Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Ezekiel 23:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The prophetic word through Ezekiel states or reports “Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for…” at Ezekiel 23:21 as a specific part of “Oholibah Sees Yet Intensifies the Allegory's Betrayal.”
Read It With
- Ezekiel 23:11–21
Read Ezekiel 23:21 with 23:11–21. By itself, “Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for…” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, date, exilic horizon, visionary movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: Jerusalem's sister Oholibah sees Samaria's fate but is portrayed as desiring Assyrian and Babylonian military figures and recalling Egypt through explicit sexual imagery.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within the same chapter, this unit advances from “Oholah Personifies Samaria's Alliances and Violent Fall” into “Oholibah Sees Yet Intensifies the Allegory's Betrayal.” Its non-interchangeable contribution is: Jerusalem's sister Oholibah sees Samaria's fate but is portrayed as desiring Assyrian and Babylonian military figures and recalling Egypt through explicit sexual imagery. This verse's placement is specific: The prophetic word through Ezekiel states or reports “Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for…” at Ezekiel 23:21 as a specific part of “Oholibah Sees Yet Intensifies the Allegory's Betrayal.”
What Remains True
No theological metaphor makes sexual humiliation, partner violence, victim blaming, silenced grief, or treating a person as a prop morally acceptable. In Ezekiel 23:21, that bounded truth is carried through this verse's role: The prophetic word through Ezekiel states or reports “Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for…” at Ezekiel 23:21 as a specific part of “Oholibah Sees Yet Intensifies the Allegory's Betrayal.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Name the violence without eroticizing it, distinguish city-personification from real women, center survivor safety, and never use the passage to excuse abuse or demand reconciliation. This response follows Ezekiel 23:11–21's specific concern, “Oholibah Sees Yet Intensifies the Allegory's Betrayal.” This verse directs that response through its exact role: The prophetic word through Ezekiel states or reports “Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for…” at Ezekiel 23:21 as a specific part of “Oholibah Sees Yet Intensifies the Allegory's Betrayal.”
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Ezekiel 23:11–21 — Oholibah Sees Yet Intensifies the Allegory's BetrayalSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Ezekiel 23:11–21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ezekiel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 23:11–21
Open the fixed Hebrew Ezekiel file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Ezekiel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, place names, textual issues, vision language, and material alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Ezekiel PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Ezekiel 23:11–21
Open the official NET Ezekiel PDF ↗