Ezekiel 16 · Verse 15

Ezekiel 16:15

But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.
Ezekiel 16:15, King James Version

Ezekiel 16:15 in other translations

BSBBut because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking.
WEB“‘“But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by. It was his.
ASVBut thou didst trust in thy beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on every one that passed by; his it was.
YLTAnd thou dost trust in thy beauty, And goest a-whoring because of thy renown, And dost pour out thy whoredoms On every passer by--to him it is.
DARBYBut thou didst confide in thy beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on every one that passed by: his it was.
BBEBut you put your faith in the fact that you were beautiful, acting like a loose woman because you were widely talked of, and offering your cheap love to everyone who went by, whoever it might be.
WebsterBut thou didst trust in thy own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

What does Ezekiel 16:15 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
15. Instead of attributing the glory of her privileges and gifts to God, Israel prided herself on them as her own (De 32:15; Jr 7:4; Mi 3:11), and then wantonly devoted them to her idols (Ho 2:8; compare Lu 15:12, 13). playedst ... harlot because of thy renown--"didst play the wanton upon thy name" [Fairbairn], namely, by allowing thy renown to lead thee into idolatry and leagues with idolaters (Is 1:21; 57:8; Jr 3:2, 6). English Version is better, "because of thy renown," that is, relying on it; answering to "thou didst trust in thine own beauty." his it was--Thy beauty was yielded up to every passer-by. Israel's zest for the worship of foul idols was but an anxiety to have the approbation of heaven for their carnal lusts, of which the idols were the personification; hence, too, their tendency to wander from Jehovah, who was a restraint on corrupt nature.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 15 Thou didst trust in thine own beauty - Riches, strength, alliances, etc.; never considering that all they possessed came from God; therefore it was his comeliness which he had put upon them. Witness their original abject state, and the degree of eminence to which they had arrived afterwards through the protecting power of God.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ezekiel 16:1-58

A parable showing the first low estate of the Jewish nation, its prosperity, idolatries, and punishment. Verses 1-58 In this chapter God's dealings with the Jewish nation, and their conduct towards him, are described, and their punishment through the surrounding nations, even those they most trusted in. This is done under the parable of an exposed infant rescued from death, educated, espoused, and richly provided…

Read the full comment on Ezekiel 16:1-58 →

Ezekiel 16:15 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַתִּבְטְחִ֣יva.tiv.te.Chiand you trustedH982
בְיָפְיֵ֔ךְve.ya.fe.Yekhin beauty yourH3308
וַתִּזְנִ֖יva.tiz.Niand you acted as a prostituteH2181
עַל\־'al-onH5921
שְׁמֵ֑ךְshe.Mekhname yourH8034
וַתִּשְׁפְּכִ֧יva.tish.pe.Khiand you poured outH8210
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
תַּזְנוּתַ֛יִךְtaz.nu.Ta.yikhprostitution<s> yourH8457
עַל\־'al-onH5921
כָּל\־kol-everyH3605
עוֹבֵ֖רo.Ver[one who] passed byH5674
לוֹ\־lov-to him
יֶֽהִי\׃Ye.hilet it belongH1961

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ezekiel 16:15

  • Ezekiel 16:25

    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.

  • Isaiah 57:8

    Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.

  • Jeremiah 2:20

    For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

  • Ezekiel 23:3

    And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.

  • Jeremiah 7:4

    Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these.

  • Hosea 1:2

    The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.

  • Isaiah 1:21

    How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

  • Ezekiel 23:8

    Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.

  • Judges 10:6

    And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served not him.

  • Numbers 25:1-2

    And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

  • 2 Kings 21:3

    For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

  • Ezekiel 16:36-37

    Thus saith the Lord God; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them; Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
thou didst.
33:13; De 32:15; Isa 48:1; Jer 7:4; Mic 3:11; Zep 3:11; Mt 3:9
and playedst.
20:8; 23:3,8,11,12-21; Ex 32:6-35; Nu 25:1,2; Jud 2:12; 3:6; 10:6
1Ki 11:5; 12:28; 2Ki 17:7; 21:3; Ps 106:35; Isa 1:21; 57:8; Jer 2:20
Jer 3:1; 7:4; Ho 1:2; 4:10; Re 17:5
because.Raised from the most abject state to dignity and splendour by Jehovah, Israel became proud of her numbers, riches, strength, and reputation, forgetting that it was "through his comeliness which he had put upon them;" and thus departing from God, made alliances with heathen nations, and worshipped their idols.
and pouredst.
25,36,37

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Ezekiel 16:14

    And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.

  • Ezekiel 16:15

    But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

  • Ezekiel 16:16

    And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.

Read all of Ezekiel 16

Ezekiel 16:15 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Mas confiaste en tu hermosura, y fornicaste á causa de tu nombradía, y derramaste tus fornicaciones á cuantos pasaron; suya eras.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Mais tu te confias en ta beauté, et tu te prostituas à cause de ta renommée, et tu prodiguas tes prostitutions à tout passant: c’était pour lui.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Aber du vertrautest auf deine Schönheit, und du hurtest auf deinen Ruf hin und gossest deine Hurereien aus über jeden Vorübergehenden: ihm ward sie.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Et habens fiduciam in pulchritudine tua, fornicata es in nomine tuo: et exposuisti fornicationem tuam omni transeunti, ut ejus fieres.