Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins
The sins of Samaria, or the ten tribes, of which Samaria was the metropolis, were the worshipping of the calves at Dan and Bethel; but the gods of Judah were according to the number of their cities, and they even set up their idols in the temple of Jerusalem, ( Jeremiah 2:28 ) ( 7:30 ) ( Ezekiel 8:5 Ezekiel 8:10 Ezekiel 8:14 Ezekiel 8:16 ) ; and, besides, their sins were aggravated by the benefits privileges they enjoyed; having the temple, the place of worship, among them; the priests of the Lord to officiate for them; the prophets to instruct and teach them; and many good kings to rule over them, who encouraged them in the pure worship of God, and set them examples; as also by their not taking warning at the captivity of the ten tribes, which were some years before; so that they were guilty of great ingratitude and obduracy: but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they;
than Samaria and her daughters, or the ten tribes; or than Sodom and Samaria, since both are intended in the next clause: and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou
hast done;
justified them in what they did; countenanced them in their wickedness, by doing the same abominations, and more, and much greater; saying, in effect, that they did right in what they did; and, by exceeding them in sin, made them to appear righteous in comparison of them; and gave them an opportunity of saying, in excuse for themselves, that the men of Judah had been guilty of more and greater sins than they, and yet had not been punished as they had been.