Ezekiel 23:34

34 You will drink it and drain [it]; then you will gnaw its broken pieces, and tear your breasts. For I have spoken. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the declaration of the Lord God .

Ezekiel 23:34 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 23:34

Thou shalt even drink it, and suck it out
The very dregs of it, that which lies at the bottom, which is the most nauseous and the most pernicious; not through love to it, but through force, shall be obliged to it; see ( Psalms 75:8 ) : and thou shall break the sherds thereof;
and suck them, so that not a drop of the liquor shall be lost; even what has penetrated into the earthen vessel, which this cup is supposed to be; and therefore it shall be broken to pieces, and these pieces sucked, that all may be got out; suggesting that there will be no abatement of the punishment, it shall be endured to the utmost: or it may be an allusion to drunkards, who, having drunk up their liquor, and become drunk, break their glasses, pots, and cups, and to which the next clause agrees: and pluck off thine own breasts;
as men in their drunken fits, being like mad men, tear their own flesh; and so the Targum paraphrases it,

``thou shall tear thy flesh;''
so the Jews, under punishment for sin, and pressed with the guilt of it, through indignation at themselves should tear their flesh, and particularly pluck off their breasts: the allusion is to fornication, to which idolatry is compared, in which those parts are particularly affected; see ( Ezekiel 23:21 ) , the Syriac version renders this and the former clause thus, "thou shall shave thine hair and cut off thy breasts"; Kimchi thinks by the "breasts" are meant the oral and written laws, which ceased in the time of the captivity; but without any foundation: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord;
and therefore it shall be done.

Ezekiel 23:34 In-Context

32 This is what the Lord God says: You will drink your sister's cup, which is deep and wide. You will be an object of ridicule and scorn, for it holds [so] much.
33 You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, with a cup of devastation and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You will drink it and drain [it]; then you will gnaw its broken pieces, and tear your breasts. For I have spoken. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the declaration of the Lord God .
35 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: "Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and promiscuity."
36 Then the Lord said to me: "Son of man, will you pass judgment against Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare their abominations to them
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