The foundling child who became the faithless wife The prophet continues to pursue his demonstration of the inevitableness of Jerusalem's destruction. In ch. 13, 14 he swept away the delusive hopes with which the prophets of Israel filled her imagination; and in ch. 15 he shewed how little the fact... [ Continue Reading ]
The exposed child rescued and adopted by Jehovah his taking to himself the family of Israel in the early patriarchal times... [ Continue Reading ]
_cause Jerusalem to know_ The object of the chapter is to impress on Israel the necessity of the Divine judgment because of her persistent idolatry through all her history (ch. Ezekiel 20:4; Ezekiel 22:2; Ezekiel 23:36). Jerusalem, which is spoken to throughout, represents the kingdom of Judah, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy birth … land of Canaan_ of THE CANAANITE. "Birth" is _origin_(ch. Ezekiel 21:30; Ezekiel 29:14), the figure being taken from a mine or a quarry, cf. Isaiah 51:1, "Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged." When Jerusalem's origin is said to be from... [ Continue Reading ]
as for _thy nativity_ The circumstances of thy birth were these, as follows. The family of Israel, represented by Jerusalem, is compared to an exposed infant, for whom the things absolutely necessary to preserve its life were not done. The reference is to the history of the family in Canaan, and in... [ Continue Reading ]
None of the offices necessary to preserve the life of the child were performed; no pitying eye looked on it, no affectionate hand did aught for it; it was even thrown out in the open field. It was too common a custom among ancient nations to expose children; among the Arabs female children were buri... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when I passed_ More pathetic in the Heb. order: and I passed by thee and saw thee. _polluted_ WELTERING; wallowing or struggling. when thou wast _in thy blood_ The meaning may be: "I said unto thee, In thy blood live!" i.e. in spite of thy blood; although unclean and loathsome, live! Jehovah'... [ Continue Reading ]
_have caused … multiply_ Lit. as marg. _made thee a myriad_. This idea of multiplication in _number_deserts the figure, introducing the notion of the numerical increase of the people (Exodus 1:7; Deuteronomy 10:22; Deuteronomy 33:17). The rest of the verse, however, continues the figure of the child... [ Continue Reading ]
The child, now an adult virgin, taken to Himself in marriage by Jehovah: the redemption of the people from Egypt, and covenant with them at Sinai to be their God 8. _Now when I passed_ Better in continuance of the historical narrative, AND I PASSED BY. _the time of love_ The outcast child was now... [ Continue Reading ]
Purifications before marriage. Whether "blood" be used somewhat generally to indicate the uncleanness of her infancy still cleaving to her, or in a more specific sense, may be uncertain (Ezekiel 16:7). Ruth 3:3; Esther 2:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
The costly clothing. _broidered work_ Psalms 45:14; Judges 5:30. The word might mean work of various colours (Exodus 26:36). So Ezekiel 16:13_; Ezekiel 16:18_. _badgers" skin_ According to most, skin of the sea-cow or manati, an animal allied to the dolphin, and found in the Red Sea. The name is fo... [ Continue Reading ]
On bracelets, cf. Genesis 24:22; Genesis 24:47. On chain or necklace, Genesis 41:42; Proverbs 1:9; Proverbs 3:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
_on thy forehead_ Rather: a ring ON THY NOSE, Isaiah 3:21. The nose-ring was a jewel placed on the outside of the nostril. Cf. Judges 8:24 (where read, nose-rings). Genesis 24:47. On earrings, Numbers 31:50. _a beautiful crown_ so ch. Ezekiel 23:42; in Isaiah 62:3 rendered "a crown of glory." The w... [ Continue Reading ]
Her delicate fare and beauty. _fine flour_ This was used in offerings at the altar (Ezekiel 16:19), and was probably the food of persons of refinement and rank. Cf. Psalms 81:16, "I should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat, and with honey out of the rock should I satisfy thee;" Psalms... [ Continue Reading ]
Her renown spread among the nations because of her beauty. In this is included partly the prosperity and success of the state, not without reference perhaps to the beauty of the city (Lamentations 2:15, the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth, Psalms 50:2), and of the land, which is oft... [ Continue Reading ]
_because of thy renown_ In the consciousness of it. The consciousness of her beauty and renown removed from her mind the sense of dependence and responsibility, and she became vain in her own imaginations. Another prophet has expressed the same idea in regard to Babylon: "Thou saidst, I shall be a l... [ Continue Reading ]
All the gifts of Jehovah to her she took and bestowed on idols: her raiment (Ezekiel 16:16_; Ezekiel 16:18_), her gold and silver (Ezekiel 16:17), and her delicate fare (Ezekiel 16:19). And as if this were a small matter, she sacrificed also the children which were Jehovah's to her idols (Ezekiel 16... [ Continue Reading ]
The wife's infidelities Israel's idolatries and idolatrous alliances with foreign nations The idolatries of Israel are represented figuratively as a wife's infidelities against her husband, as had been common in the prophets since Hosea, particularly in Jeremiah (in Isaiah only the single passage c... [ Continue Reading ]
She took of her "garments," the flax and the wool which Jehovah had given her to cover herself withal (Hosea 2:9), and made tents upon the high places for the idols which she there worshipped. For "high places" cf. ch. Ezekiel 6:3. The "high places decked with divers colours" (R. V.) might be tents,... [ Continue Reading ]
Cf. Hosea 2:8, I multiplied unto her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. _images of men_ Jerusalem being an unfaithful wife the idols are "men." The images were of gods; and this prophet probably saw little distinction between an image of Jehovah and that of any other deity. It is likely that... [ Continue Reading ]
_a sweet savour_ See on ch. Ezekiel 6:13. The words "_and_thus _it was_" emphasize what was done, with a tone of reprobation.... [ Continue Reading ]
_seq_. The sacrifice of children Jehovah is the husband of the idealized community, and the individual members are his children. Human sacrifices, though rare, were not altogether unknown in early Israel, as the instance of Jephthah proves (Judges 11). They were probably more common among the Canaa... [ Continue Reading ]
_hast … delivered them_ Or, DIDST DELIVER them up, in causing them, as R.V. The child passed into the possession of the deity when consumed in the fire.... [ Continue Reading ]
So absorbed was Jerusalem in her infidelities that she remembered nothing of her early history, "the shame of her youth," nor the compassion shewed her by Jehovah. On "polluted" cf. Ezekiel 16:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_after all thy wickedness_ The wickedness described in preceding verses as idolatries of Canaan; after this followed foreign idolatry. LXX. omits the words "woe, woe unto thee.... [ Continue Reading ]
Her infidelities with strangers from abroad, i.e. her alliances with idolatrous nations and adoption of their religious rites: Egypt (Ezekiel 16:23), Assyria (Ezekiel 16:28), and Chaldea (Ezekiel 16:29 _seq_.). Hosea already stigmatized foreign alliances as whoredoms; it is not, however, so much the... [ Continue Reading ]
_an eminent place_ The term is used of the "back," the "boss" of a buckler, and the like, and means something elevated to some extent and probably arched; R.V. marg. _vaulted chamber_. It appears to be the same thing which is called a "high place" or rather: height, or elevated place, in this verse... [ Continue Reading ]
_thy high place_ See Ezekiel 16:24. _made … to be abhorred_ This sense is doubtful; the word means to abominate, hence dishonour or disregard, or as we might say "prostitute thy beauty.... [ Continue Reading ]
Egyptian idolatry. _hast also committed_ AND thou DIDST COMMIT. The narrative tense should be used throughout. _great of flesh_ In an obscene sense. Cf. ch. Ezekiel 23:20. The expression is chosen probably to represent the brutality of the Egyptian idolatries, which in some ways were baser than th... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have stretched_ I STRETCHED … and DIMINISHED … them that HATED … WERE ASHAMED. The reference appears to be to the distant times of the Philistine supremacy in the last days of the Judges. _thine ordinary_food] Or, allotted portion, Exodus 21:10. The measure is one to which an offended husband mi... [ Continue Reading ]
Infidelity with Assyria. The historical tense "didst play" is better. Already Amos 5:26 appears to mention the names of Assyrian gods, for the passage can hardly refer to any time but his own. Jeremiah 2:18; Jeremiah 2:36.... [ Continue Reading ]
Infidelities with the Chaldeans. Past tense is better: DIDST multiply. _in the land of Canaan_ Rather: WITH (lit. unto) THE MERCHANTS" LAND, EVEN CHALDEA. Again ch. Ezekiel 17:4, the land of traffic. With similar contempt Hosea (Ezekiel 12:7) uses the term of Israel. Cf. Proverbs 31:24; Isaiah 47:1... [ Continue Reading ]
