I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent ornament. Your breasts were formed, and your hair grew; yet you were naked and bare.
Parallel Translations
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I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent ornament. Your breasts were formed, and your hair grew; yet you were naked and bare.
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I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.
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I cause thee to increase, even as the growth of the field. And thou didst increase and grow up, and thou camest to excellent beauty: thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair was grown; yet thou wast naked and bare.
Cross-references (24)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 16:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 1:7 The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
- Deuteronomy 1:10 Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the sky for multitude.
- Isaiah 62:3 You will also be a crown of beauty in Yahweh‘s hand, and a royal diadem in your God’s hand.
- Ezekiel 16:10-13 I clothed you also with embroidered work, and put sealskin sandals on you. I dressed you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I decked you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands, and put a chain on your neck. I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were decked with gold and silver. Your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered work. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate.
- Genesis 22:17 that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your offspring greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gate of his enemies.
- Exodus 3:22 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing. You shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall plunder the Egyptians.”
- Exodus 12:37 The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, in addition to children.
- Deuteronomy 4:8 What great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you today?
- Deuteronomy 32:10-14 He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers. Yahweh alone led him. There was no foreign god with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock; butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. From the blood of the grape, you drank wine.
- Deuteronomy 33:26-29 “There is no one like God, Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens for your help, in his excellency on the skies. The eternal God is your dwelling place. Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust out the enemy from before you, and said, ‘Destroy!’ Israel dwells in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens drop down dew. You are happy, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellency? Your enemies will submit themselves to you. You will tread on their high places.”
- Nehemiah 9:18-25 Yes, when they had made themselves a molded calf, and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed awful blasphemies; yet you in your manifold mercies didn’t forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud didn’t depart from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither did the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go. You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn’t withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst. “Yes, forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes didn’t grow old, and their feet didn’t swell. Moreover you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you allotted according to their portions. So they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. You also multiplied their children as the stars of the sky, and brought them into the land concerning which you said to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it. “So the children went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they pleased. They took fortified cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns dug out, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled, became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness.
- Job 1:21 He said, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked will I return there. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be Yahweh’s name.”
- Psalms 135:4 For Yah has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his own possession.
- Psalms 147:20 He has not done this for just any nation. They don’t know his ordinances. Praise Yah!
- Psalms 148:14 He has lifted up the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints, even of the children of Israel, a people near to him. Praise Yah!
- Psalms 149:2-4 Let Israel rejoice in him who made them. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise his name in the dance! Let them sing praises to him with tambourine and harp! For Yahweh takes pleasure in his people. He crowns the humble with salvation.
- Song of Solomon 4:5 Your two breasts are like two fawns that are twins of a roe, which feed among the lilies.
- Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh! My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
- Ezekiel 16:16 You took some of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them. This shall not happen, neither shall it be.
- Ezekiel 16:22 In all your abominations and your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and were wallowing in your blood.
- Hosea 2:3 Lest I strip her naked, and make her bare as in the day that she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst.
- Acts 7:17 “But as the time of the promise came close which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
- Hosea 2:9-10 Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my new wine in its season, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness. Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of my hand.
