Ezekiel 16:25-26
At the head of every street you built your lofty place and made your beauty an abomination, offering yourself to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. You also played the whore with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, multiplying your whoring, to provoke me to anger.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
It's easy to miss that "making your beauty an abomination" wasn't just about God being disgusted. It means Israel's very attractiveness and allure, which God had given her, was being deliberately perverted and turned into something repulsive by her open invitation to any passing idolater. Her public, brazen offers to everyone essentially ruined her own appeal, much like a worn-out prostitute loses her desirability.
In this vivid, often harsh, allegory, God paints a picture of Jerusalem's unfaithfulness. After describing how God found and nurtured this "infant" nation, the narrative now focuses on her rampant idolatry and sexual immorality, comparing her to a prostitute who actively seeks out partners at every busy intersection. This verse highlights how Jerusalem's devotion was not just misplaced but aggressively offered to any passing god or culture, leading to a deep spiritual corruption that would inevitably bring judgment.
Why did Israel build their 'high places' not just anywhere, but specifically at the 'head of every street'?
Jerusalem, once a city dedicated to God, became a place of open, public idolatry. The "high places" were structures for worshipping false gods, and placing them at the "head of every street" was a deliberate act of defiance and widespread corruption.
How does something beautiful become 'an abomination'?
Jerusalem's unique beauty – her relationship with God, her covenant status, her status as God's chosen city – was twisted and defiled. Instead of honoring God, this beauty was 'made an abomination.'
Ask a follow-up
Ask Sola things like:
Live chat about Ezekiel 16:25-26 is available in the Sola app.
The verse uses stark language about 'offering yourself to any passerby.' What does this tell us about spiritual unfaithfulness?
The imagery of 'whoring' and 'opening your feet to any passerby' is a powerful metaphor for spiritual adultery. It describes a relentless, unfaithful pursuit of anything and everything that is not God.
Understand the original words
zanah · Hebrew Verb
In a biblical and prophetic context, this term is used metaphorically to describe spiritual unfaithfulness, idolatry, and the abandonment of the covenant relationship with God in favor of foreign alliances or false gods. It emphasizes the deep betrayal and lack of exclusive devotion to the Lord.
basar · Hebrew Adjective
A state of intense, uncontrolled desire or craving, often used in Scripture to describe sinful appetites or affections that are misdirected away from God toward created things. It implies a lack of self-control and a departure from divine wisdom.
ka'as · Hebrew Verb
To stir up, excite, or incite someone to a reaction, specifically used in the Old Testament to describe actions by Israel that incite God’s holy jealousy and righteous indignation due to their covenant breaking.
Ezekiel's vivid imagery of Jerusalem as a promiscuous woman, setting up shrines at every corner, reflects the deep spiritual and national crisis of the Babylonian exile. The people were experiencing God's judgment, and the prophet uses this shocking metaphor to expose the root cause: their pervasive idolatry and unfaithfulness, especially the public and widespread nature of their 'affairs' with other gods.
c. 722 BC
Fall of Samaria and Assyrian Exile
The Northern Kingdom of Israel falls to the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and many Israelites are deported. This marks a significant loss of national identity and religious practice for a portion of the Hebrew people.
605 BC
First Deportation to Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquers Judah and deports some of its leading citizens, including the prophet Daniel, to Babylon. This event signals the beginning of the Babylonian threat to Jerusalem.
597 BC— this verse
Second Deportation to Babylon
Babylon captures Jerusalem and deports King Jehoiachin and many skilled workers, including the prophet Ezekiel, to Babylon. This is a major blow to the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
586 BC
Destruction of Jerusalem
The Babylonians return, destroy Jerusalem and its Temple, and deport most of the remaining population to Babylon. This is the catastrophic end of the Southern Kingdom.
c. 571 BC
Ezekiel's Ministry Concludes
The book of Ezekiel ends with prophecies of restoration. His ministry occurred entirely during the Babylonian exile, providing a message of judgment and hope to the exiles.
This passage also speaks of Israel's unfaithfulness, comparing their straying to a 'bold-faced harlot,' echoing the imagery of Ezekiel's description of Israel's pervasive idolatry.
Proverbs 9:14The imagery of 'high places at the head of every street' in Ezekiel connects with the 'call' from Lady Folly at 'the highest places of the city' in Proverbs, illustrating how sin can be brazenly displayed in public spaces.
Hosea 2:5Hosea prophesied about Israel's spiritual adultery, stating, 'She said, “I will go after my lovers who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil, and my drink.”' This highlights the transactional and self-serving nature of Israel's turning away from God, similar to the whoring described in Ezekiel.
Romans 1:23Paul describes humanity exchanging the truth about God for a lie and worshiping created things, showing a timeless pattern of spiritual prostitution and the subsequent 'dishonor' that follows when beauty is prostituted for false worship.
cambridgeEzekiel 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."
25 . thy high place ] See Ezekiel 16:24 . made … to be abhorred ] This sense is doubtful; the word means to abominate, hence dishonour or disregard, or as we might say “prostitute thy beauty.”
pooleEzekiel 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."
Not content with what was done in the city, she built her idol temples and shows in the country, in places where many ways or roads met, wheresoever it was likely passengers would come. Hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, as the beauty of a shameless whore is abhorred by them to whom she offers her…
It's easy to miss that "making your beauty an abomination" wasn't just about God being disgusted. It means Israel's very attractiveness and allure, which God had given her, was being deliberately perverted and turned into something repulsive by her open invitation to any passing idolater. Her public, brazen offers to everyone essentially ruined her own appeal, much like a worn-out prostitute loses her desirability.
In this vivid, often harsh, allegory, God paints a picture of Jerusalem's unfaithfulness. After describing how God found and nurtured this "infant" nation, the narrative now focuses on her rampant idolatry and sexual immorality, comparing her to a prostitute who actively seeks out partners at every busy intersection. This verse highlights how Jerusalem's devotion was not just misplaced but aggressively offered to any passing god or culture, leading to a deep spiritual corruption that would inevitably bring judgment.
In this vivid, often harsh, allegory, God paints a picture of Jerusalem's unfaithfulness. After describing how God found and nurtured this "infant" nation, the narrative now focuses on her rampant idolatry and sexual immorality, comparing her to a prostitute who actively seeks out partners at every busy intersection. This verse highlights how Jerusalem's devotion was not just misplaced but aggressively offered to any passing god or culture, leading to a deep spiritual corruption that would inevitably bring judgment.
"At the head of every street you built your lofty place and made your beauty an abomination, offering yourself to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. You also played the whore with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, multiplying y…" — It's easy to miss that "making your beauty an abomination" wasn't just about God being disgusted. It means Israel's very attractiveness and allure, which God had given her, was being deliberately per…
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
