_Cause Jerusalem to know her abominations_ Her foul sins and multiplied transgressions, especially her idolatries, or spiritual adulteries, and unexampled folly in her lewdness. “This might probably be done by way of letter, as Jeremiah signified the will of God to the captives at Babylon. God here... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem_ Unto the whole race of the Jews, and especially to the natives and inhabitants of that proud city, who thought it a singular privilege to be born or to live there, counting it a more holy place than the rest of the land of Canaan. _Thy birth and thy nativity_... [ Continue Reading ]
_As for thy nativity_, &c. “Jerusalem is here represented under the image of an exposed infant, whom God preserved from destruction, brought up, espoused and exalted in sovereignty. But she proved faithless and abandoned; and therefore God threatens her with severe vengeance, but graciously promises... [ Continue Reading ]
_None eye pitied thee_, &c. The cruelty of the Egyptians, who ought, in gratitude for the services they had received from Joseph, to have been as parents to the Israelites, seems to be here hinted at. _Thou wast cast out in the open field_ Thou wast exposed to perish. It was the custom to lay those... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when I passed by thee_ While as yet no body took so much care of thee as to wash thee from thy native filthiness, I took pity on thee; as a traveller that passes by and sees an infant lie exposed; and I provided all things necessary for thy support. God here speaks after the manner of men. _I s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now when I passed by thee_, &c. This second _passing by_ may be understood of God's visiting them in Egypt, and calling them out. _Behold, thy time_, &c. The time of thy misery was the time of my love toward thee. _And I spread my skirt over thee_ I espoused thee and took thee under my protection a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus wast thou decked with gold_, &c. With ornaments the most costly and splendid. _And thy raiment was of fine linen_, &c. Which was of the manufacture of Egypt, and one of the principal ornaments of women, as well as of great men. _Thou didst eat fine flour_, _honey, and oil_ Thy country afforded... [ Continue Reading ]
_But thou didst trust in thine own beauty_ Houbigant translates this, “But thou, trusting in thy beauty, didst play the harlot, degenerating from thy renown:” as if he had said, Thou didst abuse those honours, privileges, and advantages which I had bestowed upon thee, and didst make them an occasion... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou hast taken thy sons, &c., whom thou hast borne unto me_ Being married to me by a spiritual contract, Ezekiel 16:8. The children, with whom I blessed thee, were mine, being entered into covenant with me, as thou wast, Deuteronomy 29:11; Deuteronomy 29:22. _These thou hast sacrificed unto them t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou hast also built thee an eminent place in every street _ Manasseh filled Jerusalem with idols, 2Ch 33:4-5; 2 Chronicles 33:15; the altars of many of which were placed upon high or eminent places. _At every head of the way_ Not content with what was done in the streets of Jerusalem and other cit... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, therefore_ Open thine eyes, thou secure and foolish adulteress, see what has been done against thee, and consider it is for thy lewdness. _I have stretched out my hand over thee_ I have chastised and punished thee already in some measure. _And have diminished thine ordinary food_ Have taken... [ Continue Reading ]
_How weak is thy heart_ Not only unstable as to good resolutions, but even restless and unsettled in evil practices, still hankering after some new kind of idolatry, and resolved to indulge a wandering appetite, Ezekiel 16:28. _The work of an imperious, whorish woman_ A woman that acknowledges no su... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, I will gather all thy lovers_ Those allies, whose friendship thou hast courted, by complying with their idolatries; _with all them that thou hast hated_ As Edom, Moab, and Ammon: who were always of an envious and hostile disposition toward the Jews, and insulted over their calamities. _And... [ Continue Reading ]
_They shall bring a company against thee_ A company shall come against thee, and beat down thy walls and houses, with stones slung out of battering-engines: see Jeremiah 33:4. The expression alludes, as in Ezekiel 16:38, to the punishment inflicted upon adulteresses, which was stoning. _And they sha... [ Continue Reading ]
_Every one that useth proverbs_ They who love to apply proverbial sayings, shall apply that common saying to thee, _As is the mother, so is her daughter_ The inhabitants of Jerusalem are just such a people as the Amorites and Hittites were, whose land they inhabit. _Thou art thy mother's daughter_ T... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters_ That is, her lesser towns. “Samaria is called the _elder_, or _greater_ sister, because it was a much larger city and kingdom, greater for power, riches, and numbers of people, and more nearly allied to Judah. And Sodom is called the younger sis... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, this was the iniquity of Sodom, pride, fulness of bread_, &c. The inhabitants of Sodom “abused that plenty which God gave them to pride and idleness, which gave rise to those enormities that they afterward were guilty of. The Scripture takes notice of the fruitfulness of the soil where Sodo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Neither hath Samaria_ The kingdom of the ten tribes, founded in rebellion and idolatry; _committed half of thy sins_ The sin of Jerusalem was greater than that of Samaria, because God had placed his name and the ordinances of his worship there; and she had profaned his temple by placing idols in it... [ Continue Reading ]
_When I shall bring again the captivity of Sodom and her daughters_, &c. “Sodom and her daughters may mean cities placed in the district where Sodom stood. Sodom was not where the lake is, Genesis 19:24.” Bishop Newcome. “The Moabites and Ammonites, descended from Sodom, are called by this name.” Mi... [ Continue Reading ]
_As at the time of thy reproach_, &c. These words appear to begin a new sentence; which may be translated more intelligibly thus, by joining them to the following verse: “But when it was the time of thy becoming the reproach of the daughters of Syria,” &c. The words, with regard to what goes before,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nevertheless, I will remember my covenant with thee, in the days of thy youth_ I will yet have some regard for you, because you were formerly my people, by virtue of the covenant that I made with you at your coming out of Egypt. _And I will establish with you an everlasting covenant _ Such a one as... [ Continue Reading ]