Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Ezekiel 23:35 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 35. 35Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The prophetic word through Ezekiel introduces or commands “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD” at Ezekiel 23:35 as “Former Allies Become Agents of Sexualized Siege Violence” develops.
Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee
This verse is one part of that explanation in Ezekiel 23:22–35. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Ezekiel 23:22–35
Read Ezekiel 23:35 with 23:22–35. By itself, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, date, exilic horizon, visionary movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: Babylonian forces and regional groups are summoned against Oholibah; mutilation, stripping, seizure, fire, and abandonment portray Jerusalem's coming defeat.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within the same chapter, this unit advances from “Oholibah Sees Yet Intensifies the Allegory's Betrayal” into “Former Allies Become Agents of Sexualized Siege Violence.” Its non-interchangeable contribution is: Babylonian forces and regional groups are summoned against Oholibah; mutilation, stripping, seizure, fire, and abandonment portray Jerusalem's coming defeat. This verse's placement is specific: The prophetic word through Ezekiel introduces or commands “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD” at Ezekiel 23:35 as “Former Allies Become Agents of Sexualized Siege Violence” develops.
Read Ezekiel 23:22–35 together
Why these verses belong together: Former allies become violent invaders in the chapter's disturbing personification.
Verse 22. 22 Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;
Verse 23. 23 The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.
Verse 24. 24 And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.
Verse 25. 25 And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
Verse 26. 26 They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
Verse 27. 27 Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.
Verse 28. 28 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated:
Verse 29. 29 And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
Verse 30. 30 I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.
Verse 31. 31 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.
Verse 32. 32 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.
Verse 33. 33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
Verse 34. 34 Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
Verse 35. 35 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
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 23:35, that bounded truth is carried through this verse's role: The prophetic word through Ezekiel introduces or commands “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD” at Ezekiel 23:35 as “Former Allies Become Agents of Sexualized Siege Violence” develops.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Ezekiel 23:22–35 — Former Allies Become Agents of Sexualized Siege ViolenceSources 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 23:22–35, 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 23:22–35
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 23:22–35
Open the official NET Ezekiel PDF ↗