“Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,”
My Notes
What Does Ezekiel 16:20 Mean?
Ezekiel 16:20 is part of the longest sustained allegory in the Old Testament — chapter 16's extended metaphor of Jerusalem as God's adopted bride who became a prostitute. After describing how God found Jerusalem as an abandoned infant, raised her, adorned her, and married her (v. 1-14), the chapter turns to her betrayal. This verse names the most horrific expression of that betrayal.
"Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me" — the Hebrew asher yaladt li (whom you bore to me) is crucial. The children belong to God. They were born to Him within the covenant marriage metaphor. Jerusalem is not sacrificing her own possessions — she is destroying what belongs to her husband.
"And these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured" — the Hebrew vattizbachim lahem le'ekhol (you sacrificed them to them to be consumed/devoured) refers to child sacrifice, historically practiced in the worship of Molech in the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:10, Jeremiah 7:31). The language "to be devoured" (the marginal note) gives the idols an appetite — they consume children. The false gods are predatory.
"Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter" — the Hebrew hame'at mittaznuthayikh (is this a small thing from your prostitutions) is God's anguished rhetorical question. After cataloging Jerusalem's spiritual adultery, God asks: is even this not enough to get your attention? Have you become so desensitized that sacrificing children feels like just another thing?
The verse operates on multiple levels: historical (literal child sacrifice occurred in Jerusalem), metaphorical (within the marriage allegory, destroying what you and your spouse created together), and theological (giving to idols what belongs to God). At every level, the horror is the same: the most precious things, devoured by the most worthless.
Reflection Questions
- 1.God asks 'is this a small matter?' — implying Jerusalem had become desensitized. What in your life has gradually become 'normal' that should still shock you?
- 2.The children belonged to God — 'whom thou hast borne unto me.' What has God given you that you might be offering to something that devours rather than nourishes?
- 3.The idols are described as consuming — they have an appetite. What in your life consumes without giving back, yet keeps demanding more?
- 4.The most dangerous stage of idolatry is when you stop flinching. Where has your conscience grown quiet about something it used to protest?
Devotional
"Whom thou hast borne unto me." God says the children were His.
That's the phrase that makes this verse unbearable. Within the allegory — Jerusalem as God's bride — the children she sacrificed to idols were children of the marriage. They belonged to God. She took what they created together and fed it to something that would devour it.
And then God asks the question that should stop every reader cold: "Is this a small matter?"
He's asking because apparently, for Jerusalem, it had become one. The desensitization was so complete that child sacrifice was just another entry on a long list of things they did. Not shocking anymore. Not horrifying. Routine. And God is saying: has it really come to this? Have you become so numb that this doesn't register?
The principle beneath the horror is transferable. You don't have to practice literal child sacrifice to understand the pattern: taking what's most precious — what was born from your relationship with God — and offering it to something that will devour it. Your gifts. Your children's innocence. Your time. Your integrity. Your calling. The things that were born out of covenant, given to idols that consume without giving anything back.
God's question pierces: is this a small matter? Have you been offering pieces of what belongs to God to things that are eating them alive — and have you done it so long that it doesn't even register as wrong anymore?
The most dangerous stage of idolatry isn't the first sacrifice. It's the one where you stop flinching.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
That thou hast slain my children,.... By creation, as all born into the world are; and by national adoption, as all the…
Borne unto me - me is emphatic. The children of Yahweh have been devoted to Moloch. The rites of Moloch were twofold;…
In these verses we have an account of the great wickedness of the people of Israel, especially in worshipping idols,…
seq. The sacrifice of children
Jehovah is the husband of the idealized community, and the individual members are his…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture