Ezekiel 23:40

Contemporary English Version

They sent messengers to attract men from far away. When those men arrived, the two sisters took baths and put on eye shadow and jewelry.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“In addition, they sent for men who came from far away when a messenger was dispatched to them. And look how they came! You bathed, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry for them.

Hebrew Names Version
Furthermore you have sent for men who come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and, behold, they came; for whom you did wash yourself, paint your eyes, and deck yourself with ornaments,

King James Version
And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,

English Standard Version
They even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments.

New American Standard Bible
"Furthermore, they have even sent for men who come from a great distance, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came—for whom you bathed, put makeup on your eyes, and adorned yourselves with jewelry;

New Century Version
"They even sent for men from far away, who came after a messenger was sent to them. The two sisters bathed themselves for them, painted their eyes, and put on jewelry.

Amplified Bible
"Furthermore, you have even sent a messenger for men to come from far away; and behold, they came—those for whom you bathed, painted your eyes, and decorated yourself with ornaments;

World English Bible
Furthermore you have sent for men who come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and, behold, they came; for whom you did wash yourself, paint your eyes, and deck yourself with ornaments,

Geneva Bible (1587)
And howe much more is it that they sent for men to come from farre vnto whom a messenger was sent, and loe, they came? for whome thou diddest wash thy selfe, and paintedst thine eyes, and deckedst thee with ornaments,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Furthermore, they have even sent for men who come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and lo, they came—for whom you bathed, painted your eyes and decorated yourselves with ornaments;

Legacy Standard Bible
"Furthermore, they have even sent for men who come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came—for whom you bathed, painted your eyes, and decorated yourselves with ornaments;

Berean Standard Bible
Furthermore, they sent messengers for men who came from afar; and behold, when they arrived, you bathed for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry.

Complete Jewish Bible
"Worse still, you sent a messenger summoning men to come from a distance; and they came. For them you washed yourself, painted your eyes, decked yourself with your finery,

Darby Translation
And furthermore, they sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thine eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments;

Easy-to-Read Version
"They have sent for men from faraway places. You sent a messenger to these men, and they came to see you. You bathed for them, painted your eyes, and put on your jewelry.

George Lamsa Translation
Also they sent for men who came from afar, to whom they had sent messengers; and, 1o, as soon as they arrived, they bathed and painted their eyes, and adorned themselves with ornaments.

Good News Translation
"Again and again they sent messengers to invite men to come from a great distance, and the men came. The two sisters would bathe and put on eye shadow and jewelry.

Lexham English Bible
What is worse, they sent for men who come from a distant place, to whom a messenger was sent to them, and look! They came! Men for whom you bathed and painted your eyes, and you adorned yourself with an ornament.

Literal Translation
Furthermore, they have sent for men to come from a distance, of whom a messenger was sent to them. And behold, they came, for whom you washed, painted your eyes, and were adorned with gems.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Besyde all this, thou hast sent yi messaungers for men out of farre coutrees: and whe they came, thou hast bathed, trymmed and set forth thy selff off the best fashion:

American Standard Version
And furthermore ye have sent for men that come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent, and, lo, they came; for whom thou didst wash thyself, paint thine eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments,

Bible in Basic English
And she even sent for men to come from far away, to whom a servant was sent, and they came: for whom she was washing her body and painting her eyes and making herself fair with ornaments.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And furthermore ye have sent for men that come from far; unto whom a messenger was sent, and, lo, they came; for whom thou didst wash thyself, paint thine eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments;

King James Version (1611)
And furthermore that yee haue sent for men to come from farre, vnto whom a messenger was sent, and loe they came; for whom thou didst wash thy selfe, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thy selfe with ornaments,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And howe much more [is it] that they sent for men to come from farre, vnto whom a messenger was sent, and lo they came? for whom thou didst washe thy selfe, and paynted thine eyes, and deckedst thee with ornamentes.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and whereas they did thus to the men that came from afar, to whom they sent messengers, and as soon as they came, immediately thou didst wash thyself, and didst paint thine eyes and adorn thyself with ornaments,

English Revised Version
And furthermore ye have sent for men that come from far: unto whom a messenger was sent, and, lo, they came; for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thine eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thei senten to men comyng fro fer, to whiche thei hadden sent messangeris. Therfor lo! thei camen, to whiche thou waischidist thee, and anoyntidist thin iyen with oynement of wymmen, and thou were ourned with wymmens atier.

Update Bible Version
And furthermore you have sent for men that come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent, and, see, they came; for whom you washed yourself, painted your eyes, and decked yourself with ornaments,

Webster's Bible Translation
And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, to whom a messenger [was] sent; and lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paint thy eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments,

New English Translation
"They even sent for men from far away; when the messenger arrived, those men set out. For them you bathed, painted your eyes, and decorated yourself with jewelry.

New King James Version
"Furthermore you sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and there they came. And you washed yourself for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments.

New Living Translation
"You sisters sent messengers to distant lands to get men. Then when they arrived, you bathed yourselves, painted your eyelids, and put on your finest jewels for them.

New Life Bible
They even sent for men who came from far away. And when they came, you washed yourselves, colored your eyes, and put on beautiful objects for them.

New Revised Standard
They even sent for men to come from far away, to whom a messenger was sent, and they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and decked yourself with ornaments;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Yea verily, that ye must needs send for men, ready to come in. from afar-in that a messenger was sent unto them. and to they came, For whom thou didst bathe thyself Paint thine eyes And deck thyself with ornaments.

Douay-Rheims Bible
They sent for men coming from afar, to whom they had sent a messenger: and behold they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, and didst paint thy eyes, and wast adorned with women’s ornaments.

