Ezekiel 16 26

Ezekiel 16:26 kjv

Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.

Ezekiel 16:26 nkjv

You also committed harlotry with the Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors, and increased your acts of harlotry to provoke Me to anger.

Ezekiel 16:26 niv

You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your neighbors with large genitals, and aroused my anger with your increasing promiscuity.

Ezekiel 16:26 esv

You also played the whore with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, multiplying your whoring, to provoke me to anger.

Ezekiel 16:26 nlt

Then you added lustful Egypt to your lovers, provoking my anger with your increasing promiscuity.

Ezekiel 16 verses

Ezekiel 16 26 Meaning

Ezekiel 16:26 vividly describes Jerusalem's spiritual infidelity and idolatry as engaging in harlotry with the Egyptians. This act represents both political alliances formed with Egypt, bypassing trust in God, and the adoption of their pagan religious practices. Her continued and increasing unfaithfulness is presented as a profound provocation, inciting God's righteous anger against His chosen city, depicted metaphorically as an unfaithful wife.

Ezekiel 16 26 Context

Ezekiel chapter 16 is a lengthy allegorical prophecy directed at Jerusalem, personified as an unfaithful wife. It begins by depicting Jerusalem as an abandoned, discarded infant whom God found, cleansed, adorned, and brought into a covenant relationship (marriage). God nurtured her into a beautiful, prosperous nation. However, out of her arrogance and trusting in her beauty, she then "played the harlot" with every passerby. This spiritual harlotry involved forming illicit alliances with foreign nations for security and adopting their pagan deities and practices, forsaking her covenant with YHWH. The preceding verses (16:15-25) detail her promiscuous idolatry with various offerings and practices. Verse 26 specifically focuses on her alliance and worship with the Egyptians, part of a pattern of escalating betrayal that ultimately led to God's judgment.

Ezekiel 16 26 Word analysis

• You also played the harlot (וַתִּזְנִי עַל־בְּנֵי מִצְרַיִם / vat·tiz·nî ʿal-bə·nê miṣ·ra·yim):
  • You (`vat-tiz-nî`): Refers to Jerusalem, personified as a woman. The verb is feminine singular, clearly addressing the city as a specific entity.
  • played the harlot (`zanah`, זָנָה): This Hebrew verb denotes prostitution or illicit sexual intercourse. In prophetic language, it universally symbolizes spiritual infidelity—breaking the covenant relationship with God by pursuing idolatry, pagan worship, or illegitimate political alliances that demonstrated a lack of trust in God. It implies an active, deliberate turning away. The metaphor stresses the intimacy of the covenant relationship and the severity of its betrayal, equating idolatry to adultery.
• with the Egyptians (בְּנֵי מִצְרַיִם / bə·nê miṣ·ra·yim):
  • Refers to the people of Egypt. Historically, Egypt was a powerful, culturally advanced nation with a prominent pantheon of gods. Israel's history with Egypt began with slavery and culminated in a dramatic exodus orchestrated by God. Subsequently, any seeking of alliance with Egypt for military strength or adopting their gods was seen as a profound rejection of YHWH's redemptive power and protective covenant. Politically, allying with Egypt often meant rejecting reliance on God.
• your neighbors (שְׁכֵנָיִךְ / šə·ḵê·nā·yiḵ):
  • Literally means "those dwelling near you." This highlights the accessibility and frequency of these illicit interactions. It emphasizes a familiarity that makes the betrayal more poignant—like sleeping with someone who lives next door rather than a complete stranger, suggesting a deeper level of intimate breach of covenant.
• great of flesh (גְּדוֹלֵי בָשָׂר / gə·ḏō·lê bā·śār):
  • `g'dole` (גְּדוֹלֵי) means "great" or "large."
  • `basar` (בָשָׂר) means "flesh."
  • This phrase carries significant interpretive weight. It can mean physically large/imposing (powerful), robust, or sexually potent/virile. In context of spiritual harlotry, it often suggests the physical or material appeal of Egypt's power, wealth, or even the allure of their sensuous pagan worship. Some scholars interpret it with strong sexual connotations, alluding to Egyptian idolatrous practices, including fertility cults and possibly even literal ritual prostitution in those foreign contexts, which Jerusalem might have emulated. It also implies reliance on human strength (`basar` often contrasts with divine `ruach` or spirit), which is a common polemic in prophetic literature against trusting human might over God.
• and you multiplied your harlotry (וַתַּרְבִּי אֶת־תַּזְנוּתֵךְ / vat·tar·bî ’eṯ-taz·nū·ṯêḵ):
  • multiplied (`tar-bî`): To increase, make numerous. This indicates a progression from initial acts of unfaithfulness to repeated and escalating engagements in spiritual harlotry. It's not a single incident but a persistent, growing pattern of covenant breach.
  • your harlotry (`taznutekh`, תַּזְנוּתֵךְ): The noun form of `zanah`, specifically "your prostitution/harlotry." This reinforces the severity, suggesting a pervasive and characteristic aspect of Jerusalem's behavior.
• to provoke Me to anger (לְהַכְעִיסֵנִי / lə·haḵ·‘î·sê·nî):
  • This clarifies the direct consequence and the divine perspective of Jerusalem's actions. God is the wronged party, and her behavior is intentionally offensive and provocative. It highlights God's righteous indignation against such betrayal of love and covenant. The use of "Me" (God speaking) stresses the personal nature of the offense.

