Ezekiel 16:6-16

6 Forsooth I passed by thee, and I saw thee defouled in thy blood (and I saw thee defiled in thy own blood); and I said to thee, when thou were in thy blood, Live thou; soothly I said to thee in thy blood, Live thou.

7 I gave thee multiplied as the seed of a field, and thou were multiplied, and made great; and thou enteredest, and camest fully to women's adorning; thy teats waxed great, and thine hair waxed; and thou were naked, and full of shame. (I made thee to multiply like the seed in the field, and thou were multiplied, and made great; and thou enteredest, and camest fully to women's adorning; thy breasts grew great, and thy hair grew long; but thou were naked, and full of shame.)

8 And I passed by thee, and I saw thee, and lo! thy time, the time of lovers (yea, the time of love); and I spreaded abroad my clothing on thee, and I covered thy shame, (or thy nakedness). And I swore to thee, and I made a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou were made a wife to me.

9 And I washed thee in water, and I cleansed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

10 And I clothed thee with clothes of diverse colours, and I shodded thee in jacinth, and I girded thee with bis, [or white silk];

11 and I clothed thee with subtle things, and I adorned thee with ornament[s]. And I gave bands in thine hands (And I put bands on thy wrists), and a wreath about thy neck;

12 and I gave a ring on thy mouth, and circles to thine ears, and a crown of fairness in thine head. (and I put a ring in thy nose, and earrings on thy ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.)

13 And thou were adorned with gold and silver, and thou were clothed with bis, and ray-cloth with round images, and many colours. Thou atest clean flour of wheat, and honey, and oil, and thou were made fair full greatly; and thou increasedest into a realm (and thou hast increased into a kingdom/and thou hast become a queen),

14 and thy name went out into heathen men for thy fairness (and thy name went out to the heathen because of thy beauty); for thou were perfect in my fairness which I had set [up]on thee, saith the Lord God.

15 And thou haddest trust in thy fairness, and didest fornication in thy name; and thou settedest forth thy fornication to each that passed forth, that thou shouldest be made his (and thou hast put forth, or hast proffered, thy willingness for fornication to anyone who passed by, so that thou wouldest be made his).

16 And thou tookest of my clothes, and madest to thee high things set about on each side (And thou tookest some of thy clothes, and adornest thy high places with them put about on each side); and thou didest fornication on those, as it was not done, neither shall be done.

Ezekiel 16:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 16

In this chapter the Jewish nation is represented under the simile of a female infant, whose birth, breeding, marriage, grandeur, and conduct, are described, in order to show the wickedness and ingratitude of, his people; who, on account thereof, are threatened with judgments; though mercy is promised to a remnant that should repent. The prophet is directed to make known to Jerusalem her abominable sins, Eze 16:1,2; and, in order to this, is bid to take up the following parable of a female infant; whose descent, birth, and wretched condition, at the time of it, are pointed at, Eze 16:3-5; which are expressive of the low and forlorn estate of the Jews originally; and then follow the benefits and blessings of God bestowed upon them, both in their infant and adult state; the preserving them alive in Egypt, and their multiplication there; and afterwards the covenant made with them, when brought out from thence; and the Lord's espousal of them to himself, as his own people, having a strong affection for them, Eze 16:6-8; the large provision of good things he made for them, both in the wilderness, and especially in the land of Canaan; the riches he bestowed upon them, and the flourishing and prosperous kingdom he raised them to, which made them famous among all the nations round about them, Eze 16:9-14; and yet, after all this, such was the ingratitude of this people, as to commit spiritual whoredom, that is, idolatry, to a very great degree, Eze 16:15; which is aggravated by their converting and applying the good things which the Lord gave them to idolatrous uses, Eze 16:16-19; by sacrificing their sons and daughters to idols, which were the Lord's, Eze 16:20,21; by not calling to mind the former wretched estate out of which they were brought, Eze 16:22; by building high places in every street and way, and there committing idolatries, Eze 16:23-25; by the various nations, whose examples they followed, and with whom they joined, as the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans, Eze 16:26-29; and by the great difference between them and all other harlots, whom they exceeded, Eze 16:30-34; wherefore, on account of all this, they are threatened to be dealt with as an adulterous woman; made a spectacle of; condemned to die, to be stripped, stoned, and burned, Eze 16:35-43; and, that the Lord might appear to be just in executing such judgments on them, they are declared to be as bad as the Hittites and Amorites their parents; and worse than their sisters Samaria and Sodom; and therefore could expect to fare no better than they; and should become proverb and a byword, and bear their sins, shame, and punishment, in the sight of their neighbours, and be despised by them, Eze 16:44-59; nevertheless, the covenant of grace made with his chosen people among them should stand firm; which being manifested to them, would be a means of bringing them to a sense of sin, shame for it, and an acknowledgment of the Lord's grace and goodness to them Eze 16:60-63.