Ezekiel 23:34

34 et bibes illum et epotabis usque ad feces et fragmenta eius devorabis et ubera tua lacerabis quia ego locutus sum ait Dominus Deus

Ezekiel 23:34 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 23:34

Thou shalt even drink it, and suck it out
The very dregs of it, that which lies at the bottom, which is the most nauseous and the most pernicious; not through love to it, but through force, shall be obliged to it; see ( Psalms 75:8 ) : and thou shall break the sherds thereof;
and suck them, so that not a drop of the liquor shall be lost; even what has penetrated into the earthen vessel, which this cup is supposed to be; and therefore it shall be broken to pieces, and these pieces sucked, that all may be got out; suggesting that there will be no abatement of the punishment, it shall be endured to the utmost: or it may be an allusion to drunkards, who, having drunk up their liquor, and become drunk, break their glasses, pots, and cups, and to which the next clause agrees: and pluck off thine own breasts;
as men in their drunken fits, being like mad men, tear their own flesh; and so the Targum paraphrases it,

``thou shall tear thy flesh;''
so the Jews, under punishment for sin, and pressed with the guilt of it, through indignation at themselves should tear their flesh, and particularly pluck off their breasts: the allusion is to fornication, to which idolatry is compared, in which those parts are particularly affected; see ( Ezekiel 23:21 ) , the Syriac version renders this and the former clause thus, "thou shall shave thine hair and cut off thy breasts"; Kimchi thinks by the "breasts" are meant the oral and written laws, which ceased in the time of the captivity; but without any foundation: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord;
and therefore it shall be done.

Ezekiel 23:34 In-Context

32 haec dicit Dominus Deus calicem sororis tuae bibes profundum et latum eris in derisum et in subsannationem quae es capacissima
33 ebrietate et dolore repleberis calice maeroris et tristitiae calice sororis tuae Samariae
34 et bibes illum et epotabis usque ad feces et fragmenta eius devorabis et ubera tua lacerabis quia ego locutus sum ait Dominus Deus
35 propterea haec dicit Dominus Deus quia oblita es mei et proiecisti me post corpus tuum tu quoque porta scelus tuum et fornicationes tuas
36 et ait Dominus ad me dicens fili hominis numquid iudicas Oollam et Oolibam et adnuntias eis scelera earu
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.