Ezekiel 16:50

Ezekiel 16:50

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

a. NLT: She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. NIV: They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. [THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.]

c. Amplified Bible: And they were haughty and committed abominable offenses before Me; therefore I removed them when I saw it and I saw fit. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Septuagint: And they boasted, and wrought iniquities before me: so I cut them off as I saw [fit].

e. Stone Edition Torah/Writings/Prophets: And they were haughty, and they committed an abomination before Me, so I removed them in accordance with what I saw. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ldt.]

1. “And they were haughty…”

a. [And they were] haughty [Strong: 1361 gâbahh, gaw-bah'; a primitive root; to soar, i.e. be lofty; figuratively, to be haughty:—exalt, be haughty, be (make) high(-er), lift up, mount up, be proud, raise up great height, upward.] [ The KJV translates Strong's H1361 in the following manner: exalt (9x), ... up (9x), haughty (5x), higher (4x), high (3x), above (1x), height (1x), proud (1x), upward (1x).]

2. “…and committed abomination before me…”

a. [and] committed [Strong: 6213  ʻâsâh, aw-saw': a primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application (as follows):--accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, X certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, + displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, + feast, (fight-)ing man, + finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, + hinder, hold ((a feast)), X indeed, + be industrious, + journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, + officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, X sacrifice, serve, set, shew, X sin, spend, X surely, take, X thoroughly, trim, X very, + vex, be (warr-)ior, work(-man), yield, use.]

b. abomination [8441 * tow’ebah] [Strong:  properly, something disgusting (morally), i.e. (as noun) an abhorrence; especially idolatry or (concretely) an idol:-- abominable (custom, thing), abomination.]

1). According to Blue Letter Bible this Hebrew word is used 117 times in the Old Testament for a variety of offenses, many of them not sexual in nature. The following are a sample.

a). Ezekiel 18:10-13 If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things,

18:11 And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour's wife,

18:12 Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination,

18:13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

b). Jeremiah 7:9, 10 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;

7:10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

2). Robert A.J. Gagnon, in his book, “The Bible And Homosexual Practice lists the following: “The “abominations” most frequently involve the worship of other gods (Deuteronomy 7:25, 26 and very often), including sacrificing one’s children to pagan gods (Deuteronomy 12:31 and often) and practicing sorcery, divination, and necromancy (Deuteronomy 18:9-12; 2 Kings 21:2, 6). The word is also used often of sexual sins: adultery (Ezekiel 18:6, 11, 15; 22:11; Jeremiah 7:9); incest (Ezekiel 22:10, 11); intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period (Ezekiel 18:6; 22:10); cross dressing (Deuteronomy 22:5); remarrying one’s divorced spouse after remarriage to another (Deuteronomy 24:4, probably an act of fraud for acquiring dowry money); and bringing a prostitute’s fee to the temple as payment of a vow (Deuteronomy 23:18)…In addition to the above, the following also constitute “abomination” in various texts: murder (Jeremiah 7:9; Ezekiel 22:6; Proverbs 6:17); swearing falsely (Jeremiah 7:9; Ezekiel 22:9, 12; Proverbs 6:19); habitual lying (Proverbs 6:16; 12:22; 26:25-28); oppressing or not aiding the poor, aliens, widows, and orphans (Ezekiel 16:47-52; 18:7, 12, 16; 22:7, 29); a “false balance” used to cheat the poor (Proverbs 11:1; 20:10. 23;) robbery, extortion, and charging interest to Israelites (Ezekiel 18:7, 8, 10-13, 16, 17; 22:12, 29; cf. Jeremiah 7:9); treating father and mother with contempt (Ezekiel 22:7); wicked people (Proverbs 3:32 and often in Proverbs); the arrogant (Proverbs 6:16; 16:5); one who creates family strife (Proverbs 6:19); “one who justifies the wicked and condemns the righteous” (Proverbs 17:15); the hypocritical, incense, sacrifice, or prayer of the wicked  (Isaiah 1:13; Proverbs 21:27; 28:9); cheating God by sacrificing an ox or sheep that has a defect (Deuteronomy 17:1); profaning the Sabbath (Ezekiel 22:8, 26); marriage to someone who worships a different god (Malachi 2:11); and putting foreigners in official positions in the temple (i.e., people without devotion to Yahweh, Ezekiel 44:6-8).”

3). It is used to designate moral offences such as the ones pointed out in Leviticus 18 concerning the customs and ordinances of the Egyptian and Canaanites. In that whole chapter God warned them not to commit any of them otherwise they too would be evicted from the land. Included was homosexual conduct.

a). Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

b). abomination [Strong: 8441 8441 tow`ebah to-ay-baw' or tonebah {to-ay-baw'}; feminine active participle of 8581; properly, something disgusting (morally), i.e. (as noun) an abhorrence; especially idolatry or (concretely) an idol:-- abominable (custom, thing), abomination.]

c. before [me] [Strong: 6440 pânîym, paw-neem'; plural (but always as singular) of an unused noun פָּנֶה pâneh; from H6437); the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.):— accept, a-(be-) fore(-time), against, anger, × as (long as), at, battle, because (of), beseech, countenance, edge, employ, endure, enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-part), form(-er time, -ward), from, front, heaviness, × him(-self), honourable, impudent, in, it, look(-eth) (-s), × me, meet, × more than, mouth, of, off, (of) old (time), × on, open, out of, over against, the partial, person, please, presence, prospect, was purposed, by reason of, regard, right forth, serve, × shewbread, sight, state, straight, street, × thee, × them(-selves), through ( -out), till, time(-s) past, (un-) to(-ward), upon, upside ( down), with(-in, -stand), × ye, × you.] [The KJV translates Strong's H6440 in the following manner: before (1,137x), face (390x), presence (76x), because (67x), sight (40x), countenance (30x), from (27x), person (21x), upon (20x), of (20x), ...me (18x), against (17x), ...him (16x), open (13x), for (13x), toward (9x), miscellaneous (195x).]

3. “…therefore I took them away as I saw good.”

a. [therefore I] took [them] away [Strong: 5493 çûwr, soor; or שׂוּר sûwr; : a primitive root; to turn off (literal or figurative):--be(-head), bring, call back, decline, depart, eschew, get (you), go (aside), X grievous, lay away (by), leave undone, be past, pluck away, put (away, down), rebel, remove (to and fro), revolt, X be sour, take (away, off), turn (aside, away, in), withdraw, be without.] [The KJV translates Strong's H5493 in the following manner: (put, take, ...) away (97x), depart (76x), remove (35x), aside (29x), take (14x), turn (12x), turn in (9x), take off (6x), go (3x), put (3x), eschewed (3x), miscellaneous (14x).]

b. as [Strong: 834 'aher ash-er' a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:--X after, X alike, as (soon as), because, X every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), X if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), X though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(- soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

c. [I] saw [good] [Strong: 7200  : a primitive root; to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative):--advise self, appear, approve, behold, X certainly, consider, discern, (make to) enjoy, have experience, gaze, take heed, X indeed, X joyfully, lo, look (on, one another, one on another, one upon another, out, up, upon), mark, meet, X be near, perceive, present, provide, regard, (have) respect, (fore-, cause to, let) see(-r, -m, one another), shew (self), X sight of others, (e-)spy, stare, X surely, X think, view, visions.] [The KJV translates Strong's H7200 in the following manner: see (879x), look (104x), behold (83x), shew (68x), appear (66x), consider (22x), seer (12x), spy (6x), respect (5x), perceive (5x), provide (4x), regard (4x), enjoy (4x), lo (3x), foreseeth (2x), heed (2x), miscellaneous (74x).]