Ezekiel 16:25

25 "'And then you went international with your whoring.

Ezekiel 16:25 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 16:25

Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way
Where two or more ways, or two or more streets, met; and so was most conspicuous, and was seen from different parts; which shows the same as before: and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred;
by the Lord himself, Who otherwise greatly desires and delights in the beauty of his people, when they worship him, ( Psalms 45:11 ) ; and by all good men, and such as fear the Lord, who cannot but abhor such idolatrous practices, and those that are guilty of them; and even by the Heathens themselves, to whom the Jews became mean and despicable, when they fell into idolatry, and under the displeasure of God, whom they forsook; as a common strumpet becomes, in process of time, loathsome to her quondam lovers: and hast opened thy feet to everyone that passed by;
an euphemism, signifying the exposing to view the privities or secret parts, in order to allure to impure embraces; and the meaning is, that the Jews were ready to receive any idol, and give into any idolatrous worship that offered to them, and even courted and solicited the Gentiles to join with them in all idolatrous practices: and multiplied thy whoredoms;
or idolatries; the number of their idols being answerable to their cities, and even were as many as the streets and heads of ways in them.

Ezekiel 16:25 In-Context

23 "'And then to top off all your evil acts, you built your bold brothels in every town square. Doom! Doom to you, says God, the Master!
24 At every major intersection you built your bold brothels and exposed your sluttish sex, spreading your legs for everyone who passed by.
25 "'And then you went international with your whoring.
26 You fornicated with the Egyptians, seeking them out in their sex orgies. The more promiscuous you became, the angrier I got.
27 Finally, I intervened, reduced your borders and turned you over to the rapacity of your enemies. Even the Philistine women - can you believe it? - were shocked at your sluttish life.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.