Original Word: תַּזְנוּת
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: taznuwth
Pronunciation: taz-NOOTH
Phonetic Spelling: (taz-nooth')
KJV: fornication, whoredom
NASB: harlotries, harlotry, lust
Word Origin: [from H2181 (זָנָה - played the harlot)]

1. harlotry, i.e. (figuratively) idolatry

cut down

Or taznuth {taz-nooth'}; from zanah; harlotry, i.e. (figuratively) idolatry -- fornication, whoredom.

see HEBREW zanah

Word Origin
from zanah
Definition
fornication
NASB Translation
harlotries (14), harlotry (4), lust (1).

[תַּזְנוּת] noun feminine abstract fornication: — suffix תַּזְנוּתֵךְ Ezekiel 16:20 (Kt) Ezekiel 16:25 (Kt) Ezekiel 16:29; תַּזְנֻתֵךְ Ezekiel 16:26; תַּזְנוּתָם Ezekiel 23:8,17; תַּזְנוּתַיִךְ Ezekiel 16:15,34,36; תַּזְנֻתַיִךְ Ezekiel 16:22; תַּזְנוּתָ֑יִךְ Ezekiel 16:20 (Qr) Ezekiel 16:25 (Qr) Ezekiel 16:33; Ezekiel 23:29,35; תַּזְנוּתֶיהָ Ezekiel 23:7,8,11,14,18,19,43. These are all international mingled with religious references.

Concept and Scope

תַּזְנוּת captures the idea of harlotry—sexual or spiritual—in its most blatant, provocative form. Every one of its twenty attestations appears in the prophetic indictments of Ezekiel 16 and 23, where the prophet exposes Jerusalem (chapter 16) and the two symbolic sisters, Oholah and Oholibah (chapter 23), for covenant‐breaking infidelity toward the LORD.

Usage in Ezekiel

1. Ezekiel 16:15 launches the theme: “But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot…”. What follows is a relentless repetition of the noun, portraying a descent from initial compromise to brazen, systematized prostitution of the city’s God-given treasures (16:20, 22, 25, 26, 29, 33–36).
2. Chapter 23 resumes the vocabulary to condemn Samaria and Jerusalem. Alternating references to past behavior (23:7–11) and present defilement (23:14–19, 29, 35, 43), Ezekiel stacks the term to intensify the sisters’ guilt. Each occurrence sparks a new layer of indictment, culminating in the prophetic verdict: “Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, you must bear the punishment of your lewdness and prostitution.’ ” (23:35).

Historical Setting

• Eighth–sixth-century Judah had absorbed Canaanite cult practices. Political alliances with Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon often required ritual participation in fertility rites.
• The monarchy treated temple vessels and treasures as bargaining chips (compare 2 Kings 16:8). Ezekiel recasts these political maneuvers as whoredom, for they compromised exclusive loyalty to Yahweh.
• The exilic audience, hearing these oracles by the Kebar River, faced the temptation to reinterpret defeat as the weakness of their God. The term תַּזְנוּת, repeated like a hammer, redirected blame to Israel’s betrayal, not Yahweh’s impotence.

Theological Significance

1. Covenant metaphor: Marriage pictures Yahweh’s bond with His people (Exodus 34:14; Hosea 2:19). תַּזְנוּת names the antithesis—breaking trust for counterfeit lovers.
2. Holiness and judgment: By labeling idolatry as prostitution, Ezekiel links ritual impurity to moral treachery. Divine wrath is not capricious; it is the righteous response to covenant violation.
3. Grace implied: Even amid stinging rebuke, Ezekiel 16:60 promises, “Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth.” The exposure of תַּזְנוּת is prerequisite to restoration.

Literary Function

Repetition of the noun serves:
• Intensification—each reappearance escalates culpability.
• Rhythm—punctuating long oracles with a concrete, shocking term keeps hearers alert.
• Echo—linking separate visions (chapters 16 and 23) into a unified argument against both northern and southern kingdoms.

Implications for Ministry Today

• Idolatry is rarely overt statues; modern equivalents include materialism, sensuality, or ideologies that displace God. Naming such disloyalty in the language of תַּזְנוּת confronts its gravity.
• Pastoral care must balance exposure of sin with the offer of covenant mercy (Ezekiel 18:32).
• Discipleship calls the church to guard fidelity in worship, ethics, and doctrine, lest contemporary alliances erode singular devotion to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2-3).

Canonical Echoes

• Hosea’s lived parable (Hosea 1–3) precedes Ezekiel’s indictments, showing continuity in prophetic imagery.
• Revelation’s “great prostitute” (Revelation 17:1-5) draws on the same conceptual reservoir, signaling that spiritual harlotry remains a live threat until final judgment.
• James 4:4 distills the lesson for believers: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?”

Summary

תַּזְנוּת in Ezekiel is more than a term for vice; it is a theological spotlight exposing unfaithfulness and magnifying the holiness of the covenant LORD. The word’s concentrated use warns every generation that worship divorced from exclusive love for God devolves into betrayal—and that true restoration begins with honest recognition of such harlotry and humble return to covenant grace.

בְּתַזְנוּתַ֔יִךְ בְּתַזְנוּתַ֖יִךְ בְּתַזְנוּתָ֑ם בְּתַזְנוּתָֽיִךְ׃ בתזנותיך בתזנותיך׃ בתזנותם וְתַזְנֻתַ֔יִךְ וְתַזְנוּתָֽיִךְ׃ ותזנותיך׃ ותזנתיך מִתַּזְנוּתָֽיִךְ׃ מתזנותיך׃ תַּ֨זְנוּתֶ֔יהָ תַּזְנֻתֵ֖ךְ תַּזְנוּתֵ֛ךְ תַּזְנוּתֶ֑יהָ תַּזְנוּתֶ֔יהָ תַּזְנוּתֶ֙יהָ֙ תַּזְנוּתֶ֤יהָ תַּזְנוּתַ֛יִךְ תַּזְנוּתָֽיִךְ׃ תַזְנוּתֶ֖הָ תַזְנוּתָ֖ם תַּזְנוּתָֽיִךְ׃ תזנותה תזנותיה תזנותיך תזנותיך׃ תזנותך תזנותם תזנתך bə·ṯaz·nū·ṯa·yiḵ bə·ṯaz·nū·ṯā·yiḵ bə·ṯaz·nū·ṯām betaznuTam bəṯaznūṯām betaznuTayich bəṯaznūṯayiḵ bəṯaznūṯāyiḵ mit·taz·nū·ṯā·yiḵ mittaznuTayich mittaznūṯāyiḵ taz·nū·ṯa·yiḵ taz·nū·ṯā·yiḵ ṯaz·nū·ṯām taz·nū·ṯe·hā ṯaz·nū·ṯe·hā taz·nu·ṯêḵ taz·nū·ṯêḵ taznuTam ṯaznūṯām taznuTayich taznūṯayiḵ taznūṯāyiḵ taznuTech taznuTeha taznūṯehā ṯaznūṯehā taznuTeiha taznuṯêḵ taznūṯêḵ vetaznuTayich wə·ṯaz·nu·ṯa·yiḵ wə·ṯaz·nū·ṯā·yiḵ wəṯaznuṯayiḵ wəṯaznūṯāyiḵInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts