Ezekiel 23:41

41 They would sit on a beautiful couch, and in front of them they would have a table covered with good things, including the incense and the olive oil that I had given them.

Ezekiel 23:41 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 23:41

And satest upon a stately bed
Or honourable F7, a bed of state: either a throne, a royal seat under a canopy, on which the king of Judah sat to receive foreign ambassadors; or a stately bed at a feast, made for the entertainment of them; it being usual in the eastern nations to sit on beds at eating, to which the next clause agrees. The allusion is to a harlot sitting on a bed decked out by her to allure men to lie with her; see ( Proverbs 7:16 ) : and a table prepared before it;
before the bed, furnished with the richest provisions to treat the ambassadors with; or this may design an altar built for them to offer on it sacrifices to their idols, according to the customs of their countries: whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil;
which were the gifts of God to this people, and which they should have used in his service; but with these they treated the ministers of Heathen princes; scenting the room where they were entertained with incense, and anointing their heads and feet with oil, for their pleasure and refreshment; or they offered these on the altars of the idols to them.


FOOTNOTES:

F7 (hdwbk) "honorato", Junius and Tremellius, Polanus, Coeccius, Starckius.

Ezekiel 23:41 In-Context

39 The very day that they killed my children as sacrifices to idols, they came to my Temple and profaned it!
40 "Again and again they sent messengers to invite men to come from a great distance, and the men came. The two sisters would bathe and put on eye shadow and jewelry.
41 They would sit on a beautiful couch, and in front of them they would have a table covered with good things, including the incense and the olive oil that I had given them.
42 The sound of a carefree crowd could be heard, a group of men brought in from the desert. They put bracelets on the women's arms and beautiful crowns on their heads.
43 And I said to myself that they were using as a prostitute a woman worn out by adultery.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.