Ezekiel 16

32. instead of her husband--referring to Numbers 5:19 Numbers 5:20 Numbers 5:29 . FAIRBAIRN translates, "whilst under her husband."

33, 34. Israel hired her paramours, instead of being, like other harlots, hired by them; she also followed them without their following her.

35. Here begins the threat of wrath to be poured out on her.

36. filthiness--literally, "brass"; metaphor for the lowest part of the person [CALVIN]. English Version is better: thy filthy lewdness is poured out without restraint (compare Jeremiah 13:27 ). As silver is an emblem of purity, brass typifies "filthiness," because it easily contracts rust. HENDERSON explains it, "Because thy money was lavished on thy lovers" ( Ezekiel 16:31 Ezekiel 16:33 Ezekiel 16:34 ).
blood of thy children--( Ezekiel 16:20 , Jeremiah 2:34 ).

37. thy lovers--the Chaldeans and the Assyrians. The law of retribution is the more signally exemplified by God employing, as His instruments of judgment on Israel, those very nations whose alliance and idols Israel had so eagerly sought, besides giving her up to those who had been always her enemies. "God will make him, who leaves God for the world, disgraced even in the eyes of the world, and indeed the more so the nearer he formerly stood to Himself" [HENGSTENBERG], ( Isaiah 47:3 , Jeremiah 13:26 , Hosea 2:12 , Nahum 3:5 ).
all . . . thou hast hated--the Edomites and Philistines; also Moab and Ammon especially ( Deuteronomy 23:3 ).
I . . . will discover thy nakedness--punishment in kind, as she had "discovered her nakedness through whoredoms" ( Ezekiel 16:36 ); the sin and its penalty corresponded. I will expose thee to public infamy.

38-40. judge thee, as women that break wedlock--( Leviticus 20:10 ; compare Ezekiel 16:2 ). In the case of individual adulteresses, stoning was the penalty ( John 8:4 John 8:5 ). In the case of communities, the sword. Also apostasy ( Deuteronomy 13:10 ) and sacrificing children to Molech ( Leviticus 20:1-5 ) incurred stoning. Thus the penalty was doubly due to Israel; so the other which was decreed against an apostate city ( Deuteronomy 13:15 Deuteronomy 13:16 ) is added, "they shall stone thee with stones and thrust thee through with . . . swords." The Chaldeans hurled stones on Jerusalem at the siege and slew with the sword on its capture.
shed blood . . . judged--( Genesis 9:6 ).
jealousy--image taken from the fury of a husband in jealousy shedding the blood of an unfaithful wife, such as Israel had been towards God, her husband spiritually. Literally, "I will make thee (to become) blood of fury and jealousy."

39. thine eminent place--literally, "fornication-chamber" a place of spiritual fornication with idols, to please the Chaldeans ( Ezekiel 23:14-17 ).
strip thee of . . . clothes--( Ezekiel 23:26 , Hosea 2:3 ). They shall dismantle thy city of its walls.
fair jewels--literally, "vessels of thy fairness" or beauty; the vessels of the temple [GROTIUS]. All the gifts wherewith God hath adorned thee [CALVIN].

40. ( Ezekiel 23:10 Ezekiel 23:47 ). Compare as to the destruction under Titus, Luke 19:43 Luke 19:44 .

41. The result of the awful judgment shall be, when divine vengeance has run its course, it shall cease.
burn--( Deuteronomy 13:16 , 2 Kings 25:9 ).
women--the surrounding Gentile nations to whom thou shalt be an object of mocking ( Psalms 137:7 ).
I will cause thee to cease . . . harlot--( Ezekiel 23:27 ). Thou shalt no longer be able to play the harlot through My judgments.
thou . . . shall give . . . no hire . . . any more--Thou shalt have none to give.

42. my fury . . . rest--when My justice has exacted the full penalty commensurate with thy awful guilt a mitigation of the penalty that is here foretold, but such an utter destruction of all the guilty that there shall be no need of further punishment [CALVIN].

43. ( Ezekiel 16:22 , Psalms 78:42 ). In gratitude for God's favors to her in her early history.
fretted me--( Isaiah 63:10 , Ephesians 4:30 ).
thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations--that is, this the wickedness (compare Zechariah 5:8 ), peculiarly hateful to God, namely, spiritual unchastity or idolatry, over and "above" (that is, besides) all thine other abominations. I will put it out of thy power to commit it by cutting thee off. FAIRBAIRN translates, "I will not do what is scandalous (namely, encouraging thee in thy sin by letting it pass with impunity) upon all thine abominations"; referring to Leviticus 19:29 , the conduct of a father who encouraged his daughter in harlotry. English Version is much better.

44. As . . . mother . . . her daughter--"Is," and "so is," are not in the original; the ellipsis gives the proverb (but two words in the Hebrew) epigrammatic brevity. Jerusalem proved herself a true daughter of the Hittite mother in sin ( Ezekiel 16:3 ).