Revised Standard Version
They even sent for men to come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and lo, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and decked yourself with ornaments;

Young's Literal Translation
And also that they send to men coming from afar, Unto whom a messenger is sent, And lo, they have come in for whom thou hast washed, Painted thine eyes, and put on adornment.

THE MESSAGE
"Furthermore, they even sent out invitations by special messenger to men far away—and, sure enough, they came. They bathed themselves, put on makeup and provocative lingerie. They reclined on a sumptuous bed, aromatic with incense and oils—my incense and oils! The crowd gathered, jostling and pushing, a drunken rabble. They adorned the sisters with bracelets on their arms and tiaras on their heads.

Contextual Overview

³⁶ The Lord said: Ezekiel, son of man, it's time for you to tell Oholah and Oholibah that they are guilty. Remind them of their evil ways! ³⁷ They have been unfaithful by worshiping idols, and they have committed murder by sacrificing my own children as offerings to idols. ³⁸They came into my temple that same day, and that made it unfit as a place to worship me. They have even stopped respecting the Sabbath. ⁴⁰ They sent messengers to attract men from far away. When those men arrived, the two sisters took baths and put on eye shadow and jewelry. ⁴¹ They sat on a fancy couch, and in front of them was a table for the olive oil and incense that had belonged to me. ⁴² Their room was always filled with a noisy crowd of drunkards brought in from the desert. These men gave the women bracelets and beautiful crowns, ⁴³ and I noticed that the men were eager to have sex with these women, though they were exhausted from being prostitutes. ⁴⁴ In fact, the men had sex over and over with Oholah and Oholibah, the two sinful sisters. ⁴⁵ But good men will someday accuse those two of murder and of being unfaithful, because they are certainly guilty. ⁴⁶ So I, the Lord God, now say to these sisters: I will call together an angry mob that will abuse and rob you.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

ye have: Ezekiel 23:13, Isaiah 57:9

to come: Heb. coming, 2 Kings 20:13-15

thou didst: Ruth 3:3, Esther 2:12

paintedst: Kachalt aineych rendered by the LXX וףפיגיזןץ פןץע ןצטבכלןץע ףןץ; "thou didst paint thine eyes with stibium," and Vulgate circumlinisti stibio oculos tuos "thou didst paint round thine eyes with stibium," or lead ore; whence it is called in Arabic kochl and in Syriac kecholo and koochlȯ 2 Kings 9:30, Jeremiah 4:30

and deckedst: Ezekiel 16:13-16, Proverbs 7:10, Isaiah 3:18-23

Reciprocal: Ezekiel 23:16 - and sent Hosea 2:5 - I will Hosea 2:13 - she decked 1 Peter 3:3 - that

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far,.... From Egypt, Assyria, and Chaldea, to treat with them, and enter into alliances and confederacies with them, and to join them in their idolatrous practices; these Heathen nations did not send to the Jews, but the Jews to them; they did not court their friendship and alliance, but the Jews courted theirs:

unto whom a messenger was sent; to court their favour, and solicit a confederacy, and to desire that ambassadors might be sent to reside among them:

and, lo, they came; these Heathen courts listened to the proposal, and accordingly sent their plenipotentiaries and ambassadors to them, who came in their masters' name, and with their credentials; and for the reception of whom great preparations were made, as follows:

for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments; just as harlots do to make themselves agreeable to their lovers; who use washes and paint, as Jezebel did, and dress themselves in their best clothes, and adorn themselves in the best manner they can. Harlots had their particular attire, by which they were known, Proverbs 7:10 and they not only used bagnios or baths, but washes for their face, to make them look beautiful; and particularly painted their eyes, to make them look larger; for large eyes in women, in some nations, were reckoned very handsome, particularly among the Greeks: hence Juno, in Homer d, is called

βοωπις the ox eyed, as some translate it; or rather the large eyed Juno: and the Grecian women, in order to make their eyes large, made use of a powder mixed with their washes, which shrunk their eyebrows, and caused their eyes to stand out, and look fuller and larger; and such was the paint which Pliny, e calls stibium, and says, it was by some named "platyophthalmon", because in the beautiful eyebrows of women it dilated the eyes; and it seems that painting with something of this nature was used by the Jewish women, in imitation of the Heathens, for the same purpose, especially by harlots; hence the phrase of rending the face, or rather the eyes, with paint, Jeremiah 4:30, so the Moorish women now, as Dr. Shaw f relates, to add a gracefulness to their complexions, tinge their eye lids with "alkahol", the powder of lead ore; and this is performed by first dipping into this powder a small wooden bodkin, of the thickness of a quill, and then drawing it afterwards through the eyelids, over the ball of the eye; and which is properly a rending the eyes indeed, as the prophet calls it, with powder of "pouk", or lead ore: so, for the gratifying these idolatrous ambassadors, idols were set up, altars built, and sacrifices prepared; and, in order to their public entry, and to show how acceptable they were, palaces were fitted up for them; and the streets through which they passed decorated, and all public marks of esteem and affection given them; to this the Targum seems to have respect, paraphrasing the words thus,

"and, lo, they came to the place thou hadst prepared; thou hast adorned the streets, and appointed palaces.''

d Iliad. 1. l. 550. e Nat. Hist. l. 33. c. 6. f Travels, p. 229. Ed. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The figure is that of a woman decked in all her beauty, sitting on a couch (not bed) at a banquet prepared for those whom she has invited. This further offence is not one of idolatry, but that of courting alliances with other powers which were not less readily made than broken.

Ezekiel 23:40

That ye have sent - Better, “they (i. e., Israel and Judah) sent.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 23:40. Thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments. — This is exactly the way in which a loose female in Bengal adorns herself to receive guests. She first bathes, then rubs black paint around her eyes, and then covers her body with ornaments.-WARD'S Customs.