Ezekiel 23:41

41 You took your place on a splendid couch with a richly set table in front of it, and you set my incense and my oil on it.

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.


FOOTNOTES:

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

Ezekiel 23:41 In-Context

39 When they slaughtered their children for their idols, they came into my sanctuary and made it impure on that very same day. They actually did this inside my temple.
40 They even sent for men who came from a great distance. No sooner than a messenger was sent, they arrived! For these men you bathed, you painted your eyes, and you put on your jewelry.
41 You took your place on a splendid couch with a richly set table in front of it, and you set my incense and my oil on it.
42 The sound of a noisy crowd was around her. Men from the common multitude, drinkers of wine, were brought from the desert. They put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.
43 Then I thought, For a foolish woman they become adulterers! Incited by her seduction, they prostitute themselves—for her!
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