Ezekiel 16
PATI/PON EZEKIEL. that shall be brought forth. Notwithstanding these four sore judgments, some shall escape, and be brought into Chaldea, to be your companions in captivity. (Compare vi. 8. Jer. lii. 29, 30.) • Both sons and daughters.’] See ver. 16. 18. 20. of this chapter. * And ye shall see their ways and their doings.] Their afflictions shall bring them to a due sense of their former iniquities, and they shall humbly confess their own sins, and the sins of those who^ were consumed in the destruction of the city; whereby it will appear that I have not punished them beyond what their sins have deserved. (See vi. 9. xx. 43. xxxvi. 31.) And ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem.] This will compose your minds, and make you give glory to God, and acknowledge his judgments to berighteous, though they touch youvery nearly in the destruction of your friends and country. AKGUMENT. God sets forth his free love towards the church and nation of the Jews, represented hero by Jerusalem, under the emblem of a person that should take up an exposed infant, breed her up, and afterward marry her. He then upbraids their monstrous ingratitude in departing from his worship, and being polluted with heathenish idolatries; which the prophet illustrates by the resemblance of a lewd woman, that proves false to a kind and indulgent husband. For which God threatens to deal with her as qtbused husbands used to deal with wives convicted of adultery. Notwithstanding all these provocations, he promises in the end to shew them mercy. The’ metaphor of describing idolatry as spiritual adultery, often made use of in the prophets, is here, and in the twenty-third chapter, pursued with great force, and in a lively way of representation: both chapters being a remarkable instance of that vehemence of expression, which the rhetoricians call by the name of Auvotyiq. and they shall stone thee with stones."] The Chaldean array shall beat down thy walls and houses with stones flung out of battering engines. (See Jer. xxxiii. 4.) The expression alludes to the punishment inflicted upon adulteresses, which was stoning. (See John viii. 5.) The particular sort of death which they were to suffer, is not expressed in the law; so tho conjecture ofGrotius upon that place of St. John is not improbable, that in tho latter times, as wickedness increased, the Sanhedrin exchanged the milder punishment of strangling, used before, for the severer death of stoning. And thrust thee through with their swords.] See v. 12. xxiii. 10. 47. xxiv. 21. Vcr. 41. And they shall burn thy houses ivith fire.] The punishment allotted to an idolatrous city, Deut. xiii. 1G. The words may likewise allude to the punishment of burning, anciently inflicted upon harlots. (SeeGen.xxxviii.24.) And execute judgment upon thee in the sight of many women.] The Syrians, Philistines, and other neighbouring nations. (See ver. 37. and the notes upon ver. 27.) The judgment I will execute upon thee shall be for an instruction to other nations, how they follow thine ill practices. (See xxiii. 48.) And I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot.] See xxiii. 27. She likewise led the way to that idolatry which afterward infected the whole nation, forsaking the worship which God had appointed in his temple, and setting up the idolatry of the golden calves. Samaria lay northward of Jerusalem, and Sodom southward; which two quarters of the world are expressed by the right and left, in the Hebrew language, being placed in such a position to those that set their faces eastward. So the phrase is to be understood; Gen. xiii. 9. Jfthou wilt ^o to the left hand, I iv ill go to the right; where the Targum expounds the words, If thou wilt go to the north, I ivill go to the south. The same way of speaking is still used in the ancient British or Welsh language, as Archbishop Usher observes in his Primord. Eccl. Britan. p. 30G. edit. fol. Samaria and Sodom are described as mctropoles, or mother-cities: so their daughters may be expounded not only of the inhabitants of each city, but likewise of the lesser towns which were anciently under the jurisdiction of the greater. (Compare xxvi. 4. 6. Jer. xlix. 2.)
