Ezekiel 16:32 kjv
But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!
Ezekiel 16:32 nkjv
You are an adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband.
Ezekiel 16:32 niv
"?'You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband!
Ezekiel 16:32 esv
Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband!
Ezekiel 16:32 nlt
Yes, you are an adulterous wife who takes in strangers instead of her own husband.
Ezekiel 16 32 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ezekiel 16:32 | You adulterous wife! Instead of taking a husband, you accepted lovers for pay. | Parallels unlawful relationships and apostasy |
| Jeremiah 2:20 | Long ago you broke your yoke and cast off your bonds; you said, "I will not serve!" | Conveys rebellion against divine authority |
| Hosea 2:5 | For their mother has been promiscuous; she who conceived them has acted shamelessly. | Images of Israel as an unfaithful wife |
| Romans 7:3 | So then if, while her husband is alive, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. | Defines adultery and marital faithfulness |
| 1 Corinthians 6:18 | Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. | Condemns sexual immorality and its consequences |
| Revelation 17:5 | And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the Great, Mother of Prostitutes and of the Earth’s Abominations.” | Identifies spiritual unfaithfulness |
| Isaiah 54:5 | For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; he is called the God of all the earth. | Defines the husband-wife covenant |
| Jeremiah 3:1 | “If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s, will he return to her? Will not that land be greatly polluted?” | Explores consequences of marital unfaithfulness |
| Psalm 73:27 | For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you destroy all who would go wantoning away from you. | Consequence of straying from God |
| 2 Peter 2:14 | having eyes full of adultery, and that never cease from sin, luring unstable souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children, | Depicts deceptive and sinful character |
| Nahum 3:4 | because of the many prostitutions of the harlot, the pleasing mistress of the art of witchcraft, who sells nations with her prostitutions, and families with her sorceries. | Nations sold for spiritual corruption |
| Song of Solomon 8:6 | Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. | Divine love as a jealous and protective force |
| Proverbs 6:32 | He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. | Self-destruction through adultery |
| Ezekiel 23:44 | They even came to her in the nakedness of a woman to whom she had been united in illicit intercourse, and they came to them, to Oholah and to Oholibamah, the harlots. | Repetition of harlotry imagery |
| Hosea 4:12 | My people consult a wooden idol, and a walking stick informs them. For a spirit of sexual immorality has led them astray, and they have left their God. | Worshiping false gods akin to adultery |
| Jeremiah 5:7 | “How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and sworn by those who are not gods. When I fed them, they committed adultery, and they assembled in the houses of prostitutes. | Describes sinfulness and abandonment of God |
| Malachi 2:11 | Judah has been faithless, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. | Profaning the Lord’s covenant and sanctuary |
| Ezekiel 28:14 | You were the anointing cherub who covers. I established you; you were on my holy mountain; you walked among the fiery stones. | Lucifer's former exalted position |
| Revelation 18:3 | For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich through the excess of her luxuries. | Global spiritual and economic corruption |
| Hosea 3:1 | And the LORD said to me, “Go again; love a woman who is loved by another and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisins cakes.” | God's enduring love amidst Israel's sin |
| 1 Kings 11:1-11 | Solomon's many foreign wives turned his heart after other gods, leading him into idolatry. | Consequences of turning away from God |
Ezekiel 16 verses
Ezekiel 16 32 Meaning
The verse describes a profound betrayal, likening an adulterous wife to a prostitute. It highlights the shame and perversion of receiving payment for her promiscuous acts, emphasizing that she, instead of giving, receives what is rightfully hers, thereby symbolizing the perversion of her sacred covenant relationship.
Ezekiel 16 32 Context
This verse appears in Ezekiel chapter 16, where the prophet uses an extended allegory to condemn Jerusalem. Jerusalem is personified as an unfaithful wife, specifically an adulteress and a harlot, illustrating her covenant unfaithfulness to Yahweh with foreign nations and their idolatrous practices. This particular verse zeroes in on the nature of her betrayal: not just straying, but actively profiting from her illicit relationships, turning sacred intimacy into a mercenary transaction. The historical backdrop is Jerusalem's repeated lapses into idolatry and political alliances that compromised its devotion to God, paralleling a prostitute who seeks payment rather than true commitment.
Ezekiel 16 32 Word Analysis
- “You”: Direct address to Jerusalem, personalizing the judgment.
- “adulterous”:
- Hebrew: ni'uph (נִאוּפ) - Adultery, unfaithfulness, especially in a marital or covenantal sense.
- Significance: Points to a broken covenant, a deep betrayal of intimacy and commitment. This goes beyond simple misbehavior; it’s a fundamental violation of a solemn vow.
- “wife”:
- Hebrew: ishah (אִשָּׁה) - Woman, wife.
- Significance: Emphasizes the relational aspect – Jerusalem was espoused to Yahweh. This term highlights the legitimate relationship that has been corrupted.
- “Instead of”: Indicates a reversal of the proper order. A wife's role is to cherish her husband, not to seek external relationships for personal gain.
- “taking a husband”:
- Hebrew: lakachat ba'al (לָקַחַת בַּעַל) - To take a husband, to marry.
- Significance: This refers to the intended marital bond and faithfulness. It is the positive duty and rightful expectation of a wife.
- “you accepted”:
- Hebrew: qabalat (קִבָּלַת) - Received, accepted.
- Significance: Active consent and engagement in the wrongdoing.
- “lovers”:
- Hebrew: me'ahabim (מְאַהֲבִים) - Lovers, those who are loved or loved ones, but in this context, illegitimate lovers.
- Significance: Denotes illicit relationships, the opposite of a faithful husband. These are the foreign nations and idols Jerusalem turned to.
- “for pay”:
- Hebrew: mas (מַס) - Tribute, tax, custom, pay, payment.
- Significance: This is the crucial element of perversion. A prostitute receives payment for her services, whereas a faithful wife receives from her husband. Jerusalem not only committed adultery but engaged in it for mercenary reasons, exploiting her spiritual intimacy for political or material gain, just as a prostitute is paid. This shows a commodification of her relationship with God.
Ezekiel 16 32 Bonus Section
The allegory of Israel or Jerusalem as an unfaithful wife or harlot is a recurring theme in the Old Testament, particularly in prophetic literature (e.g., Hosea, Jeremiah, Ezekiel). This imagery vividly conveys the depth of God's hurt and the severity of covenantal breach. Unlike human marriages which can be broken by mutual consent or legal decree, the covenant between God and Israel was presented as irrevocable on God’s part, making Israel’s infidelity a particularly grievous offense. The payment aspect ('for pay') is crucial because it demonstrates a deliberate, gain-oriented turning away from the true source of provision and life. It signifies that Jerusalem valued the temporary benefits derived from foreign allegiances and idolatrous practices over the eternal blessings and protection offered by her divine husband. This speaks to the spiritual hucksterism of putting temporal security or worldly desires above divine fidelity.
Ezekiel 16 32 Commentary
Ezekiel powerfully condemns Jerusalem's apostasy using the stark image of a harlot. The sin isn't just turning to other gods (idolatry) or forming alliances with foreign powers (political compromise), but the transactional nature of these betrayals. She didn't just stray; she sought and received payment—benefits, security, luxury—from her illicit "lovers" (idols, nations) in exchange for her devotion. This transforms the sacred covenant between God and His people into a vulgar marketplace. It highlights the ultimate degradation: her "price" is her inheritance and her very being, which she squanders on ephemeral gains. The verse underscores that this transactional sin is a profound reversal of divine order and faithfulness.