Ezekiel 16:17

17 And you took {your beautiful jewelry} [made] from my gold and from my silver that I had given to you, and you made for yourself {male images}, and you prostituted 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 'And you trusted in your beauty, and you prostituted on account of your name, and you poured out your fornication on every [one] passing by, [saying], "Let it be his."
16 And you took from your clothes and you made for yourself colorful shrines, and you prostituted on them; {this had not happened before}, and it {will not continue to happen}.
17 And you took {your beautiful jewelry} [made] from my gold and from my silver that I had given to you, and you made for yourself {male images}, and you prostituted with them.
18 And you took the clothes of your beautiful finished cloth, and you covered them and my oil and my incense you set {before them}.
19 And my bread that I gave to you, finely milled flour and oil and honey [with which] I fed you, then you set it {before them} as a {pleasing odor}, and so it was,' {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Literally "the jewelry of splendor"
  • [b]. Literally "images of a male"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.