Ezekiel 23:19 kjv
Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
Ezekiel 23:19 nkjv
"Yet she multiplied her harlotry In calling to remembrance the days of her youth, When she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
Ezekiel 23:19 niv
Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt.
Ezekiel 23:19 esv
Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt
Ezekiel 23:19 nlt
Yet she turned to even greater prostitution, remembering her youth when she was a prostitute in Egypt.
Ezekiel 23 19 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ex 34:15-16 | Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land... and go whoring after their gods. | Warning against idolatry as whoredom. |
| Lev 17:7 | So they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. | Direct command against worshipping other gods. |
| Num 15:39 | You shall not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. | Idolatry as following sinful desires. |
| Deut 31:16 | For this people will rise and play the harlot after the foreign gods of the land. | Prophecy of Israel's future apostasy. |
| Judg 2:17 | They soon turned aside from the way their fathers had walked, obeying the commandments... they whored after other gods. | Pattern of post-settlement idolatry. |
| Ps 78:40-41 | How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert! They tested God again and again... | Remembering their historical rebellion. |
| Ps 106:19-20 | They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image... exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. | Egyptian-influenced idolatry (Golden Calf). |
| Isa 1:21 | How the faithful city has become a harlot, she who was full of justice! | Jerusalem's spiritual degeneration. |
| Jer 2:2 | "I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride..." | Contrast: God's remembrance vs. Israel's. |
| Jer 2:18-19 | What do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile...? | Reliance on Egypt for security/idolatry. |
| Jer 2:20 | "For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your bonds; and you said, ‘I will not serve!’ Yes, on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed down as a harlot." | Early and widespread idolatry. |
| Jer 3:6-8 | Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there she played the harlot. | Israel's chronic spiritual unfaithfulness. |
| Ezek 16:15-19 | But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your renown... took your beautiful jewels... and made for yourself images of men. | Jerusalem's previous acts of harlotry. |
| Ezek 20:6-8 | I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land flowing with milk and honey... But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me... cast away the detestable things... | Israel's rebellion and idolatry in Egypt. |
| Hos 1:2 | Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD. | Prophetic analogy of Israel's unfaithfulness. |
| Hos 4:12 | My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray. | Deeper spiritual corruption. |
| Hos 9:1 | Rejoice not, O Israel! Exult not like the peoples; for you have played the harlot, forsaking your God. | Condemnation for playing the harlot. |
| Gal 5:7-9 | You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. | Turning back from truth to error. |
| Jam 4:4 | You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? | Spiritual adultery with the world. |
| 2 Pet 2:20-22 | For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world... they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. | Return to previous sinful ways. |
| Rev 17:1-6 | I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters... with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality. | Symbolic harlotry in the End Times. |
Ezekiel 23 verses
Ezekiel 23 19 Meaning
Ezekiel 23:19 describes Jerusalem (personified as Oholibah) intensifying her spiritual unfaithfulness, acting like a harlot who not only continues her illicit behavior but actively recalls and yearns for the corrupt patterns of her past, specifically from her earliest history in the land of Egypt. This verse highlights a deliberate regression, where Judah's current idolatry and foreign alliances are not just new sins but an escalating repetition of deeply ingrained historical apostasy. It emphasizes a willful remembrance and longing for those former ways, leading to an amplification of their "whoredom" against God.
Ezekiel 23 19 Context
Ezekiel chapter 23, following the theme of spiritual unfaithfulness from chapter 16, uses the explicit allegory of two sisters, Oholah (Samaria, representing the Northern Kingdom of Israel) and Oholibah (Jerusalem, representing the Southern Kingdom of Judah). Both sisters represent God's covenant people, chosen by Him and nurtured, yet who repeatedly engaged in spiritual harlotry by making alliances with foreign nations (Assyria, Babylon, Egypt) and adopting their idolatrous practices. The vivid, graphic sexual imagery throughout the chapter powerfully portrays the abhorrent nature of their sin from God's perspective and the shame that will be brought upon them in judgment. Verse 19 specifically indicts Jerusalem/Judah, showing her not only mirroring Samaria's earlier sins but intensifying them, critically tying her present moral decay to a willful longing for the pagan practices established early in Israel's history in Egypt, despite God's rescue from that very land. This deep historical root demonstrates a pattern of rebellion from the very beginning of their nationhood, underlining the depth of their spiritual depravity.
Ezekiel 23 19 Word analysis
- Yet (וַתַּרְבֶּה - wattarbeh): The "yet" introduces an escalation of previous actions. The Hebrew verb implies an intensification or multiplication of her whoredom. It highlights Judah's persistent and increasing defiance despite the judgment meted out to her sister, Samaria, and despite divine warnings.
- she multiplied (וַתַּרְבֶּה - wattarbeh): From the root rabah (to become numerous, great). This signifies a deliberate increase in her unfaithfulness, an exponential growth of spiritual harlotry beyond past levels. It suggests a deeper dive into idolatry and foreign entanglements.
- her whoredom (זְנוּתֶיהָ - zᵊnutehā): Zenut signifies spiritual unfaithfulness, idolatry, and illegitimate alliances, metaphorically likened to prostitution. It refers to violating the covenant with God by seeking security or worship from other nations and their deities.
- remembering (בְּזָכְרָהּ - bᵊzokrâh): More than a passive recollection, this denotes an active, willful, almost nostalgic dwelling upon or yearning for past sinful patterns. It suggests a conscious choice to embrace and repeat historical apostasy.
- the days of her youth (יְמֵי נְעוּרֶיהָ - yᵊmê nᵊ‘urehā): This refers to the formative period of Israel's national existence, specifically during their time in Egypt. It ironically highlights that even from their earliest days, Israel harbored idolatrous inclinations.
- in which she played the harlot (אֲשֶׁר זָנְתָה בָּהֶם - ‘ăšer zanᵉtâh bâhem): The root zanâh is repeated, unequivocally affirming that the actions in Egypt were also spiritual harlotry. This firmly connects their ancient idolatry to their current amplified apostasy.
- in the land of Egypt (בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם - bᵊ’ereṣ Miṣrayim): Pinpoints the location and period of initial harlotry. It serves to establish that Israel's unfaithfulness was not a new development but a deeply rooted historical trait, an echo of their earliest rebellion.
Ezekiel 23 19 Bonus section
The specific reference to "the days of her youth, in the land of Egypt" is profoundly significant. It bypasses the common understanding of Israel's harlotry as beginning primarily in the promised land, after the Judges or monarchy. Instead, Ezekiel grounds it in their foundational period, even before the giving of the Law at Sinai. This indicates that Israel's propensity for unfaithfulness was present before their full covenant commitment, exposing an initial and deep-seated idolatrous heart. This narrative counters any potential self-righteous claim by Judah to a pure ancestry, showing that the "blemish" of harlotry was there from the very beginning. It establishes a cyclical pattern of apostasy, underscoring that current sin is often rooted in past unaddressed generational or national patterns.
Ezekiel 23 19 Commentary
Ezekiel 23:19 is a damning indictment of Judah's spiritual depravity, highlighting her active and deliberate regression into historical sins. The powerful metaphor of Oholibah multiplying her whoredom by remembering the days of her youth in Egypt conveys that her current idolatry is not accidental or naive but a conscious choice, fueled by a desire to re-engage with deeply ingrained, destructive patterns. This "remembering" is not innocent; it signifies a longing and a return to the very pagan practices and foreign entanglements from which God had rescued them. This demonstrates a profound and persistent rejection of her covenant vows, illustrating that sin, when indulged, becomes a remembered and sought-after preference over loyalty to God.