Ezekiel 23:41

41 And you sat on a magnificent couch and a table prepared {before her}, and my incense and my olive oil you put on her.

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Ezekiel 23:41 In-Context

39 and when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they came to my sanctuary on that day to profane it. And look, {this is what they did in my house}!

40 {What is worse}, they sent for men {who come} from a distant place, [to] whom a messenger [was] sent to them, and look! They came! [Men] for whom you bathed and painted your eyes, and you adorned yourself [with] an ornament.

41 And you sat on a magnificent couch and a table prepared {before her}, and my incense and my olive oil you put on her.

42 And a sound of a carefree crowd [was] with it, and in addition to [these] men, {a crowd of drunken men was brought in} from [the] desert, and they put bracelets on their arms and a crown of splendor on their heads.

43 And I said to the one worn out [with] adulteries, 'Now they will prostitute [her] [concerning] her fornication, even her.'

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "to the face of her"
• [b]. Or "it"