• Words-group analysis
• "You also played the harlot with the Egyptians": This phrase succinctly indicts Jerusalem for specific unfaithfulness with a significant foreign power, a historically charged relationship for Israel. It identifies the direct object of her spiritual adultery, pointing to both political alliance (forsaking God for Egypt's perceived strength) and religious syncretism (adopting Egyptian gods).
• "your neighbors, great of flesh": This further details the nature of her entanglement with Egypt. "Neighbors" emphasizes close and intimate access, suggesting a betrayal within proximity. "Great of flesh" conveys the allure or perceived power of Egypt – whether physical might, prosperity, or sensuousness – that tempted Jerusalem away from her covenant loyalty. It critiques her reliance on human (`flesh`) instead of divine (`God`).
• "and you multiplied your harlotry, to provoke Me to anger": This closing clause highlights the escalating nature and the direct divine response. The multiplication implies sustained, persistent, and deepening infidelity. This entire pattern of behavior is explicitly understood as an intentional act that directly grieves and angers God, emphasizing the personal offense against the covenant Husband.

Ezekiel 16 26 Bonus section

The concept of Israel as God's bride is a crucial theological backdrop for understanding "harlotry." It elevates the betrayal beyond mere political miscalculation or religious error to a deep personal insult to the covenant love of God. The phrase gedole basar (great of flesh) likely carries a deliberate double meaning in Ezekiel's vivid and often stark imagery. On one hand, it could describe the Egyptians as having great military might or being numerous, providing the political 'strength' Israel sought. On the other hand, in a chapter filled with sexual metaphors for idolatry, it could also imply an overtly sexual attraction or virility attributed to the foreign partner (Egypt), heightening the "harlotry" imagery to suggest gross moral and spiritual depravity through interaction with their pagan cults which often involved fertility rites or ritualistic behaviors. This multifaceted imagery condemns Israel on political, religious, and moral levels simultaneously.

Ezekiel 16 26 Commentary

Ezekiel 16:26 portrays Jerusalem's abandonment of YHWH for alliances with Egypt as flagrant spiritual prostitution, deepening her covenant betrayal. The specific reference to "great of flesh" highlights her seeking worldly power, human strength, or perhaps the sensuous allure of Egyptian cults over divine providence, seeing Egypt as a more robust or appealing partner. This was not a singular lapse but a pattern of escalating infidelity, a deliberate multiplication of her harlotry, demonstrating a complete disregard for God's steadfast love and care. This consistent disloyalty directly and intentionally provoked the very God who had redeemed and nurtured her, signaling His righteous judgment against such profound and repeated covenant breaking. The passage underscores the severity of idolatry and foreign entanglements as an act of personal offense against a jealous God.