Ezekiel 16:16

16 You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be.^[a]

Ezekiel 16:16 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 16:16

And of thy garments thou didst take
Which were made of fine linen, silk, and broidered work; which God had given them, and they were richly clad with: and deckedst thy high places with divers colours;
that is, with garments of divers colours; either they erected tents on their high places, made with these; or they covered their altars with them, which were on their high places for the ornament of them, as harlots deck their beds to allure their lovers; see ( Proverbs 7:16 Proverbs 7:17 ) ; or "thou hast made for thyself high places spotted" ^F4; so the word is rendered in ( Genesis 30:32 Genesis 30:33 Genesis 30:35 ) ; alluding to garments spotted with the flesh by adulterers. The Targum is, "thou hast made for thyself high places covered with idols": and so the Septuagint version renders it, "idols sewed together". The word, in the Talmudic language ^F5, has the signification of sewing. These idols were decked as children's babies are; and so the Syriac version, "thou hast made for thyself babies"; images like babies, richly dressed with their garments above described, such as the papists now have; and playedst the harlot thereon;
committed idolatry on the high places; or "with them" ^F6; that is, with the images and idols decked with their garments, which were set on those high places: [the like things] shall not come, neither shall it be [so];
the like idolatries shall set be committed any more; and after the Babylonish captivity worshipping of idols was not practised by the Jews; nor is it to this day: or such "things have not come yet", and there "shall not be" the like ^F7; the sense is, there never were such idolatries committed by this people before; and there hover shall be, or will be, the like afterwards. Kimchi's note is,

``the high places shall not come as these; as if it was said these shall not be in futurity; and there shall not be a man or a people that shall make like these for multitudes;''

so Ben Melech; and (twmb) , "high places", does agree with (twab) , "come". The Targum joins this with the preceding clause,

``"and playedst the harlot" with them, as is not right and fit''

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 (twalj twmb Kl yvetw) "et fecisti tibi excelsa maculosa", Montanus; "excelsa conspera maculis", Calvin; "latis maculis interstincta", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Polanus.
F5 T. Bab. Gittin. fol. 45. 2. Misn. Celim, c. 27. sect. 6.
F6 (Mhyle) "iisque", Ar. Interp.
F7 (hyhy alw twab al) "non eventurae sunt [tales scortationes], nec erit [qui sic scortetur]", Piscator.

Ezekiel 16:16 In-Context

14 And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD.

15 "But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his.

16 You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be.

17 You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore.

18 And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil and my incense before them.

Footnotes

• [a]. The meaning of this Hebrew sentence is uncertain