Ezekiel 16:57

Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about. BEFORE THY WICKEDNESS WAS DISCOVERED - manifested to all, namely, by the punishment inflicted on thee. AS AT THE TIME OF THY REPROACH OF ... SYRIA, AND ... THE PHILISTINES - the indignity and injuries done thee by Syria and the Philistines in the reign of Ahaz (; ; Isaiah 9:11)....

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....

THY REPROACH - Rather, the “reproach.” In his march toward Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar attacked and overthrew Damascus and other Syrian towns. The Jews exulted, not foreseeing that this was but a precursor of that ruin which should discover their own wickedness....

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

BEFORE THY WICKEDNESS WAS DISCOVERED,.... By the punishment of it, by the judgments of God brought upon them; then they were humbled, who before were proud and haughty; and might speak and think of the vengeance of God on Sodom, which before they made no mention of. It is a sad thing only to know sin, and to have it discovered only by the punishment of it: AS AT THE TIME OF [THY] REPROACH OF THE DAUGHTERS OF SYRIA, AND ALL [THAT ARE] ROUND ABOUT HER, THE DAUGHTERS OF THE PHILISTINES; this seems to refer to the times of Ahaz, when the Syrians smote the men of Judah; and carried many of them captive; and the Philistines invaded the cities of the low country, and southern parts of Judah, and took many of them, 2 Chronicles 28:5; at which time the wickedness of the Jews was discovered; and it was a plain case they had sinned against the Lord, by his suffering their e

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

DISCOVERED. unveiled. AS AT THE TIME OF THY. Septuagint and Vulgate read "as now [thou] art". Compare Ezekiel 23:43. SYRIA. Hebrew. _aram._ Some codices, with two early printed editions, read " _adam_ ". men (Daleth. D), being road for Resh. R)....

_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 REPROACH of the daughters of Syria which is that which they cast upon Jerusalem, not conversely as A.V. The "time" must be the present, not any previous time, and the language expresses this awkwardly. LXX. read: as now thou art the reproach ("now" for "time," and either finding or inserting the pron. "thou"). The rendering: before thy wickedness was discovered _as_(it is) _now_, a reproach &c. (Hitz. Corn.), is scarcely a Heb. construction. It would be easiest to change "time" into "thou" (cf. the opposite change "which" into "ten" ch....

FOR THY SISTER SODOM WAS NOT MENTIONED, &C.— _Nor shalt thou any more mention thy sister with reproach, as in the day of thy pride._ Ezekiel 16:57. _Namely, before thy wickedness was discovered; and the time of thy reproach was the same as that of the daughters of Syria, and all her neighbours, and of the daughters of the Philistines who dwell round about thee._ Ezekiel 16:58. _Thou shalt bear,_ &c. Houbigant. The exemplary punishment of Sodom was not duly considered, and spoken of, by thee in the time of thy prosperity and self-confidence; before thy humiliation shewed thy wickedness, and defeats and distresses were brought on thee by the Syrians and Philistines....