Ezekiel 23 · Verse 3

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.
Ezekiel 23:3, King James Version

Ezekiel 23:3 in other translations

BSBand they played in Egypt, prostituting themselves from their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin bosoms caressed.
WEBThey played the prostitute in Egypt. They played the prostitute in their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their youthful nipples were caressed there.
ASVand they played the harlot in Egypt; they played the harlot in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity.
YLTAnd they go a-whoring in Egypt, In their youth they have gone a-whoring, There they have bruised their breasts, And there they have dealt with the loves of their virginity.
DARBYAnd they committed whoredom in Egypt; they committed whoredom in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there were handled the teats of their virginity.
BBEThey were acting like loose women in Egypt; when they were young their behaviour was loose: there their breasts were crushed, even the points of their young breasts were crushed.
WebsterAnd they committed lewd deeds in Egypt; they committed lewd deeds in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they were first corrupted.

What does Ezekiel 23:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. Even so early in their history as their Egyptian sojourn, they committed idolatries (see on Eze 20:6-8; Joshua 24. 14). in their youth--an aggravation of their sin. It was at the very time of their receiving extraordinary favors from God (Eze 16:6, 22). they bruised--namely, the Egyptians.

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

Ezekiel 23:3 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.

וַתִּזְנֶ֣ינָהva.tiz.Nei.nahand they acted as prostitutesH2181
בְמִצְרַ֔יִםve.mitz.Ra.yimin EgyptH4714
בִּנְעוּרֵיהֶ֖ןbin.'u.rei.Henin youth<s> theirH5271
זָנ֑וּza.Nuthey acted as prostitutesH2181
שָׁ֚מָּהSha.mahthere <towards>H8033
מֹעֲכ֣וּmo.'a.Khuthey were handledH4600
שְׁדֵיהֶ֔ןshe.dei.Henbreasts theirH7699
וְשָׁ֣םve.Shamand thereH8033
עִשּׂ֔וּ'i.Suthey squeezedH6213
דַּדֵּ֖יda.Dei[the] nipples ofH1717
בְּתוּלֵיהֶֽן\׃be.tu.lei.Henvirginiti<es> theirH1331

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

Cross references for Ezekiel 23:3

  • Leviticus 17:7

    And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.

  • Joshua 24:14

    Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

  • Ezekiel 16:22

    And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.

  • Deuteronomy 29:16

    (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;

  • 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.

  • Ezekiel 23:19

    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 20:8

    But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

  • Hosea 2:15

    And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

  • Ezekiel 23:21

    Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
in Egypt.
20:8; Le 17:7; De 29:16; Jos 24:14
in their.
8,19,21; 16:22; Ho 2:15

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

Context

  • Ezekiel 23:2

    Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:

  • 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.

  • Ezekiel 23:4

    And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.

Read all of Ezekiel 23

Ezekiel 23:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Las cuales fornicaron en Egipto; en sus mocedades fornicaron. Allí fueron apretados sus pechos, y allí fueron estrujados los pechos de su virginidad.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		et elles se prostituèrent en Égypte, elles se prostituèrent dans leur jeunesse: là leurs mamelles furent froissées, là les seins de leur virginité furent pressés.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und sie hurten in Ägypten, in ihrer Jugend hurten sie; dort wurden ihre Brüste gedrückt, und dort betastete man ihren jungfräulichen Busen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		et fornicatæ sunt in Ægypto, in adolescentia sua fornicatæ sunt: ibi subacta sunt ubera earum, et fractæ sunt mammæ pubertatis earum.