Ezekiel 16:4

Verse

On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.

American Standard Version (1901)

And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to cleanse thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

Bible in Basic English

As for your birth, on the day of your birth your cord was not cut and you were not washed in water to make you clean; you were not salted or folded in linen bands.

Douay-Rheims 1899

And when thou wast born, in the day of thy nativity thy navel wits not cut, neither wast thou washed with water for thy health, nor salted with salt, nor swaddled with clouts.

Free Bible Version

On the day you were born your cord was not cut, and you weren't washed to clean you up, you weren't rubbed with salt, and you weren't wrapped in cloths.

King James (Authorized) Version

And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

Translation for Translators

It is as though [MET] on the day that you were born, your umbilical cord was not cut, and your body was not washed in water, and it was not rubbed with salt or wrapped in strips of cloth, like Israeli babies always are.

Unlocked Literal Bible

On the day of your birth, your mother did not cut your navel, nor did she purify you in water or rub you down with salt, or wrap cloth around you.

Noah Webster Bible

And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee ; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

World English Bible

As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut. You weren’t washed in water to cleanse you. You weren’t salted at all, nor wrapped in blankets at all.

Young's Literal Translation

As to thy nativity, in the day thou wast born, Thou — thy navel hath not been cut, And in water thou wast not washed for ease, And thou hast not been salted at all, And thou hast not been swaddled at all.

Context

Jerusalem’s Unfaithfulness

³and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.⁴On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.⁵No one cared enough for you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. Instead, you were thrown out into the open field, because you were despised on the day of your birth.

Sermons

(Mount Vernon) the Creation in Genesis

Keith Daniel

4.7K

Summary

Ezekiel 16:4 uses the metaphor of a newborn baby abandoned in a field to depict the humble beginnings of the nation of Israel. God, in His mercy, chose to rescue and care for Israel when they were in a vulnerable state, illustrating His faithfulness and love towards His people. This verse highlights God's sovereign choice to establish a covenant with Israel, despite their unworthiness, and His commitment to nurture and bless them. It serves as a reminder of God's grace and compassion, even in the midst of Israel's unfaithfulness and sin.

Commentary

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

As for thy nativity, etc. - This verse refers to what is ordinarily done for every infant on its birth. The umbilical cord, by which it received all its nourishment while in the womb, being no longer necessary, is cut at a certain distance from the abdomen: on this part a knot is tied, which firmly uniting the sides of the tubes, they coalesce, and incarnate together. The extra part of the cord on the outside of the ligature, being cut off from the circulation by which it was originally fed, soon drops off, and the part where the ligature was is called the navel. In many places, when this was done, the infant was plunged into cold water; in all cases washed, and sometimes with a mixture of salt and water, in order to give a greater firmness to the skin, and constringe the pores. The last process was swathing the body, to support mechanically the tender muscles till they should acquire sufficient strength to support the body. But among savages this latter process is either wholly neglected, or done very slightly: and the less it is done, the better for the infant; as this kind of unnatural compression greatly impedes the circulation of the blood, the pulsation of the heart, and the due inflation of the lungs; respiration, in many cases, being rendered oppressive by the tightness of these bandages.

John Gill Bible Commentary

None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee,.... Or, "one of these" (k); not so much as one of them: sad must be the case of an infant, when it meets with no tender heart or kind hand from midwife, nurse, or mother, to do these things for it: this is expressive of the helpless, forlorn, and unpitied state of the Israelites in Egypt; who, when their lives were made bitter with hard bondage, had no mercy shown them by Pharaoh and his taskmasters, Exo 1:14. So the Targum, "the eye of Pharaoh did not spare you to do one good thing for you, to give you rest from your bondage, to have mercy on you:'' but thou wast cast out in the open field; alluding to infants exposed by their unnatural parents, or unkind nurses, and left in an open field, or any desert place, to perish for want, unless some kind providence appears for them: this open field may design the land of Egypt, whither Jacob and his posterity were, being driven out of Canaan by a famine; and where, after the death of Joseph, they were exposed to the hardships and cruelties of the Egyptians; and who, commanding their male children to be slain, doubtless occasioned the exposing of many of them, as well as Moses, to which some reference may be had; and so the Targum paraphrases it, "and he (Pharaoh) decreed a full decree to cast your male children into the river, to destroy you when you were in Egypt:'' to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born; the Israelites were loathsome to the Egyptians, as every shepherd was an abomination to them, and such were they, Gen 46:34; and all this may be applied to the state and condition of men by nature, even of God's elect, whose extraction is from fallen man; descend immediately from unclean parents; are conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity; can have no communication of grace from their parents, or others; by whom they cannot be washed from their sins, or sanctified, or clothed, or made righteous; but are in a hopeless and helpless condition; and are loathsome and abominable to God, and to themselves too, when they come to see the state they are in. (k) "unum ex istis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Polanus; "unum ex his", Pagninus, Montanus, Starckius.

Ezekiel 16:4

Jerusalem’s Unfaithfulness

Scripture
Sermons
Commentary

Berean Standard Bible

On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.

American Standard Version (1901)

And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to cleanse thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

Bible in Basic English

As for your birth, on the day of your birth your cord was not cut and you were not washed in water to make you clean; you were not salted or folded in linen bands.

Douay-Rheims 1899

And when thou wast born, in the day of thy nativity thy navel wits not cut, neither wast thou washed with water for thy health, nor salted with salt, nor swaddled with clouts.

Free Bible Version

On the day you were born your cord was not cut, and you weren't washed to clean you up, you weren't rubbed with salt, and you weren't wrapped in cloths.

King James (Authorized) Version

And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

Translation for Translators

Unlocked Literal Bible

On the day of your birth, your mother did not cut your navel, nor did she purify you in water or rub you down with salt, or wrap cloth around you.

Noah Webster Bible

And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee ; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

World English Bible

As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut. You weren’t washed in water to cleanse you. You weren’t salted at all, nor wrapped in blankets at all.

Young's Literal Translation

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Ezekiel 16:4

Verse

Context

Jerusalem’s Unfaithfulness

Sermons

Summary

Commentary

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Ezekiel 16:4

Jerusalem’s Unfaithfulness

(Mount Vernon) the Creation in Genesis

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes