What Does Ezekiel 16:35 Mean?
Therefore, harlot, hear and respond to the word of the LORD.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:THE KEY
The accusation is not the end of the address: the breach is named, then commanded to hear the LORD’s word.
THE MEANING
The verse confronts the reader with the direct naming of sexual betrayal and a command to hear the LORD’s word. The accusation and summons arrive together, bringing the breach into the LORD’s address.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that sexual betrayal can remain unnamed before the LORD is undone: the verse names it and speaks directly to it.
THE ROOT
זוֹנָה
zonah
GROWS FROM
זנה
to commit sexual infidelity; to practice prostitution
זוֹנָה (zonah, harlot) is a feminine form from זנה (zanah, to commit sexual infidelity or practice prostitution). Its root keeps the conduct itself visible in the address, so the accusation remains concrete as the verse calls her to hear.
ALSO GROWS
zanah: to commit sexual infidelity; to practice prostitution
זָנָה
This verb shares all three root consonants and makes the action beneath the address explicit.
zoneh: one who practices prostitution or sexual infidelity
זֹנֶה
This masculine form shares the same three root consonants, showing the verb beneath the gendered forms of the address.
שִׁמְעִי
shimʿi
GROWS FROM
שמע
to hear, listen, or heed; here, to hear and respond
“hear and respond” in this verse is shimʿi. The imperative calls for more than sound reaching the ear: it summons the addressed person to attend to the LORD’s word. The same root also gives a word for a report, linking hearing with receiving a message.
ALSO GROWS
shamaʿ: to hear, listen, or heed
שָׁמַע
This verb is the same root in its basic form, carrying the act of listening beneath the command.
shemuʿah: a report or something heard
שְׁמוּעָה
This noun shares the root consonants and names the message received through hearing.
דְּבַר
devar
GROWS FROM
דבר
word, speech, or matter
דְּבַר (devar, word) belongs to a root whose noun can also mean a matter or thing, while its verb means to speak. The LORD’s word therefore carries speech that addresses a real matter in the reader’s life.
ALSO GROWS
davar: a word, matter, or thing
דָּבָר
This noun shares the root consonants and shows the range carried by “word” in the verse.
dibber: he spoke; to speak
דִּבֵּר
This verb uses the same three consonants and connects the word being heard with the act of speaking.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s word names the breach and calls the hearer into response.
Hear and respond to the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, for the LORD has a quarrel with the ones who settle in the land, because there is no truth, nor faithful love, nor knowledge of God in the land.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
Hear and respond, O Israel. The LORD our God is one LORD.The command שְׁמַע (shemaʿ, hear and respond) comes from the same Hebrew root שמע as שִׁמְעִי (shimʿi, hear) in Ezekiel. The shared root makes Ezekiel’s closing command a summons to receive the LORD’s address with heedful attention.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us