45. mother's . . . that loatheth her husband--that is, God ("haters of God," Romans 1:30 ); therefore the knowledge of the true God had originally been in Canaan, handed down from Noah (hence we find Melchisedek, king of Salem, in Canaan, "priest of the most high God," Genesis 14:18 ), but Canaan apostatized from it; this was what constituted the blackness of the Canaanites' guilt.
loathed . . . children--whom she put to death in honor of Saturn; a practice common among the Phoenicians.
sister of thy sisters--Thou art akin in guilt to Samaria and Sodom, to which thou art akin by birth. Moab and Ammon, the incestuous children of Lot, nephew of Abraham, Israel's progenitor, had their origin from Sodom; so Sodom might be called Judah's sister. Samaria, answering to the ten tribes of Israel, is, of course, sister to Judah.

46. elder sister . . . Samaria--older than Sodom, to whom Judah was less nearly related by kindred than she was to Samaria. Sodom is therefore called her younger sister; Samaria, her "elder sister" [GROTIUS]. Samaria is called the "elder," because in a moral respect more nearly related to Judah [FAIRBAIRN]. Samaria had made the calves at Dan and Beth-el in imitation of the cherubim.
her daughters--the inferior towns subject to Samaria (compare Numbers 21:25 , Margin).
left--The Orientals faced the east in marking the directions of the sky; thus the north was "left," the south "right."
Sodom . . . daughters--Ammon and Moab, offshoots from Sodom; also the towns subject to it.

47. their abominations--Milcom and Chemosh, the "abominations of Ammon and Moab" ( 1 Kings 11:5 1 Kings 11:7 ).
corrupted more than they--So it is expressly recorded of Manasseh ( 2 Kings 21:9 ).

48. Sodom--( Matthew 11:24 ). Judah's guilt was not positively, but relatively, greater than Sodom's; because it was in the midst of such higher privileges, and such solemn warnings; a fortiori, the guilt of unbelievers in the midst of the highest of all lights, namely, the Gospel, is the greatest.

49. pride--inherited by Moab, her offspring ( Isaiah 16:6 , Jeremiah 48:26 ), and by Ammon ( Jeremiah 49:4 ). God, the heart-searcher, here specifies as Sodom's sin, not merely her notorious lusts, but the secret spring of them, "pride" flowing from "fullness of bread," caused by the fertility of the soil ( Genesis 13:10 ), and producing "idleness."
abundance of idleness--literally, "the secure carelessness of ease" or idleness.
neither did she strengthen . . . the poor--Pride is always cruel; it arrogates to itself all things, and despises brethren, for whose needs it therefore has no feeling; as Moab had not for the outcast Jews ( Isaiah 16:3 Isaiah 16:4 , Jeremiah 48:27 , Luke 16:19-21 , 5:1-5 ).

50. haughty--puffed up with prosperity.
abomination before me--"sinners before the Lord" ( Genesis 13:13 ); said of those whose sin is so heinous as to cry out to God for immediate judgments; presumptuous sins, daring God to the face ( Genesis 18:20 , 19:5 ).
I took them away--( Genesis 19:24 ).
as I saw good--rather, "according to what I saw"; referring to Genesis 18:21 , where God says, "I will go down, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto Me."

51. Samaria--the kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel less guilty than Judah; for Judah betrayed greater ingratitude, having greater privileges, namely, the temple, the priesthood, and the regular order of kings.
justified thy sisters--made them appear almost innocent by comparison with thy guilt ( Jeremiah 3:11 , Matthew 12:41 Matthew 12:42 ).

52. Thou . . . which hast judged . . . bear thine own--( Matthew 7:1 Matthew 7:2 , Romans 2:1 Romans 2:17-23 ). Judah had judged Sodom (representing "the heathen nations") and Samaria (Israel), saying they were justly punished, as if she herself was innocent ( Luke 13:2 ).
thy shame--ignominious punishment.

53. Here follows a promise of restoration. Even the sore chastisements coming on Judah would fail to reform its people; God's returning goodness alone would effect this, to show how entirely of grace was to be their restoration. The restoration of her erring sisters is mentioned before hers, even as their punishment preceded her punishment; so all self-boasting is excluded [FAIRBAIRN]. "Ye shall, indeed, at some time or other return, but Moab and Ammon shall return with you, and some of the ten tribes" [GROTIUS].
bring again . . . captivity--that is, change the affliction into prosperity (so Job 42:10 ). Sodom itself was not so restored ( Jeremiah 20:16 ), but Ammon and Moab (her representatives, as sprung from Lot who dwelt in Sodom) were ( Jeremiah 48:47 , 49:6 ); probably most of the ten tribes and the adjoining nations, Ammon and Moab, &c., were in part restored under Cyrus; but the full realization of the restoration is yet future; the heathen nations to be brought to Christ being typified by "Sodom," whose sins they now reproduce ( Deuteronomy 32:32 ).
captivity of thy captives--literally, "of thy captivities." However, the gracious promise rather begins with the "nevertheless" ( Ezekiel 16:60 ), not here; for Ezekiel 16:59 is a threat, not a promise. The sense here thus is, Thou shalt be restored when Sodom and Samaria are, but not till then ( Ezekiel 16:55 ), that is, never. This applies to the guilty who should be utterly destroyed ( Ezekiel 16:41 Ezekiel 16:42 ); but it does not contradict the subsequent promise of restoration to their posterity ( Numbers 14:29-33 ), and to the elect remnant of grace [CALVIN].

