Ezekiel 16 3

Ezekiel 16:3 kjv

And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.

Ezekiel 16:3 nkjv

and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: "Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

Ezekiel 16:3 niv

and say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

Ezekiel 16:3 esv

and say, Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

Ezekiel 16:3 nlt

Give her this message from the Sovereign LORD: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

Ezekiel 16 verses

Ezekiel 16 3 Meaning

Ezekiel 16:3 serves as a shocking divine pronouncement from the Lord God to Jerusalem, establishing the foundational premise for the extended allegory of the unfaithful bride. It declares Jerusalem's metaphorical origin not as divinely chosen Israel, but rather as fundamentally intertwined with the ungodly, idolatrous inhabitants of the land before Abraham. By stating her "origin and birth" are from the "land of the Canaanites," and specifically identifying her "father as an Amorite and her mother as a Hittite," the verse strip-mines Jerusalem of any claim to inherent purity or divine favor based on lineage, highlighting the depth of her spiritual depravity and setting the stage for a dramatic exposition of God's unmerited grace.

Ezekiel 16 3 Context

Ezekiel 16 opens with a divine command for the prophet to "cause Jerusalem to know her abominations" (Ez 16:2). This verse (Ez 16:3) immediately follows, providing a stark, foundational statement designed to strip away any pretensions Jerusalem might have held about her inherent purity or privileged divine lineage. It sets the stage for one of the most extended and graphically detailed allegories in the Bible, portraying Jerusalem as an abandoned, utterly destitute infant whom God graciously finds, cleanses, clothes, raises to splendor, and enters into a covenant with, only for her to betray Him utterly by playing the prostitute with foreign gods and nations.

Historically, this prophecy is delivered to the exiles in Babylon. Jerusalem is about to fall or has recently fallen. The pronouncement about her Canaanite origins would have been incredibly shocking and insulting to a people who prided themselves on their unique relationship with YHWH, tracing their lineage back to Abraham. It serves as a devastating theological and historical indictment, exposing the depth of their spiritual apostasy as not merely a lapse, but a return to fundamental, abhorrent, pre-Israelite roots, mirroring the very nations whose practices God commanded them to avoid and whom they were meant to dispossess.

Ezekiel 16 3 Word analysis

• Son of man: (בֶן־אָדָם - ben-adam) – The frequent address to Ezekiel, highlighting his human, finite nature in contrast to the divine source of the message, yet commissioned for divine proclamation.
• Cause Jerusalem to know: (הוֹדַע לִירוּשָׁלַם - hôda‘ lîrūshālam) – A strong command, implying an unveiling or revelation of something she is willfully ignorant of or represses. It carries a confrontational, almost prosecutorial tone.
• her abominations: (תּוֹעֲבֹתֶיהָ - to‘ăvōteyha) – Plural, signifying multiple grievous acts. This Hebrew term refers to things that are morally disgusting, detestable, or an offense to God, often specifically tied to idolatry, sexual perversion, and practices of the surrounding nations (e.g., Lev 18:27, Deut 18:12). It emphasizes actions utterly repugnant to the holy God.
• Thus says the Lord GOD: (כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה - kōh ’āmar ’ădonāy Yahweh) – A formal, authoritative prophetic declaration, lending undeniable weight and divine authority to the harsh words that follow.
• to Jerusalem: The specific object of the message, not just the city walls, but the people and their spiritual entity.
• Your origin: (מְכֹרֹתַיִךְ - měkōrōtayik) – Refers to one's source, birth, or place of nativity; "your cutting out," a vivid image of being cut from a certain cloth.
• and your birth: (וּמוֹלְדֹתַיִךְ - ūmôlādōtayik) – Closely related to "origin," emphasizing the act of coming into being, descendants, or nativity. The repetition underscores the deliberate point about her foundational roots.
• were from the land of the Canaanites: (מֵאֶרֶץ הַכְּנַעֲנִי - mê’ereṣ hakke na‘ănî) – This is a foundational insult. Instead of linking Jerusalem to the Abrahamic covenant and the promised land, it explicitly connects her to the pre-Israelite, idolatrous inhabitants that God had commanded Israel to dispossess. It implies a deep, ingrained impurity.
• your father an Amorite: (אָבִיךְ הָאֱמֹרִי - ’āvîḵ hā’ĕmōrî) – The Amorites were one of the major Canaanite tribes, often used synecdochically to represent all Canaanites. They are consistently portrayed as wicked, marked for judgment, and associated with grievous sins (Gen 15:16). Identifying her "father" with them establishes her paternity from an inherently sinful, ungodly source.
• and your mother a Hittite: (וְאִמֵּךְ חִתִּית - wĕ’immēḵ ḥittît) – The Hittites were another significant Canaanite tribe, similarly condemned for their idolatrous practices. Giving Jerusalem a Hittite mother completes the picture of a thoroughly "Canaanite" parentage, reinforcing her deep-seated contamination by association with paganism and idolatry.

