Hesekiel 16:49

49 Siehe, das war deiner Schwester Sodom Missetat: Hoffart und alles vollauf und guter Friede, den sie und ihre Töchter hatten; aber den Armen und Dürftigen halfen sie nicht,

Hesekiel 16:49 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 16:49

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom
Namely, the first after mentioned, the source and spring of the rest; the causes and means of which are declared; and the same, as is suggested, was the sin of Jerusalem: namely, pride;
which was the sin of the devils, and the cause of their ruin; the sin of our first parents, by which they fell, and destroyed themselves, and their posterity; and is the prevailing, governing, sin of human nature: it has been the ruin of kingdoms and states, of cities and particular persons; a sin hateful to God, and destructive to man: fulness of bread;
the land of Sodom was very fruitful before it was destroyed; it was like the garden of the Lord, ( Genesis 13:10 ) ; it brought forth plentifully, so that there was great fulness of provision, of all sorts of food, which is meant by bread: this, considered in itself, was not sinful, but a blessing; it was the Lord's mercy and goodness to them that they had such plenty; but it was their sin that they abused it; luxury and intemperance, eating and drinking to excess, are here meant; which led on to that sin, and kindled the flames of it, and were the fuel to it, which has its name from them; and, besides, this fulness of good things enjoyed by them was the source of their pride, and served to increase that, as before mentioned: and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters;
or, "peace of rest" F2; prosperity and ease, security and quietness, at leisure, and without labour; two words are used to express the same thing, and to denote, as Kimchi observes, the abundance of it: sloth and idleness, as they often arise from the goodness and fruitfulness of a country, said fulness of provision, so they are the cause of much sin and wickedness; for, if persons are not employed in some business or another, either of the head or hand, they will be doing evil: neither did she strengthen the hands of the poor and needy;
though she had such abundance of food to supply them with, and so much leisure to attend to their distress; but her pride would not suffer her to do it; and she was too idle and slothful to regard such service; perhaps more is intended than is expressed; that she weakened the hands of the poor and needy, and cruelly oppressed them; which is often done by proud men, in great affluence and at leisure, which they abuse to bad purposes.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 (jqvh twlvw) "quies otii, [vel] otium quietas"; so some in Vatablus; "prosperitas otii", Castalio; "tranquillitas quietas", Starckius.

Hesekiel 16:49 In-Context

47 wiewohl du dennoch nicht gelebt hast nach ihrem Wesen noch getan nach ihren Greueln. Es fehlt nicht viel, daß du es ärger gemacht hast denn sie in allem deinem Wesen.
48 So wahr ich lebe, spricht der HERR HERR, Sodom, deine Schwester, samt ihren Töchtern hat nicht so getan wie du und deine Töchter.
49 Siehe, das war deiner Schwester Sodom Missetat: Hoffart und alles vollauf und guter Friede, den sie und ihre Töchter hatten; aber den Armen und Dürftigen halfen sie nicht,
50 sondern waren stolz und taten Greuel vor mir; darum ich sie auch weggetan habe, da ich begann dareinzusehen.
51 So hat auch Samaria nicht die Hälfte deiner Sünden getan; sondern du hast deiner Greuel so viel mehr als sie getan, daß du deine Schwester fromm gemacht hast gegen alle deine Greuel die du getan hast.
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