Ezekiel 16:2

2 "Son of man, explain Jerusalem's abominations to her.

Ezekiel 16:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 16:2

Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations.
] That is, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as the Targum; these are mentioned instead of the whole body of the people, because that Jerusalem was the metropolis of the nation, whose sins were very many and heinous: called "abominations", because abominable to God, and rendered them so to him; particularly their idolatries are meant; which, though committed by them, and so must be known to them, yet were not owned, confessed, and repented of by them, they not being convinced of the evil of them; in order to which the prophet is bid to set them before them, and show them the evil nature of them; and which he might do by writing to them, for he himself was now in Chaldea with the captives there. The Targum is,

``son of man, reprove the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and show them their abominations.''

Ezekiel 16:2 In-Context

1 The word of the Lord came to me again:

2 "Son of man, explain Jerusalem's abominations to her.

3 You are to say: This is what the Lord God says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

4 As for your birth, your umbilical cord wasn't cut on the day you were born, and you weren't washed clean with water. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.

5 No one cared [enough] about you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. But you were thrown out into the open field because you were despised on the day you were born.