Ezekiel 16:2
\jAUSE Jerusalem to know her abominations. This might probably be done by way of letter, as Jeremiah’signified the will of God to the captives at Babylon, (Jer. xxix. 1.) God particularly upbraids Jerusalem for her iniquities, because it was the place he had chosen for his peculiar residence, and yet the inhabitants had defiled that very place, nay, and the temple itself, with idolatry; the sin particularly denoted by the word abomination. (See viii. 10. xiv. 6.)
Ezekiel 16:3
Tliy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan. As your fathers sojourned in the land of Canaan, before they came to have any right or property in it; so you, their posterity, have all along resembled the manners of Canaan, more than those of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, your ancestors. Tliy father tvas a Hittite, and’thy mother an Amorite.] Those are said to be our parents in the Scripture dialect, whose manners we resemble. (See ver. 45. of this chapter; Matt. iii. 7. John viii. 44.) There is an expression of the same import in the History of Susannah, ver. 56. that seems to be copied from this text, O thou seed of Canaan, and not ofJudah, beauty hath deceived thee, and lust hath perverted thy heart.
Ezekiel 16:4
In the day when thou wast born, &c. The prophet describes the forlorn condition of the Israelites in Egypt under the similitude of a new-born infant, exposed in its native filthiness, without any friend to pity his condition, or take the least care of it.
Ezekiel 16:6
i" said unto thee, when thou tvast in thy blood, Live. Whilst as yet nobody took so much care of thee as to wash thee from thy native filthiness, (ver. 4.) I took pity on thee; as a traveller that passes by, and sees an infant lie exposed; and I provided all things necessary for thy support.
Ezekiel 16:7
1 have caused thee to multiply, &c. The prophet describes the people’s increasing in Egypt under the metaphor of a child’s growing to woman’s estate. (Compare Exod. i. 7.)
Ezekiel 16:8
Behold, thy time was the time of love, &c. * I thought it now a proper time to betroth thee to myself: the Jews’ deliverance out of Egypt is elsewhere described as the time of God’s espousing them to himself. (See Jer. iL 2, &c. Hos. ii. 15. 19.) And his entering into a covenant with them, is commonly represented by a marriage-contract. (See Isa. liv. 5. Jer. iii. 1. 14. and Bishop Patrick’s Preface to his Commentary on the Canticles.) MlCrOSOTt &) •A COMMENTARY [chap. XVI. I spread my skirt over thee.’] I took thee under my protection, as a husband doth the wife. (See Ruth Hi. 0.) And covered thy nakedness.] Enriched thee with the goods and possessions of the Egyptians and Canaanites. (See vcr. 10, 11, &c.)
Ezekiel 16:9
Tlien I washed thee with water — and anointed thee with oil. I added every thing that could contribute to thy beauty and ornament. The anointing with oil was reckoned a necessary ingredient in a festival dress. (See Ruth iii. 3. Isa. lxi. 3. Matt. vi. 17.)
Ezekiel 16:10
I shod thee with badgers’ skins, &e. Or, with sandals of a purple colour, as Boehart expounds the word tahash. This and the following verses allude to those parts of women’s attire, which serve not only for use, but for ornament too; and import that God did not only provide the Jews with necessaries, but likewise with superfluities. J girded thee with fine linen.] This manufacture Egypt was famous for: (see xxvii. 7.) it was one of the principal ornaments of women, (see Isa. iii. 16.) as well as of great men.
Ezekiel 16:11
J put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain about thy neck. These were ornaments that none but persons of better quality used to wear. (See Gen. xxiv. 47. Prov. i. 9.)
Ezekiel 16:12
And I put a jewel on thy forehead. The same which is called a nose-jewel, Isa. iii. 21. where the. words might as well be translated, ajexvelfor the face or forehead. (Compare likewise Gen. xxiv. 47.) And a beautiful crown upon thy head.] Crowns or garlands were used in times of public rejoicing; from whenco is derived that expression of St. Paul, A crown of rejoicing; IThess. ii. 19. (Compare Isa. xxxv. 10.) Virgins were.sometimes adorned with crowns: (see Baruch vi. 9.) and they were commonly put upon the heads of persons newly married. (See Cant. iii. 11.)
