What does it mean that Jerusalem is called a harlot in this passage?

Here God speaks of Jerusalem like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband. The “whoredoms” are not about physical sin but about spiritual betrayal. The people chased idols, made deals with foreign nations, and even offered their children to false gods. All of this is pictured as a wife throwing herself at many lovers instead of staying true to her husband. By using such strong words, God shows how serious idolatry is and how deeply it wounds the covenant relationship.

Why does God gather Jerusalem’s lovers against her?

The “lovers” are the nations Jerusalem trusted, such as nearby powers she courted for help and safety. Instead of trusting God, the people leaned on these alliances. God says he will gather these same nations against Jerusalem. They will strip her, destroy her high places, stone her, and burn her houses. This shows that what she trusted in will turn on her. It is God’s way of exposing her shame in public and showing that false trusts always fail in the end.

What was the sin of Sodom according to this passage?

In this passage, God explains Sodom’s sin in very clear terms: pride, plenty of food, and a lazy, careless life. Sodom did not help the poor and needy. On top of that, they were haughty and did things God calls abominations. Because of this, God took them away. This description shows that Sodom’s evil was not only about sexual sin but also about arrogance, selfish comfort, and hardness toward the weak. These attitudes opened the door to greater wickedness and judgment.

How could Jerusalem be worse than Sodom and Samaria?

God says Jerusalem has done worse because, with more light and privilege, she sinned even more. Jerusalem had God’s temple, his law, and many past mercies, yet turned to idols, cruel practices like child sacrifice, pride, and injustice. By comparison, Sodom and Samaria seem almost righteous, not because they were good, but because Jerusalem went even further. Jerusalem also judged these places but did the same or worse, so her shame is greater. The passage warns against looking down on others while hiding our own sin.

Why does God speak of stoning, swords, and burning in this judgment?

The harsh images of stoning, swords, and burning match the legal penalties for adultery and serious crimes in Israel. God is saying he will treat Jerusalem like an adulterous wife and a murderer, because of her spiritual adultery and the blood of her children given to idols. The nations will carry out this sentence by attacking and destroying the city. The language is severe to show that sin has real, painful consequences and that God’s holiness is not a small matter.

What does it mean that God’s fury and jealousy will rest?

God says that after this judgment, his fury will rest and his jealousy will depart. This does not mean he enjoys punishing, but that his anger is tied to real wrong. Once he has dealt with the sin, his burning anger against that unfaithfulness will be satisfied, and he will be quiet. It hints that judgment has a limit and that God’s goal is not endless rage, but to bring his people to the end of their idolatry so the relationship can be set right again.

What does this passage teach about forgetting the days of youth?

God reminds Jerusalem that she “has not remembered the days of thy youth.” This means the people forgot how God first showed them mercy, rescued them, and cared for them when they were weak. Forgetting led to pride, ingratitude, and chasing other gods. Remembering their early dependence on God would have kept them humble and faithful. The passage gently warns us that when we stop remembering God’s past kindness, we are more likely to wander and to think we stand on our own.

Why does God compare Jerusalem to a mother, daughter, and sisters?

The proverb, “As is the mother, so is her daughter,” shows that Jerusalem is acting like the Canaanite nations that lived in the land before her, described as Hittite and Amorite. Calling Samaria and Sodom her sisters means their sins are of the same family. At first, Jerusalem might have thought herself better than these cities, but God says she shares their character and has even gone beyond them. The family picture shows how deeply sin patterns can run when people turn from God.

What does this passage show about God’s character and justice?

This passage shows that God is patient but not indifferent. He sees idolatry, cruelty, pride, and neglect of the poor. He is jealous in the right sense, guarding the covenant relationship like a faithful husband. His judgments may seem harsh, but he says he is dealing with Jerusalem as she has done. Judgment comes with reason, not random anger. At the same time, he hints at future restoration and rest from his anger, showing that his purpose includes both justice and the hope of renewal after repentance.

Ezek.16.35

Ezekiel 16:35

KJV

¶ Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord:

Judgment on Jerusalem

¶ Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord:

Thus saith the Lord God; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;

Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.

And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.

They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.

So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord God: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.

¶ Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.

Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.

As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.

Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:

That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.

When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,

Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about.

Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the Lord.

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.