• "Cause Jerusalem to know her abominations": This phrase functions as a judicial summons, an imperative for divine confrontation. It asserts that Jerusalem is either ignorant or deliberately suppressing the truth about her pervasive evil, and God is about to lay it bare. The abominations are not merely mistakes but utterly detestable acts that violate the core of her covenant relationship with YHWH.
• "Your origin and your birth were from the land of the Canaanites, your father an Amorite and your mother a Hittite": This entire clause is the pivotal insult and the heart of the verse. It is a metaphorical stripping away of Jerusalem's chosen identity. By assigning Jerusalem this parentage, God is asserting that she has, through her constant unfaithfulness and adoption of pagan practices, reverted to, or perhaps always retained, the nature of the people she was meant to replace and rise above. It's a severe polemic against Israel's pride in its ancestry and unique status, revealing that their current spiritual state makes them indistinguishable from the most despised, idolatrous inhabitants of the land. This reframes Israel's perceived superiority and highlights the extent of their spiritual degeneration.

Ezekiel 16 3 Bonus section

The allegorical naming of Jerusalem's parents as Amorite and Hittite carries a deep rhetorical and theological weight. While historically Jerusalem likely had a mixed population, this verse is not about ethnography but rather spiritual identification. The "Canaanite" identity is often linked in the Bible to great iniquity and moral degradation. For example, the iniquity of the Amorites was what initially prevented God from giving the land fully to Abraham's descendants (Gen 15:16). By assigning these origins, God dramatically highlights the fact that Jerusalem's actions reflect the worst aspects of the pre-Israelite inhabitants, thereby negating any claim to a special divine status based solely on being "God's chosen city." This metaphor functions as a literary device to demonstrate that their apostasy was not merely superficial but indicative of a deep-seated spiritual affinity with the very paganism they were called to reject. This powerful image then underpins the entire chapter's narrative of astonishing divine grace, for it is this despised, unchosen "foundling" whom YHWH rescues, cleanses, adorns, and makes His own, only to be utterly betrayed.

Ezekiel 16 3 Commentary

Ezekiel 16:3 delivers a profound shock to its original audience by tearing down Jerusalem's perceived pedigree. The statement is not a literal historical account of Jerusalem's founding population but a searing metaphorical indictment of her spiritual identity and conduct. God dismisses any claim Jerusalem might have to a pure, Abrahamic lineage, declaring her parentage as Canaanite, specifically an Amorite father and a Hittite mother. These tribes epitomized the idolatry, depravity, and pagan practices that Israel was explicitly commanded to abhor and displace. The declaration that Jerusalem’s true roots are in these condemned nations underscores the theological point: through her persistent and rampant abominations (idolatry, unfaithfulness to God), Jerusalem has effectively embraced the nature and character of the very people God had dispossessed due to their wickedness. This potent metaphor thus sets a stark contrast with the later revelation of God's astonishing, unmerited grace in finding and raising this "abandoned" child, thereby magnifying the tragedy of Jerusalem's subsequent betrayal and reinforcing the justice of her impending judgment.