Ezekiel 16:17

17 Thou hast taken likewise the vessels of thy beauty of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee and made to thyself images of men and didst commit whoredom with them

Ezekiel 16:17 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 16:17

Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold, and of my
silver, which I had given thee
Or "thy glorious vessels of gold and silver" F8; meaning either the vessels of gold and silver in the temple, as Jerom thinks, which they converted to idolatrous uses; or rather their own household vessels of gold and silver which God had given them, as the bounties of his providence, and he had still a right unto, and which they made use of to the dishonour of his name; which argued great ingratitude in them: and madest to thyself images of men;
images in the shape of men; some were in the shape of women, others in the shape of men; here only male images are mentioned, because the idolatrous Jews are represented by an adulterous woman committing adultery, with men; and these were made by themselves, of their jewels of gold and silver; or of their golden and silver vessels, which they had to eat and drink out of; these, they melted down and made idols of them in the form of men, just as the molten calf was made of the earrings of the women, ( Exodus 32:3 Exodus 32:4 ) ; to which some refer this passage: and as it was a piece of egregious folly in themselves to part with their jewels and plate for such purposes, and of great ingratitude to God, their benefactor, so of the grossest stupidity and ignorance to worship images so made; which was equally as stupid, or more so, than if a woman should embrace the image of a man, instead of a man himself, as it follows: and didst commit whoredom with them:
the images: that is, idolatry, which is spiritual adultery.


FOOTNOTES:

F8 (ypokmw ybhzm Ktrapt ylk) "vasa gloriae tuae de auro meo, et de argento meo", Pagninus, Montanus; "vasa tua insigniora et elegantiora, facta ex auro meo?" Vatablus.

Ezekiel 16:17 In-Context

15 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty and didst play the harlot because of thy renown and didst pour out thy fornications on every one that passed by; thou wert his.
16 And of thy garments thou didst take and make altars of divers colours and play the harlot thereupon; the like shall not come again, neither shall it be so.
17 Thou hast taken likewise the vessels of thy beauty of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee and made to thyself images of men and didst commit whoredom with them
18 And thou didst take thy garments of many colours and cover them; and thou hast set my oil and my incense before them.
19 My bread also which I had given thee; the fine flour and the oil and the honey with which I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour; and thus it was, said the Lord GOD.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010