- Revelation 3:17-18 Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;’ and don’t know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here what I lately touched upon is now clearly…
Here what I lately touched upon is now clearly expressed, that the people in their extreme distress were not only safe, but increased by God’s singular favor. For if the infant after exposure retains its life, it will still be a weak abortion. Hence God here by this circumstance magnifies his favor, since the people increased as if it had been properly and attentively cared for, and as if no kind office had been omitted. This is the meaning of the words they were increased; for though he looks to the propagation of Abraham’s family, yet the simile is to be observed, for the people is compared to a girl exposed in a field from its birth, and their growth took place when God increased them so incredibly, as we know. And surely God’s blessing was great when they entered Egypt, 75 in number, and were many thousands when they left it. (Acts 7:14; Exodus 12:37.) For within 250 years, the family of Abraham was so multiplied, that they amounted to 800,000 when God freed them. But since the Prophet speaks metaphorically, when he says the people were increased, and, under the image of a tender girl, until they grew up to a proper age; meanwhile he shows that this was done only by the wonderful counsel and power of God. I placed thee, says he. God claims to himself the praise for this great multiplication, and then strengthens what I have said, namely, that the people’s safety was included in that phrase live in bloods: then he says, she came into ornament of ornaments. Here עדי, gnedi, cannot mean any occasional ornament, since it is added directly, thou wast naked and bare. It follows then that it refers to personal comeliness. It means not only that the girl grew in loftiness of stature but in beauty of person. Hence elegance and loveliness are here marked, as the context shows us. Thou camest then to excellent or exquisite beauty, for we know this to be the meaning of the genitive, signifying excellence. He adds at the same time, thy breasts were made ready, for כון, kon, means to prepare, to strengthen: but as he is speaking of breasts, I have no doubt that he means them to have swelled as they ought to do. Thy breasts then were fashioned, that is, of the right size, as in marriageable girls. Thy hair also grew long. Finally, the Prophet expresses thus grossly what he could have said more concisely, in consequence of the people’s rudeness. Thy hair grew long, whilst thou wast naked and bare; that is, as yet you had no outward ornament, you was like a marriageable girl — you had great beauty of person, a noble stature, and all parts of thy body mutually accordant, but you had cause to be ashamed of thy nakedness. And such was the condition of the people since the Egyptians devised everything against them, and conspired by all means for their destruction: we see then how God stretched forth his hand not only for the people’s defense, but to carry them forth against the tyranny of Pharaoh and of all Egypt. He points out the time of their redemption as near, because the people had increased and multiplied, just like a girl who had reached her twentieth year. Now it follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 16:7 I have caused thee to multiply as…
Eze 16:7 I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: [thy] breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou [wast] naked and bare.
Ver. 7. As the bud of the field.] He prosecuteth the allegory of a miserable maiden, with whom the matter beginneth to mend. Iam enim menses patiebatur, ubera creverant et pili circa pubem; so that now she was marriageable.
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And thou art come to excellent ornaments.] Heb., To ornaments of ornaments, such as virgo nobilis, cum iam est nubilis, habet, young ladies have, when grown up especially.
Whereas thou wast naked and bare.] Heb., Nakedness and rejection. God looked upon us and loved us, whenas yet we had not a rag to our backs. Cum tu nuda esses, argue nudissima.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The Lord, who chose Abraham and his seed; by…
The Lord, who chose Abraham and his seed; by his blessing this people were increased as by millions. How inconsiderable is a clan of seventy-five persons! So many went with Jacob into Egypt, where in two hundred and fifty years they grew to six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty, beside women, and children under twenty years, and old men above sixty years old. So the promise, Gen 12:2; 15:5; 17:2,4, was fulfilled.
As the bud of the field: for multitude, they are compared to the numberless buds of the herb; for flourishing, they are like the bud in the beauty of its spring; and both include the goodness and richness of the land they dwelt in.
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Increased; grown up to maturity or full age.
Waxen great; and in stature thou hast come to full, just proportions, or grown strong, mighty, and terrible to thy neighbours who were enemies, but honourable and a defence to thy friends.
Come to excellent ornaments: as jewels and rich vestments set off a beautiful person, so the successes in enterprises, rich returns in merchandise, fruitfulness of the country itself, were the lustre of thy beauty, which all thy neighbours courted; thou wast adorned with the choicest blessings of Divine Providence.
Thy breasts are fashioned: the prophet further describes the beauty and glory of the Jewish nation, grown up and fashioned under God’s own hand, in order to be solemnly affianced to God.
Thine hair, which is an ornament when well set, whereas baldness is a deformity.
