḵ): Ta'av means to cause abhorrence or to make something an abomination. Her "beauty" refers to the splendor, glory, and renown God Himself had bestowed upon her (Ezek 16:10-14). She corrupted these divine gifts, meant for God's glory, by using them as tools for idolatry, thus making herself detestable and an abomination in God's eyes.
  • "opening your legs" (וַתְּפַשְּׂקִי אֶת־רַגְלַיִךְ / wattə·p̄assəqî ’eṯ-raḡ·la·yiḵ): A stark, graphic, and culturally recognized euphemism for a prostitute's brazen solicitation. This powerful imagery conveys her uninhibited availability and promiscuous eagerness, spiritually signifying Israel's readiness to embrace any pagan deity or foreign alliance.
  • "to every passerby" (לְכָל־עֹבֵר / lə·ḵāl-‘ō·ḇêr): Reinforces the indiscriminate nature of her spiritual promiscuity. Jerusalem offered her allegiance to anyone—any god, any nation, any cultural influence—who came along, demonstrating an utter lack of loyalty to her divine Husband.
  • "and multiplying your prostitution" (וַתַּרְבִּי אֶת־תַּזְנֻתֵךְ / wattarbî ’eṯ-taz·nu·ṯêḵ): Taznut (תַּזְנוּת) signifies harlotry or spiritual adultery. "Multiplying" denotes the increasing, intensifying, and persistent nature of her betrayal, a ceaseless pursuit of new "lovers" or idols, revealing a profound and deepening spiritual sickness.

• Words-group analysis:

  • "You built your shrine at every intersection": This phrase dramatically illustrates the public, pervasive, and intentional character of Israel's idolatry. Placing illegitimate altars and cultic sites in such prominent, open locations highlighted a complete disregard for God's covenant and His commands for exclusive worship. It represented a bold defiance of divine authority and a public embrace of pagan practices.
  • "made your beauty repulsive": This powerful idiom reveals the tragic perversion of divine blessing. The very honor, wealth, and status that God bestowed upon Jerusalem, intending them for her adornment and witness, were instead leveraged as instruments for her spiritual harlotry. In God's eyes, her divinely given beauty became an offensive defilement through its misuse for idolatry.
  • "opening your legs to every passerby and multiplying your prostitution": This comprehensive phrase forms a single, highly explicit image of enthusiastic, unrestrained, and indiscriminate spiritual adultery. It portrays the depths of Jerusalem's depravity, her insatiable appetite for new foreign gods and political alliances, and her consistent readiness to compromise her relationship with the Lord, resulting in a persistent escalation of unfaithfulness.

Ezekiel 16 25 Bonus section

The graphic and often shocking language used in Ezekiel 16, particularly in verses like 25, is a deliberate rhetorical strategy employed by God through Ezekiel. Its purpose is to not only describe Jerusalem's sin but to evoke a visceral emotional response, paralleling the depth of God's offense, pain, and outrage over His chosen people's profound covenant unfaithfulness. By depicting Himself as a deeply hurt, betrayed husband, rather than just a sovereign whose laws are broken, God emphasizes the personal and relational dimension of Israel's sin. This underscores that idolatry is not merely a breach of abstract rules but an assault on a loving, intimate relationship. Furthermore, the description of placing shrines at "every intersection" is key, emphasizing the active, strategic, and omnipresent nature of their spiritual declension. It counters any suggestion that their sin was accidental or a momentary lapse, revealing instead a systematic and widely practiced abandonment of the Lord. The specific architectural and spatial details highlight the full scale of Israel's spiritual disease.

Ezekiel 16 25 Commentary

Ezekiel 16:25 delivers an emotionally charged denunciation of Jerusalem's betrayal of God. Through the raw and unflinching metaphor of a common harlot, it articulates the profound nature of Israel's spiritual unfaithfulness. God depicts a Jerusalem not merely lapsing into sin, but actively, systemically, and shamelessly promoting idolatry. Her building "shrines at every intersection" signifies the open, public, and pervasive embrace of pagan worship, defiling the land that was intended for exclusive devotion to Yahweh. The particularly stinging accusation of making "your beauty repulsive" underlines a tragic irony: the very glory and splendor that God had generously bestowed upon her were shamefully exploited and twisted into instruments for spiritual prostitution. This perversion rendered her beautiful façade an abomination in the eyes of her divine Husband. The vivid imagery of "opening your legs to every passerby and multiplying your prostitution" further underscores her insatiable appetite for foreign gods and political alliances, revealing a persistent and deepening disloyalty. This verse exposes the ultimate horror of idolatry: it is a deeply personal betrayal of intimate love, an act of profound ingratitude that dishonors God and desecrates the covenant relationship He cherished.