_How weak is thine heart_ i.e. how passion-sick, consumed by desire. The term "heart" (_fem_.) occurs nowhere else, and the plur. (Psalms 7:10; Proverbs 15:11) is hardly evidence for it (Ges.). LXX. renders: how shall I deal with thy daughter (exactly as Hosea 11:9 how shall I deal with thee, Ephrai... [ Continue Reading ]
Recapitulation of the acts done in her unbridled licentiousness, with the addition of a trait shewing that her dissoluteness was without parallel other harlots take hire, she gives it. _in that_thou _scornest hire_ Rather: HAST NOT BEEN AS AN HARLOT, THAT SCOFFETH AT HER HIRE (R.V. marg.), lit. in s... [ Continue Reading ]
Seems to break the connexion and has been regarded as a gloss. The words "instead of her husband" should be "under her husband," though her husband's (cf. Ezekiel 23:5, when she was mine; Numbers 5:19). The clauses are probably exclamatory: A wife that committeth adultery! though her husband's (thou... [ Continue Reading ]
_from_other _women_ Point thus: "from other women: in that thou committest whoredom, and none goeth a whoring after thee; and in that thou givest hire, and no hire is given unto thee; therefore thou art contrary." Hosea 8:9, Ephraim hireth lovers; Jeremiah 2:23-25; Jeremiah 3:1-2.... [ Continue Reading ]
Punishment of the adulterous wife, and child-murderer This punishment is described in somewhat mixed figures: first, Ezekiel 16:36, in a figure which tends to pass into a literal account of the destruction of Jerusalem; and secondly, Ezekiel 16:40, in a figure suggested by the punishment of the ord... [ Continue Reading ]
_thy filthiness_ The parallelism "nakedness" requires some such sense; and so the Jewish tradition. The Heb. is the ordinary word for "brass," but any reference to "hire" or money here is out of the question. Cf. Dukes, _Spr. d. Mischnah_, p. 37. Geiger, _Urschrift_, p. 392. Somewhat differently Fri... [ Continue Reading ]
_all thy lovers_ The heathen nations whose alliance she sought, Hosea 2:10. _taken pleasure_ Lit. to whom thou hast been pleasing or sweet with a sensual reference. _that thou hast hated_ The nations with whom no alliances were formed, such as the Philistines.... [ Continue Reading ]
_shed blood_ Reference to child murder, Ezekiel 16:20_; Ezekiel 16:36_. Cf. ch. Ezekiel 23:45; Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22. _give thee blood in fury_ Lit. make thee the blood of fury, i.e. bring on thee the bloody death which fury and jealousy executes. On cons. cf. ch. Ezekiel 26:21; Ezekie... [ Continue Reading ]
On "eminent place" and "high places," see Ezekiel 16:24. _strip thee … of thy clothes_ Reference is probably to a barbarous practice of publicly exposing the adulteress, Ezekiel 16:37. Ch. Ezekiel 23:26; Hosea 2:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a company against thee_ A congregation or public assembly of the people, at which the adulteress shall be tried and then executed; Leviticus 20:2; Deuteronomy 22:21 (cf. 1 Kings 21:9-15), Proverbs 5:8-14, I was almost in all evil (danger of death) in the midst of the congregation and assembly. The... [ Continue Reading ]
_thine houses with fire_ A summary method of punishment often adopted, as by the Philistines on Samson's father-in-law (Judges 15:6); threatened by Ephraim on Jephthah (Judges 12:1). Comp. also the summary act of Absalom against Joab for his inattention to the prince's messages (2 Samuel 14:30), cf.... [ Continue Reading ]
_make my fury … to rest_ i.e. satisfy and appease it. Cf. ch. Ezekiel 5:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse concludes the whole passage Ezekiel 16:35, summing up its meaning compendiously, cf. Ezekiel 16:22. _thou shalt not commit_ The tense is _perf._, which can hardly be taken as fut. perf., though the prophet does use the perf. in an uncommon way (ch. Ezekiel 13:11; Ezekiel 24:5). The sentenc... [ Continue Reading ]
A taunting proverb in regard to Jerusalem, the adulteress and child-murderer: she is the true daughter of her mother the Canaanite. The proverb or saying is probably to be restricted to the words: "As is her mother, so is her daughter." In Ezekiel 16:45 _seq_. the prophet speaks and addresses Jerusa... [ Continue Reading ]
_that lotheth her husband_ In the sense of the allegory "lothing her husband" should mean changing her god for another; and in the case of Jerusalem and Samaria the charge is intelligible, Jehovah being the husband (ch. 23). But such a charge could hardly be made against the Canaanites, the Hittite... [ Continue Reading ]
_elder sister_ "elder" is lit. greater, and the reference is to the greater political importance and wider territory of Samaria; as on the other hand Sodom was smaller than Judah. In estimating the quarters of the heavens the beholder faced the east, having the north on his left, &c. _her daughters... [ Continue Reading ]
_as_if that were _a very little_thing] Or temporally: _but a little while, and then_, i.e. _speedily thou wast corrupted;_though there seems no reference to any actual period of righteousness, such as the times of David. (The strange word _ḳâṭ_is utterly unknown; any connexion with Ar. ḳaṭ _only_, o... [ Continue Reading ]
The depravity of Jerusalem exceeded that of either of her sisters: Sodom (Ezekiel 16:48), Samaria (Ezekiel 16:51).... [ Continue Reading ]
Cf. Matthew 10:15; Matthew 11:24.... [ Continue Reading ]
_abundance of idleness_ PROSPEROUS EASE, as R.V., lit. prosperity of quiet. Sodom lived in security and suffered no calamities, as Jeremiah 48:11 says of Moab, "Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees; he hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone... [ Continue Reading ]
_as I saw good_ Or, WHEN I SAW it. Genesis 18:21, I "will go down and see whether they have done according to the cry which is come up unto me.... [ Continue Reading ]
_hast justified_ Jeremiah 3:11, "Backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah." The abominations of Judah set Samaria and Sodom in a comparatively righteous light.... [ Continue Reading ]
Point thus: "and thou also, which hast (in that thou hast) given judgment for (in behalf of) thy sisters, bear thy shame; through thy sins which thou hast committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous than thou." Jerusalem has "given judgment" or interposed (1 Samuel 2:25) in behalf o... [ Continue Reading ]
Sodom and Samaria shall be restored, and Jerusalem along with them. _When I shall bring again_ Rather; AND I WILL BRING AGAIN. The phrase "turn the captivity" probably means: turn the fortunes (lit. the turning) of one. _captivity of thy captives_ Most moderns by a slight change of reading after L... [ Continue Reading ]
Read: "that thou mayest bear thy shame, and be ashamed because of all that thou hast done in comforting them." Jerusalem "comforted" Samaria and Sodom in surpassing them in wickedness, and causing them to feel less their own guilt, as also in causing their restoration.... [ Continue Reading ]
_When thy sisters_ Better: AND thy sisters … AND THOU and thy daughters. In this idea of the restoration of Israel's heathen neighbours to their own land after being plucked up out of it Ezekiel as usual follows Jeremiah; cf. in general, Jeremiah 12:14-17; Moab, ch. Jeremiah 48:47, Ammon, Jeremiah 4... [ Continue Reading ]
Jerusalem did not deign to refer to Sodom on account of the wickedness and evil repute of the latter. Others interrogatively: Was not Sodom a report (a moral byword) in thy mouth? But the interrogative form is precarious.... [ Continue Reading ]
_was discovered_ i.e. manifested. According to modes of thinking then prevalent calamity was the accepted proof of wickedness. Jerusalem's wickedness was laid bare when her great calamities fell upon her, Lamentations 1:8-9. _the time of_thy _reproach_ Better, with R.V. AS AT THE TIME OF THE REPROAC... [ Continue Reading ]
This and the preceding verses assume the destruction of Jerusalem, of which the prophet was fully assured.... [ Continue Reading ]
The fall of Jerusalem, prophetically assumed in Ezekiel 16:58, is now directly threatened. On the "oath" cf. Deuteronomy 29:12; Deuteronomy 29:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Lord will substitute for the old covenant which was broken an "everlasting" covenant, cf. ch. Ezekiel 37:26; Isaiah 54:9-10; Isaiah 55:3; Jeremiah 31:35-36; Jeremiah 32:40; Jeremiah 33:20-22. The covenant will be everlasting because he will forgive their sins (Jeremiah 31:34), and write his law... [ Continue Reading ]
Sodom and Samaria, the sisters of Jerusalem, shall be restored also with her and given her for daughters. This restoration of her sinful sisters and her receiving them for daughters shall bring the sense of her own sin home to Jerusalem, and she shall be ashamed of all she has done. _not by thy cov... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will establish_ "_I_" is emphatic, in opposition to "not by thy covenant." The new covenant will shew that which Jehovah is better than all his chastisements.... [ Continue Reading ]
_when I am pacified_ Better active: when I FORGIVE THEE. The word is the technical sacrificial word to "atone" or make atonement for. It probably means to "cover," though it is no more used in the physical sense but only in reference to sins or guilt. Hence when God is the agent this covering of sin... [ Continue Reading ]