Thou wast naked and bare, i.e. when in Egypt, poor, and oppressed, and despised.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon…
Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee,.... Which the Targum refers to the Lord's appearance to Moses in the bush; See Gill on Eze 16:6;
behold, thy time was the time of love; which the Targum explains of the time of redemption of the people of Israel out of Egypt, which was an instance of the great love of God unto that people; and which time was fixed by him; and when it was come, at the exact and precise time, the redemption was wrought; see Gen 15:13; and so there is a set time for the calling and conversion of God's elect, who are therefore said to be called according to purpose; and, when that time comes, all means are made to concur to bring it about: and this is a time of love; for though the love of God to his people is before all time, yet it is manifested in time; and there are particular times in which it is expressed unto them; and the time of conversion is one of them; and indeed it is the first time that there is a manifestation and application of the love of God made to the souls of his people: and this is a "time of loves" (o); as it is in the original text; denoting the large abundance of it which is now shown forth; and the various acts of it now done; as bringing of them out of a most miserable condition, out of a horrible pit; plucking them as brands out of the burning; quickening them when dead in sin; speaking comfortably to them, and applying pardoning grace and mercy to their souls: and it may include both the love of God to his people, and their love to him; for now is the love of their espousals, and the kindness of their youth, Jer 2:2; the grace of love is now implanted, to God and Christ, to his people, word, worship, and ordinances, which before had no place in them:
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and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness; the Lord espoused the people of Israel to himself in the wilderness, after he had brought them out of Egypt, and took them under the wings of his protection; both which this phrase may be expressive of; see Rut 3:9. Some understand this of his giving them the spoils of the Egyptians, and also the law: it may very well be applied to the righteousness of Christ, which is often compared to a garment, for which the skirt, a part, is put; and this is put on as a garment, and answers all the purposes of one; and particularly covers the nakedness of men, which their own righteousness will not do; this the Lord spreads over his people, and covers them with; and being clothed with this, they shall not be found naked:
yea, I sware unto thee; to his love expressed to his people, and to his covenant he entered into with them, neither of which shall ever be removed; and this makes to their abundant comfort; see Psa 89:3;
and entered into covenant with thee, saith the Lord God; as he did with the people of Israel at Horeb, and which was a sort of a marriage contract with them; see Deu 29:1; the covenant of grace was made from everlasting with Christ, and the elect in him; but is made manifest at conversion, when the Lord makes himself known unto them as their covenant God; leads them to Christ the Mediator of it; sends his Spirit down into their hearts, to make them partakers of the grace of it; and shows them their interest in the blessings and promises of it; all which may be meant by the phrase here used:
and thou becamest mine; as Israel did at the time before mentioned, became the Lord's peculiar people, and were avouched as such by him, Exo 19:5; so, in conversion, those who before were secretly the Lord's by electing and redeeming grace, become openly his by calling and sanctifying grace.
(o) "tempus amorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, Piscator, Cocceius, Starckius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Thou art come - Thou wast adorned with the…
Thou art come - Thou wast adorned with the choicest blessings of Divine Providence. Thy breasts - Grown up and fashioned under God's own hand in order to be solemnly affianced to God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain I caused “thee to multiply as the bud of…
I caused “thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou” didst increase “and” wax “great, and thou” didst come “to excellent” beauty; “thy breasts” were “fashioned and thine hair” was grown, yet wast “thou naked and bare.” The prophet has arrived at the time at which the child grew up to maturity. God preserved the life of the infant which must without His help have died Eze 16:6; and the child grew up to womanhood, but was still desolate and unprotected. This represents the sojourn in Egypt, during which the people increased, but were not bound, as a nation, to God by a covenant.
Excellent ornaments - literally, as in the margin. Some render it: “ornament of cheeks,” i. e., beauty of face.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Woman’s. Hebrew, "the ornament of ornaments;" hadaiim instead of…
CHAPTER XVI.
Woman’s. Hebrew, "the ornament of ornaments;" hadaiim instead of harim in Septuagint, "the city of cities," (Calmet) or the highest glory, being arrived at that age when decorations are most sought after. --- Fashioned. Literally, "swelling." Septuagint, "erect." (Haydock) --- Hair, (pilus.) Women are allowed by canon law to marry at twelve. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain caused . . . to multiply--literally, "I . .…
caused . . . to multiply--literally, "I . . . made thee a myriad."
bud of . . . field--the produce of the field. In two hundred fifty years they increased from seventy-five persons to eight hundred thousand (Act 7:14) [CALVIN]. But see Exo 12:37-38.
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excellent ornaments--literally, "ornament of ornaments."
naked . . . bare-- (Hos 2:3). Literally, "nakedness . . . bareness" itself; more emphatic.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. I have caused thee to multiply — Literally,…
7. I have caused thee to multiply — Literally, I have made thee to be myriads, etc. (Exo_1:7; Deu_10:22; Deu_33:17.)
To excellent ornaments — Literally, to ornament of ornaments; to superlative grace and beauty.
