“Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you, and anointed you with oil.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘“Then washed I you with water. Yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.
- KJV Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
- BSB Then I bathed you with water, rinsed off your blood, and anointed you with oil.
- NKJV “Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil.
- NLT “Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God washed away her blood and anointed her with oil. He cleansed and consecrated the one He had claimed.
Overview
Continuing the bridal imagery, God tenderly cleanses His bride and anoints her, signs of purification and honor. What she could never do for herself, He does freely. This points to the cleansing and sanctifying work God performs for His people, ultimately accomplished through Christ who washes the church to present her holy (Ephesians 5:26).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ruth 3:3Therefore wash yourself, anoint yourself, get dressed, and go down to the threshing floor, but don’t make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
- Ps 23:5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.
- 1 Jn 2:27As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him.
- 1 Jn 5:8the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and the three agree as one.
- 1 Cor 6:11Such were some of you, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.
- 1 Jn 2:20You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
- Ezek 16:4As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to cleanse you. You weren’t salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
- Isa 4:4when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from within it, by the spirit of justice, and by the spirit of burning.
- Ezek 36:25I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
- 1 Cor 10:2and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
- 2 Cor 1:21Now he who establishes us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God;
- Heb 9:10–14being only (with meats and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation.
- Ps 51:7Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- Rev 1:5–6and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood;
- John 13:8–10Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 16:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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