Ezekiel 16:26

26 You engaged in promiscuous acts with Egyptian men, your well-endowed neighbors, and increased your prostitution[a] to provoke Me to anger.

Ezekiel 16:26 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 16:26

Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians
By entering into leagues and alliances with them, and seeking to them for help and assistance against their enemies; from whose bondage they had formerly been delivered, and whose society they were cautioned against; and yet they forsook the Lord, and joined themselves to them by solemn covenant; and not only so, but fell into the worship of their idols, who were a people of all others the most superstitious, and given to idolatry; and many of their idolatrous rites and ceremonies were received and retained by the Jews, as the worshipping of Tammuz, and other idols: thy neighbours, great of flesh:
being their neighbours, and full of power and strength to assist them, they courted their friendship and alliance; and their idolatries being many and monstrous, were the more courted by them: the allusion is to women of shameless impudence and insatiable lust, who covet men, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and their issue as horses, ( Ezekiel 23:20 ) ; flesh here signifies the privy parts of men; so Ben Melech; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke my anger;
multiplied their idolatries, which they learned of the Egyptians, a people much given thereunto; and which were abominable and highly provoking to God, ( 1 Peter 4:3 ) . The Targum is,

``thou hast increased thine idols.''

Ezekiel 16:26 In-Context

24 "you built yourself a mound and made yourself an elevated place in every square.
25 You built your elevated place at the head of every street and turned your beauty into an abomination. You spread your legs to everyone who passed by and increased your prostitution.
26 You engaged in promiscuous acts with Egyptian men, your well-endowed neighbors, and increased your prostitution to provoke Me to anger.
27 "Therefore, I stretched out My hand against you and reduced your provisions. I gave you over to the desire of those who hate you, the Philistine women, who were embarrassed by your indecent behavior.
28 Then you engaged in prostitution with the Assyrian men because you were not satisfied. Even though you did this with them, you were still not satisfied.

Footnotes 1

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