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Thy breasts are fashioned,… whereas — Literally, thy breasts were fashioned,… yet. This is a vivid description in allegory of the patriarchal history and the bondage in Egypt. The nation was coming to maturity under the watch-care of the divine Friend, and yet was persisting in its idolatry (Genesis 29-31, 38).
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. have caused … multiply] Lit. as marg. made…
7. have caused … multiply] Lit. as marg. made thee a myriad. This idea of multiplication in number deserts the figure, introducing the notion of the numerical increase of the people (Exo_1:7; Deu_10:22; Deu_33:17). The rest of the verse, however, continues the figure of the child growing up to womanhood. For “myriad” LXX. has “do thou grow” (imper.). This is not natural, but probably some word signifying “growth” should be read, “I gave thee growth like the herb of the field; and thou didst grow and wax great.”
thou art come … ornaments] Thou didst come to excellent ornament, lit. ornament of ornaments. The connexion requires that “ornament” should mean graces and beauties of the person. The word has nowhere else this sense, being always employed of such ornaments as jewelry which are worn (Eze_16:11). The rendering “beauty of cheeks” (Hitz.) rests upon the supposed sense of Psa_32:9; Psa_103:5. In Isa_64:6 a word somewhat similar occurs: filthy (i.e. menstruous) garment, and several scholars (J. D. Michaelis, Cornill) assume this sense here. This requires considerable alteration of the text, which already lay before LXX. (though r was read for d, as often). Neither is Eze_16:22 in favour of it.
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are fashioned] Better past tenses: were fashioned … was grown, but thou wast.
The passage is an allegorical description of the early history of the family of Israel, their struggles for existence in Canaan, their descent into Egypt, the oppressions suffered there, and the Lord’s care and protection of them (Exo_3:7; Exo_3:9; Psa_105:12 seq.). The unattractive character of the early patriarchal history as written in Genesis is plain enough (Genesis 29-31, 38.). This unattractive character is set forth in the blood and pollution of the new-born infant, and the Lord’s care of them in their dependent and defenceless condition under the figure of his pity and adoption of the outcast child. The truth conveyed in the allegory is more delicately expressed by another writer: “The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all peoples; but because the Lord loved you” (Deu_7:7-8).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) I have caused thee.—Omit the “have,” and modify…
(7) I have caused thee.—Omit the “have,” and modify the tenses throughout the verse. “I caused thee . . . thou didst increase and wax tall . . . and came to beauty . . . were fashioned . . . was grown.” In the first clause, “caused thee to multiply,” the literal sense takes the place of the figurative; but the rest of the verse describes Israel as a young woman just growing up into the beauty of early womanhood. The phrase “excellent ornaments” is somewhat difficult; but is now generally understood as meaning literally “ornament of cheeks,” i.e., beauty. The whereas in the last clause may give the impression of a contrast between the state described and the former one of infancy; this is not intended. But the meaning is, that while Israel was thus growing into the full development and beauty of womanhood, she was still “naked and bare.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The tenses should be in the simple historic past:…
The tenses should be in the simple historic past: I caused; thou didst increase and wax great; thou attainedst, and so on (Revised Version). In the word "multiply" (Exo_1:7) the figure passes into historical reality. To excellent ornaments; Hebrew, to ornament of ornaments. The word is commonly used of jewels, trinkets, and the like. (Exo_33:4; 2Sa_1:24; Isa_49:18) So Vulgate, mundus muliebris. Here, however, the external adorning comes in vers. 10, 11, and instead of the plural we have the dual. Hitzig is, perhaps, right in taking the phrase to refer to tide beauty of the cheeks, which are themselves the ornaments of the golden prime of wroth. The LXX, following either a different reading or paraphrasing, gives, "to cities of cities." The two clauses that fellow point to the most obvious signs of female puberty. For whereas, read, with the Revised Version, yet, etc., as describing, not as the Authorized Version seems to do, a state which trod passed away, but one which still continued even when full-grown girlhood would have demanded clothing.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.