What Does Ezekiel 36:6 Mean in the King James?

Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:

Ezekiel 36:6 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The land itself is addressed as the bearer of shame, and the LORD speaks in jealousy and fury in response to that burden.

THE MEANING

You meet this word in a world where land is addressed as a bearer of shame, not silent scenery. The LORD speaks in jealousy and fury because the land has borne the nations’ disgrace; the text leaves that anger fully named.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that shame is only private and human, while the land is a neutral backdrop and God remains untouched by what it bears.

THE ROOT

קִנְאָתִי

qin'ati

GROWS FROM

קנא

q-n-ʾ

to be jealous or zealous; ardor, intense zeal

“jealousy” in this verse is qin'ati. The root also names zeal, an intensity that refuses indifference. Here this ardor stands alongside fury over the shame the land bears, so its force remains sharp, not sentimental.

ALSO GROWS

qanaʾ: to be jealous or zealous

קָנָא

The verb shows the active intensity carried by the word for jealousy.

qannāʾ: jealous, zealous

קַנָּא

This description of the LORD shares the root and links the verse’s jealousy with a named divine quality.

נְשָׂאתֶם

nəśāʾtem

GROWS FROM

נשא

n-ś-ʾ

to lift, carry, bear

The land does not merely possess shame; it carries it as a load. The same root forms a word for burden, making the disgrace here something borne, not just felt.

ALSO GROWS

massaʾ: burden, load; also an utterance or oracle

מַשָּׂא

The burden sense makes the land’s shame legible as something it carries.

nasi: prince, chief; one raised up

נָשִׂיא

This related word carries the root’s lift or elevation sense, alongside the act of bearing.

כְּלִמַּת

kelimmat

GROWS FROM

כלם

k-l-m

to shame, humiliate, disgrace

The root includes both the act of humiliating and the state of being put to shame. The phrase names a public disgrace imposed on the land, which it is made to bear.

ALSO GROWS

kalam: to shame or humiliate

כָּלַם

This verb shows the force behind the disgrace named in the verse.

nikhlam: to be put to shame, be disgraced

נִכְלָם

This form shows the condition of the one who bears that imposed disgrace.

THE PATTERN

The natural world is addressed as a witness and participant in the human story before God.

Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Deuteronomy 32:1 · KJVThe heavens and earth are directly addressed as hearers of the spoken word.

Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together

Psalm 98:8 · KJVRivers and hills join in the expression of joy rather than remaining scenery.

For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

Romans 8:22 · KJVCreation shares the present groaning of the world and is named as a participant in its suffering.

THE THREAD

For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

Exodus 34:14 · KJV

Ezekiel locates this speech in ⁨קִנְאָה⁩ (qin’ah, jealous zeal); Exodus calls the LORD ⁨קַנָּא⁩ (qannāʾ, jealous or zealous). Their shared root connects the verse’s jealousy to the LORD’s named nature.

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