54. bear thine own shame--by being put on a level with those whom thou hast so much despised.
thou art a comfort unto them--since they see thee as miserable as themselves. It is a kind of melancholy "comfort" to those chastised to see others as sorely punished as themselves ( Ezekiel 14:22 Ezekiel 14:23 ).

56. Sodom was not mentioned--literally, "was not for a report." Thou didst not deign to mention her name as if her case could possibly apply as a warning to thee, but it did apply ( 2 Peter 2:6 ).

57. Before thy wickedness was discovered--manifested to all, namely, by the punishment inflicted on thee.
thy reproach of . . . Syria and . . . Philistines--the indignity and injuries done thee by Syria and the Philistines ( 2 Kings 16:5 , 2 Chronicles 28:18 , Isaiah 9:11 Isaiah 9:12 ).

58. borne thy lewdness--that is, the punishment of it ( Ezekiel 23:49 ). I do not treat thee with excessive rigor. Thy sin and punishment are exactly commensurate.

59. the oath--the covenant between God and Israel ( Deuteronomy 29:12 Deuteronomy 29:14 ). As thou hast despised it, so will I despise thee. No covenant is one-sided; where Israel broke faith, God's promise of favor ceased.

60. The promise here bursts forth unexpectedly like the sun from the dark clouds. With all her forgetfulness of God, God still remembers her; showing that her redemption is altogether of grace. Contrast "I will remember," with "thou hast not remembered" ( Ezekiel 16:22 Ezekiel 16:43 ); also "My covenant," with "Thy covenant" ( Ezekiel 16:61 , Psalms 106:45 ); then the effect produced on her is ( Ezekiel 16:63 ) "that thou mayest remember." God's promise was one of promise and of grace. The law, in its letter, was Israel's (thy) covenant, and in this restricted view was long subsequent ( Galatians 3:17 ). Israel interpreted it as a covenant of works, which she while boasting of, failed to fulfil, and so fell under its condemnation ( 2 Corinthians 3:3 2 Corinthians 3:6 ). The law, in its spirit, contains the germ of the Gospel; the New Testament is the full development of the Old, the husk of the outer form being laid aside when the inner spirit was fulfilled in Messiah. God's covenant with Israel, in the person of Abraham, was the reason why, notwithstanding all her guilt, mercy was, and is, in store for her. Therefore the heathen or Gentile nations must come to her for blessings, not she to them.
everlasting covenant--( Ezekiel 37:26 , 2 Samuel 23:5 , Isaiah 55:3 ). The temporary forms of the law were to be laid aside, that in its permanent and "everlasting" spirit it might be established ( Jeremiah 31:31-37 , 32:40 , Jeremiah 50:4 Jeremiah 50:5 , Hebrews 8:8-13 ).

61. thou shalt remember--It is God who first remembers her before she remembers Him and her own ways before Him ( Ezekiel 16:60 , Ezekiel 20:43 , 36:31 ).
ashamed--the fruit of repentance ( 2 Corinthians 7:10 2 Corinthians 7:11 ). None please God unless those who displease themselves; a foretaste of the Gospel ( Luke 18:9-14 ).
I will give them unto thee for daughters--( Isaiah 54:1 , Isaiah 60:3 Isaiah 60:4 , Galatians 4:26 , &c.). All the heathen nations, not merely Sodom and Samaria, are meant by "thy sisters, elder and younger." In Jerusalem first, individual believers were gathered into the elect Church. From Jerusalem the Gospel went forth to gather in individuals of the Gentiles; and Judah with Jerusalem shall also be the first nation which, as such, shall be converted to Christ; and to her the other nations shall attach themselves as believers in Messiah, Jerusalem's King ( Psalms 110:2 , Isaiah 2:2 Isaiah 2:3 ). "The king's daughter" in Psalms 45:12-14 is Judah; her "companions," as "the daughter of Tyre," are the nations given to her as converts, here called "daughters."
not by thy covenant--This does not set aside the Old Testament in its spirit, but in its mere letter on which the Jews had rested, while they broke it: the latter ("thy covenant") was to give place to God's covenant of grace and promise in Christ who "fulfilled" the law. God means, "not that thou on thy part hast stood to the covenant, but that 'I am the Lord, I change not' ( Malachi 3:6 ) from My original love to thee in thy youth" (see Romans 3:3 ).

62. ( Hosea 2:19 Hosea 2:20 ).
thou shalt know that I am the Lord--not, as elsewhere, by the judgments falling on thee, but by My so marvellously restoring thee through grace.

63. never open thy mouth--in vindication, or even palliation, of thyself, or expostulation with God for His dealings ( Romans 3:19 ), when thou seest thine own exceeding unworthiness, and My superabounding grace which has so wonderfully overcome with love thy sin ( Romans 5:20 ). "If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged" ( 1 Corinthians 11:31 ).
all that thou hast done--enhancing the grace of God which has pardoned so many and so great sins. Nothing so melts into love and humility as the sense of the riches of God's pardoning grace ( Luke 7:47 ).