What Does Ezekiel 23:26 Mean in the King James?
They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
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
The verb translated “strip” also names a raid, so the exposure is pictured as conquest.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now in the stark image of forced exposure: others strip away your clothing and take the adornments that carry your splendor. The taking is done to you; the verse names an act of coercion that removes both covering and visible adornment.
THE ROOT
וְהִפְשִׁיטוּךְ
vehiphshitukh
GROWS FROM
פשט
p-sh-t
To strip off or make bare; in another usage, to raid or attack.
English makes “strip” sound like a single act of undressing, but this verb also describes a raid or attack. Its usage binds bodily exposure to seizure and conquest.
ALSO GROWS
pashat: Strip off clothing or armor.
פָּשַׁט
This is the action done to the person in the verse: her covering is forcibly removed.
pashat ʿal: Make a raid upon; attack.
פָּשַׁט עַל
This usage connects the bodily stripping with invasion and dispossession.
תִּפְאַרְתֵּךְ
tif'artekh
GROWS FROM
פאר
p-ʾ-r
To beautify, adorn, or bring splendor.
The phrase speaks of the articles of your splendor, so “fair jewels” carries both the ornaments and the beauty they display. The root names adornment as something visible and embodied, which the verse says can be taken.
ALSO GROWS
pe'er: Headdress or adornment.
פְּאֵר
This branch shows how the root can name a concrete ornament, not only an abstract quality.
tif'eret: Beauty, splendor, or ornament.
תִּפְאֶרֶת
This is the noun behind “fair”; the jewels are described as carrying her splendor.
THE PATTERN
Forced stripping turns another person’s vulnerability into an instrument of domination.
And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.THE THREAD
Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.Hosea uses the same root, פשט (pashat), for stripping. Here, as in Ezekiel, exposure is imposed; Hosea’s verse extends the image into abandonment and thirst.
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