Ezekiel 16:44

44 "Behold, everyone who quotes 1proverbs will quote this proverb concerning you, saying, 'Like mother, like daughter.'

Ezekiel 16:44 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 16:44

Behold, everyone that useth proverbs
That affects a proverbial way of sneaking that is witty and facetious, and has a talent at satirizing and scoffing, as some have had; such were Lucian and others: shall use [this] proverb against thee;
signifying that the sins of the Jews should be well known and exposed, and they should become the subject of the gibes and jeers of men: saying, as [is] the mother, [so is] her daughter;
an ancient and common proverb, used to express a likeness and agreement between persons their nature and disposition, in their behaviour, conduct, and conversation. So the Targum,

``as are the works of the mother, so those of the daughter;''
the mother is the land of Canaan, and the daughter the congregation of Israel, as Kimchi. The Jews were the successors of the old Canaanites, and they imitated them in their practices; and, because both of their succession and imitation, they are called the daughter of them; a bad daughter of a bad mother.

Ezekiel 16:44 In-Context

42 "So I will calm My fury against you and My jealousy will depart from you, and I will be pacified and angry no more.
43 "Because you have not remembered the days of your youth but have enraged Me by all these things, behold, I in turn will bring your conduct down on your own head," declares the Lord GOD, "so that you will not commit this lewdness on top of all your other abominations.
44 "Behold, everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb concerning you, saying, 'Like mother, like daughter.'
45 "You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and children. You are also the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.
46 "Now your older sister is Samaria, who lives north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lives south of you, is Sodom with her daughters.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 1 Samuel 24:13; Ezekiel 12:22, 23; Ezekiel 18:2, 3

Footnotes 2

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