And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

EZEKIEL 6:9KJV
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Ezekiel 6:9 (KJV)

What does Ezekiel 6:9 mean?

Ezekiel 6:9 describes a change among Israelites who survive and are taken captive to other nations. Far from their homeland, they will remember God and come to hate the evil they have done in following idols.

God speaks through Ezekiel and describes their pursuit of idols as unfaithfulness in a close relationship. The picture of their hearts turning away and their eyes following idols shows both their inner desire and what drew their attention.

The Hebrew behind Ezekiel 6:9

  • “broken” — שָׁבַר (shavar): The word means to break or shatter. Here the KJV uses it to picture God as deeply hurt by the people’s unfaithfulness.
  • “idols” — גִּלּוּלִים (gillulim): This word refers to objects of worship and is often used in a strongly scornful way. Ezekiel’s choice of word expresses contempt for the objects the people followed.
  • “lothe” — קוּט (qut): The word carries the sense of feeling disgust. The KJV’s spelling means “loathe”: the survivors will look upon their own actions with disgust.

Why Ezekiel 6:9 matters

  • Remembering God involves more than recalling his name. In Ezekiel 6:9, remembering goes together with recognizing the evil of their own actions.
  • The verse gives personal force to the language of idolatry. God says, “I am broken,” presenting the people’s actions as something that has caused him pain.
  • The verse identifies survivors among those taken away. After the warning of destruction in Ezekiel 6:8, their presence among the nations shows that the disaster does not leave every Israelite dead.

Where else these words appear

“lothe” Hebrew H6962 · used in 7 verses

  • Psalms 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
  • Psalms 139:21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
  • Ezekiel 20:43 And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.

“escape” Hebrew H6412 · used in 21 verses

  • Genesis 14:13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.
  • Isaiah 45:20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
  • Ezekiel 7:16 But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.

“captives” Hebrew H7617 · used in 42 verses

  • Genesis 14:14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
  • 1 Kings 8:47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
  • 2 Chronicles 28:11 Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.

“idols” Hebrew H1544 · used in 45 verses

  • Leviticus 26:30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
  • Ezekiel 14:3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
  • Ezekiel 20:39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.