Ezekiel 16:44

44 Lo! each man that saith a proverb commonly, shall take it in thee, and shall say, As the mother, so and the daughter of her. (Lo! each person who commonly saith a proverb, shall take it against thee, and shall say, As the mother, and so her 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 And mine indignation shall rest in thee, and my fervent love shall be taken away from thee; and I shall rest, and I shall no more be wroth, (And then my indignation toward thee shall rest, and my jealousy shall be turned away from thee; and I shall rest, and I shall no more be angry,)

43 for thou haddest not mind on the days of thy young waxing age, and thou stirredest me to ire in all these things. Wherefore and I gave thy ways in thine head, saith the Lord God, and I did not after thy great trespasses, in all these thine abominations. (for thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, and thou stirredest me to anger in all these things. And so I gave thy ways back upon thy own head, saith the Lord God, for thou should not do after thy great trespasses, and all these thy abominations.)

44 Lo! each man that saith a proverb commonly, shall take it in thee, and shall say, As the mother, so and the daughter of her. (Lo! each person who commonly saith a proverb, shall take it against thee, and shall say, As the mother, and so her daughter.)

45 Thou art the daughter of thy mother, that casted away her husband and her sons; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, that casted away their husbands and their sons. Thy mother is (an) Hittite, and thy father is (an) Amorite;

46 and thy greater sister is Samaria, she and her daughters, that dwell at thy left side; but thy sister less than thou, that dwelleth at thy right side, is Sodom, and her daughters. (and thy elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters, that live at thy left side, or to the north; and thy younger sister, that liveth at thy right side, or to the south, is Sodom, and her daughters.)