Ezekiel 16:29

29 You were also a prostitute for the Babylonians, that nation of merchants, but they didn't satisfy you either."

Ezekiel 16:29 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 16:29

Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of
Canaan
Or, "with the land of Canaan" ^F12; with the inhabitants of it, doing the same evils, committing the same idolatries, as the old inhabitants of Canaan did; and so the Targum,

``and thou hast multiplied thine idols, that thou mightest be joined to the people of Canaan:''

or, "to the land of Canaan" ^F13; like to the land of Canaan; according to the abominations of the Canaanites, doing as they did. Jarchi takes the word Canaan to signify a "merchant", as it does in ( Hosea 12:7 ) ; and the land of Canaan to be the same with the land of Chaldea, called a land of traffic, and Babylon the city of merchants, ( Ezekiel 17:4 ) ; since it follows, unto Chaldea:
but the sense is, that the Jews were not content with the idolatries in the land of Canaan, but sent even to Chaldea, a remote country, to fetch new idols from thence; see ( Ezekiel 23:14-16 ) . The Targum is,

``to walk in the laws of the Chaldeans;''

their religious ones, their rites and ceremonies respecting idolatrous worship: and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith;
but still wanted other idols and modes of worship; not being content with the gods of the Egyptians, nor of the Assyrians, nor of the Canaanites, nor of the Chaldeans.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 (Nenk Ura la) "cum terra Canaan", Munster, so some in Vatablus, Tigurine version, Noldius, p. 39. No. 288.
F13 "ad terram Canaan", so some in Vatablus. Approved by Kimchi and Ben Melech.

Ezekiel 16:29 In-Context

27 "Now I have raised my hand to punish you and to take away your share of my blessing. I have handed you over to the Philistines, who hate you and are disgusted with your immoral actions.

28 "Because you were not satisfied by the others, you went running after the Assyrians. You were their prostitute, but they didn't satisfy you either.

29 You were also a prostitute for the Babylonians, that nation of merchants, but they didn't satisfy you either."

30 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "You have done all this like a shameless prostitute.

31 On every street you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. But you are not out for money like a common prostitute.