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Ezekiel 23:25

Old Testament Major Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Ezekiel 23:25 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal with thee in fury; they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal with thee in fury; they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
Ezekiel 23:25 — American Standard Version

Context — Ezekiel 23

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
22Therefore, O Oholibah, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy soul is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side:
23the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, [and] all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding upon horses.
24And they shall come against thee with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against thee with buckler and shield and helmet round about; and I will commit the judgment unto them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.
25And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal with thee in fury; they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
26They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
27Thus 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.
28For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy soul is alienated;
← Ezekiel 23:24Ezekiel 23:26 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee, &c.] As a jealous husband, enraged against his adulterous wife, falls upon her in his fury, and uses her with great severity; so the Jews having committed spiritual fornication, that is, idolatry, and departed from the Lord, he threatens to stir up the fury of his jealousy, and punish them severely by the Chaldeans, as follows: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears, and thy remnant shall fall by the sword; as gallants use their harlots when they leave them, or jealous husbands their adulterous wives, disfiguring them, that they may be marked and known what they are, and be despised by others; and as has…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“take away thy nose . . . ears--Adulteresses were punished so among the Egyptians and Chaldeans. Oriental beauties wore ornaments in the ear and nose. How just the retribution, that the features most bejewelled should be mutilated! So, allegorically as to Judah, the spiritual adulteress.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Take away thy nose and thine ears - Alluding to the barbarous custom of mutilating prisoners in the east Daniel 2:5. An Egyptian law prescribed this punishment for an adulteress. Fire - A mode of capital punishment Jeremiah 29:22; Daniel 3:0. return to 'Top of Page'”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“I will set my jealousy - As a jealous provoked husband, I will be as much against thee as they are. Thy residue - Either the people, who hid themselves in vaults and cellars, or what the Chaldeans cannot carry away, all this shall be devoured by fire. Ezekiel 23:29”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“23:25-29 Stripping an adulterous wife naked—to expose in public what she had done in private—was a punishment for adultery (see study note on 16:35-38). The Babylonians similarly stripped Jerusalem and Judah of everything valuable and exposed them to their own shame.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“I will set: Eze 5:13, 8:1-18, Eze 16:38-42; Exo 34:14; Deu 29:20, Deu 32:21, Deu 32:22; Pro 6:34; Sol 8:6; Zep 1:18 they shall take away: This refers to the severe vengeance which enraged husbands took on their faithless wives, and implies that God would employ the Chaldeans to destroy the princes and priests of Judah, for violating their covenants and treaties. Such punishments were anciently common; and such is the present practice in one of the South Sea Islands. they shall take thy: Eze 23:47; Hos 2:4, Hos 2:5 thy residue: Eze 15:6, Eze 15:7, Eze 20:47, Eze 20:48, Eze 22:18-22; Rev 18:8 Ezekiel 23:26”
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Related study paths

Read Ezekiel 23 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification