Ezekiel 16:11

I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. I PUT BRACELETS UPON THY HANDS - the marriage gifts to Rebekah (; ). AND A CHAIN ON THY NECK - (, "The instruction of thy father ... shall be chains about thy neck")....

1-58 In this chapter God's dealings with the Jewish nation, and their conduct towards him, are described, and their punishment through the surrounding nations, even those they most trusted in. This is done under the parable of an exposed infant rescued from death, educated, espoused, and richly provided for, but afterwards guilty of the most abandoned conduct, and punished for it; yet at last received into favour, and ashamed of her base conduct. We are not to judge of these expressions by modern ideas, but by those of the times and places in which they were used, where many of them would not sound as they do to us. The design was to raise hatred to idolatry, and such a parable was well suited for that purpose....

EXPOSITION The section on which we now enter, with its companion picture in Ezekiel 23:1; forms the most terrible, one might almost say the most repellent, part of Ezekiel's prophetic utterances. We have, as it were, his story of the harlot's progress, his biography of the Messalina of the nations. We shudder as we read it, just as we shudder in reading the sixth satire of Juvenal. The prophet speaks, like the satirist, of things which we have learnt, mainly under the teaching of Christian purity, to veil in a reticent reserve, with a Lucretian and Dante-like vividness. The nearest parallel, indeed, which literature presents to it is found in the 'Epistola ad Florentinos' of the latter poet. We need to remember, as we read it, that his standard was not ours, that those for whom he wrote had done or witnessed the things which he describes, that there was in them no nerve of

AND I DECKED THEE ALSO WITH ORNAMENTS,.... The Targum interprets this of the ornament of the words of the law; see Proverbs 1:8; but may be as well understood of good works done in obedience to them, from a right principle, and to right ends; which adorn professors of religion, their profession, and the doctrines of Christ, which they profess, 1 Timothy 2:9; or rather the graces of the Spirit, which are all of them very ornamental to the saints, as faith, hope, love, humility, c. and are in the sight of God of great price, 1 Peter 3:3 AND I PUT BRACELETS UPON THINE HANDS; which the Targum also explains of the law, written on two tables of stone, and given by the hands of Moses; the words of which, as Jarchi s

In this very remarkable chapter, God describes his ancient people Israel under the figure of an infant which had been cast away, but which he had cared for and tended, and upon which he had lavished much love, making it the object of his choice, on which his very heart was set. Yet this specially-favored one had gone astray, and committed all manner of wickedness; but for all that, the love of God had not been withdrawn. The whole chapter is a graphic picture of the way in which Israel and Judah went after false gods, and forsook the only living and true God. Ezekiel 16:1. _Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,_ This is a very necessary command, for unless men know their disease they will not apply to the great Physician. Only he who knows that he is poor will be willing to accept of alms. It is, there

Ezekiel 16:1. This chapter consists of four sections: 1. The parable of the abandoned child. 2. Jerusalem's idolatries and moral degradation (Ezekiel 16:15). 3. The doom of Jerusalem and the promise of restoration (Ezekiel 16:35). 4. The covenant remembered (Ezekiel 16:60). The parable of the abandoned child, and what the gracious Lord did for the little one is a most beautiful demonstration of what He had done in His sovereign love and grace for Jerusalem. It must be read first with this in mind. But this sweet parable illustrates also, as few other portions in the Old Testament do, the grace which the Lord bestows upon t

EZEKIEL 16. JERUSALEM THE UNGRATEFUL, THE UNFAITHFUL. Again Ezekiel returns to the indictment which justifies the doom. This time it takes the form of a merciless exposure, in allegorical form, of her sins, which, from the beginning to the end of her history, constitute one unbroken record of black apostasy. Jerusalem (or Israel) is compared to an infant girl, abandoned immediately after birth, but saved, brought up, and married by Yahweh, whose care and love she rewarded with infidelities gross and innumerable. The idea is elaborated with a detail often offensive to modern taste, but the whole passage palpitates with moral indignation and religious passion, and is not seldom dashed with the bitterest irony. EZEKIEL 16:1. Yahweh's Kindness. Jerusalem (_i.e._ Israel), Ezekiel fiercely begins, was heathen from the first, child of Amorite and Hittite parents (names intended

On bracelets, cf. Genesis 24:22; Genesis 24:47. On chain or necklace, Genesis 41:42; Proverbs 1:9; Proverbs 3:3....

B. The Marriage and Adornment 16:8-14 TRANSLATION (8) Now when I passed by You, and saw You, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread My skirt over You, and covered your nakedness; and I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you (oracle of the Lord GOD), and you became Mine. (9) And I washed you with water, and cleansed your blood from upon you, and I anointed you with oil. (10) And I clothed you with woven work, and I shod you with sealskin, and I bound you with fine linen, and I covered you with silk. (11) And I adorned you with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your hands, and a chain upon your neck. (12) And I put a ring upon your nose, and earrings upon your ears, and a beautiful turban upon your head. (13) And you were decked with gold and silver, and your garments were of fine linen, silk, and woven work; and you ate fine flour, honey and oil; and you becam...

RITUAL OF THE DAY OF ATONEMENT (See also Leviticus 23:26; Numbers 29:7; Exodus 30:10.) This solemn ceremonial took place once a year on the tenth day of the seventh month (_Tishri_ = September). It was enacted by the high priest alone, but the whole nation indicated its interest and participation in it, by resting from all manner of work, by keeping a very strict fast, and by assembling for an 'holy convocation.' The ritual of the Day of Atonement marked the culminating point of the Levitical system, and was calculated to impress the minds of the worshippers in a peculiar degree. Most of the other sacrifices and purifications were occasional and personal, but this was the yearly atonement for the n