What Does Ezekiel 16:44 Mean in the King James?
Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Hebrew repeats the root behind “proverb” in the speaker, the action, and the saying: the comparison becomes the public measure by which the daughter is judged.
THE MEANING
A familiar pattern can make you legible through the one who came before you. Here the likeness is voiced as an accusation: the daughter is measured by her mother, and the proverb turns that resemblance into a public verdict.
THE ROOT
הַמֹּשֵׁל
ha-moshel
GROWS FROM
מ־ש־ל
M-Sh-L
To compare or liken, including through a proverb or parable.
“proverb, speaks a proverb” in this verse is ha-moshel. Hebrew repeats the same root in “the proverb-speaker will speak this proverb,” where English varies the wording. The repetition makes the comparison itself feel like a verdict: it frames how the daughter is seen.
ALSO GROWS
ha-moshel: One who speaks or uses a proverb
הַמֹּשֵׁל
The saying has a speaker who brings the comparison against the daughter.
yimshol: He will speak or use a proverb
יִמְשֹׁל
The root repeats as an action, so the proverb is something done to her, not merely a saying mentioned.
mashal: Proverb, parable, comparison
מָשָׁל
The root returns in the saying itself: “As is the mother, so is her daughter.”
THE PATTERN
A child’s identity is made visible through the pattern of the one they follow.
So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.THE THREAD
What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?The same mashal root appears in another proverb that turns a parent-child relation into a verdict. Together, the verses show how a compact saying can make an inherited pattern sound settled.
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