Ezekiel 23

— in their youth.] The time when the Israelites were in Egypt, or were lately departed out of it, is called their “youth” in the Prophets, because that was the time when God first owned them for his people. See ver. 8. 19; chap. xvi. 8. 22; Jer. ii. 2; Hos. ii. 15. W. Louth.

— horsemen riding upon horses.] Horses were scarce in Judea, which made the Jews, in proportion as they renounced their dependence upon Heaven, apply themselves to the neighbouring countries for troops of horse, in the time of any hostile invasion, Isa. xxx. 16; xxxi. 1. W. Louth.

Ezekiel 23:3

3. — Set on a pot,] If this figure should appear to any one undignified, let him remember that it bears allusion to the sacred rites of the temple, and therefore nothing low or mean was associated with it in the ideas of the Jews, to whom the prophecy was directed. Bp. Louth. The destruction of Jerusalem is represented by a boiling pot or caldron, Jer. i. 13; Ezek. xi. 3. W. Louth.

Ezekiel 23:4

4. And the names of them were Aholah the elder, &c.] Both of these divided people had their names from a tent, or tabernacle. Israel, which is the greater part of the ten tribes, is Aholah, “her own tabernacle,” which she would needs erect according to her own device, to draw away clients from my temple. Judah is Aholibah, “my tent or tabernacle in her;” because of the place of my worship settled there. Bp. Hall.

5. — the choice bones.] The choice joints. These represent the great men of Jerusalem. Abp. Newcome.

Ezekiel 23:5

5. — when she was mine;] When she was under my dominion. Houbigant. While she professed to be mine. Bp. Hall.

— on the Assyrians her neighbours.] The king of Assyria was a very powerful prince, and therefore his alliance was courted both by the kings of Israel and Judah, 2 Kings xv. 29; xvi. 7; and ver. 12 of this chapter. W. Louth.

The Assyrians taught them the worship of Baal, and inspired them with the rage for making sacrifices upon high places. Calmet.

5. Take the choice of the flock,] This belongs in sense to the former verse. W. Lowth. — burn also the bones under it,] The bones of those who have been unjustly slain in the midst of the city: see chap. xi. 7. W. Lowth. Place the bones at the bottom of the pot under the flesh. Calmet.

Ezekiel 23:6

6. — clothed with blue.] The Chaldeans, the Assyrians, and the Persians, chiefly admired the colour of purple and hyacinth. Dresses of these colours were reserved for the prince and the great lords, and one of the most distinguished rewards for merit and service was the permission to wear them. Calmet. See Nahum ii. 3.

they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became † famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.

6. — Woe to the bloody city.] This is the common character of Jerusalem. So she had made herself, partly by the blood of the Prophets, partly by the blood of innocents offered in the sacrifices of her idols, partly in the violences and outrages which the higher sort committed upon the meaner people. Reading. — whose scum is therein.] Scum denotes filthiness. Jerusalem is the boiling pot, which is not purged from its foul sins: the flesh and bones are the Jews which have fled hither for safety. Bp. Hall. — bring it out piece by piece:] Put thou in thy hook and bring out the flesh and bone piecemeal wheresoever it lights, without any choice or deliberation, to shew that every one of them shall be fetched out thence without difference. Bp. Hall. — let no lot fall upon it.] Conquerors used to cast lots what share of the vanquished they would save: see

Ezekiel 23:7

7. — she set it upon the top of a rock:] She seemed to glory in her crime, by doing it in the most open and audacious manner, so as to challenge God’s vengeance. Dr. Blayney. — she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust:] The words allude to the command of the law, Lev. xvii. 13, that they cover the blood of any beast or other living creature that was slain with dust: which precept was intended, not only to prevent their eating of blood, but also to give men a sort of horreur at the sight of bloodshed. W. Lowth.

Ezekiel 23:8

8. — her whoredoms brought from Egypt.] All the precautions taken by Moses, all the zeal of Joshua and his successors, were insufficient to root out the propensity to idolatry, which the Jews had imbibed in Egypt. Calmet.

9. — I have set her blood upon the top of a rock,] Her punishment shall be as notorious as her sin. W. Lowth, Calmet.

Ezekiel 23:10

10. — and she became famous among women;] And she became a noted and remarkable example of God’s judgments among the nations. Bp. Hall.

11. And when her sister Aholibah saw this, Saw the judgment inflicted on Samaria; instead of taking warning by it, she advanced to greater degrees of idolatry. Bp. Hall, W. Louth.

Ezekiel 23:14

14. — men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans] The defiled men worshipped by the Chaldeans must be meant. These the inhabitants of Chaldea had represented on the walls of Jerusalem; and the Jews desired to possess the idols, that they might pay them Divine honours. Abp. Newcome. Such as Bel, Nebo, and Merodach, mentioned Isa. xlvi. 1; Jer. l. 2. Abp. Newcome, W. Louth.

Ezekiel 23:15

15. — exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads.] Flowing, luxuriant, in the turbans worn by them. Abp. Newcome.

Ezekiel 23:16

16. — and sent messengers] This probably relates to those times when a correspondence was maintained

Aholibah is to be plagued by her lovers. Before CHRIST 593. ot, disjointed.

her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was † alienated from them.

Ezekiel 23:47

47. — shall stone them] See chap. xvi. 38; John viii. 3.

Ezekiel 23:49

49. — and ye shall bear the sins of your idols:] Ye shall bear the punishment due to your sins of idolatry. W. Lowth. Chap. XXIV. ver. 1. — in the ninth year,] Ezekiel, who was then a captive in Mesopotamia, saw in spirit the commencement of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and he wrote down the date of it that very day, that the Jews who were near him, and who could not fail of knowing in a short time what had happened to the capital of their country, might also learn, that the Prophet did not utter vain prophecies, and that his predictions were no longer to be distrusted. Calmet.