Ezekiel 16:13
Thou didst eat fine flour ^ honey, and oil. Thy country afforded all manner of plenty and delicacies. (Compare Deut. xxxii. 13, 14.) And didst prosper into a kingdom.] Thou wast advanced to be the seat of a kingdom, and the city of the great King of heaven and earth, Psal. xlviii. 2.
Ezekiel 16:14
And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty. For the magnificence of the temple, called the Beauty of Holiness, and honoured with God’s especial presence. (Compare Lam. ii, 15. Psal. xlviii. 2.)
Ezekiel 16:15
But thou didst trust in thy own beauty, and playedst the harlot, because of thy renown. Women that are proud of their beauty are easily tempted to lewdness, if they have not a strict guard upon themselves: so you abused those honours and advantages which I had bestowed upon you, and made them an occasion of forsaking me your benefactor, and serving idols. You presumed upon that very favour which I had shewed to Jerusalem, in choosing it for the place of my residence; as if that would secure you from my vengeance, let your idolatries and other wickedness be never so great. (Sec Jer. vii. 4. Micah iii. 11.) Andplayedst the harlot.] Idolatry is commonly described by the metaphor of spiritual adultery, as hath been already observed. (See the note on ver. 8. and compare xxiii. 3. 8. 11. Isa. Ivii. 8. Jer. ii. 20. iii. 2. G. 20.) t
Ezekiel 16:16
And of thy garmejxts thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places, &c. This was a great aggravation of their ingratitude, that they applied tho?e very blessings, which God had given them, to the worship of idols. (Compare Hos. ii. 8.) And deckedst thy high places with divers colours.] Or, madest high places, or images of divers colours; as the LXX. explain the sense. Thou madest little shrines, chapels, or altars for idols, and deckedst them with hangings of divers colours, ver. 18. (See 2 Kings xxiii. 7.) The word bamah is sometimes used for an altar, because altars were commonly set upon eminent places. (See ver. 24, 25.) In that sense the Chaldee paraphrase understands it, Jer. xlviii. 35. and so it maybe best understood, xx. 29. of this prophecy. The like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.] I will utterly destroy those idolatries, and those that commit them.
Ezekiel 16:17
TJiou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold, and my silver — and madest to thyself images of men. The wealth I had bestowed upon thee thou hast laid out in doing honour to idols: (see vii. 19. Hos. ii. 8. 13.) and particularly in setting up images to deified heroes. (See xxiii.
Ezekiel 16:18
And thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them; my meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, &c. Thou offeredst these my creatures as a meat-offering unto idols. The meat-offering is called an offering of a sweet savour, because of the frankincense that was put upon it. (See Lev. ii. 2.) The oblation here mentioned differs from those offered to God in one particular; viz. that honey was mixed with it, which God had expressly forbidden to be used in his service, (Lev. ii. 11.)
Ezekiel 16:20
Moreover thou hast taken thy sotis and thy daughters — and these thou hast sacrificed unto them to be devoured. These inhuman sacrifices were offered to the idol Moloch, in the valley of Hinnom. (See ver. 36. xx. 2G. 31. xxiii. 37. Jer. vii. 31.) Whom thou hast borne to me.] Being married to me by a spiritual contract, ver. 8. (Compare xxiii. 4.) The children whom I blessed thee with are mine, being entered into the same covenant with their parent, and devoted to my service. (See Deut. xxix. 11, 12.)
Ezekiel 16:21
Thou hast slain my children to cause them to pass through the fire, &c. See the note on Jer. xxxii. 35. By children are meant here the first-born, who are set apart to be God’s property in a peculiar manner, Exod. xiii. 2. and yet even these they sometimes sacrificed to their idols. (See Micah vi. 7.) To cause them to pass through the fire.] The verb henebir, translated to cause them to pass through the fire, signifies also to dedicate, and denotes the first-born unto God, (Exod. xiii. 12.) So the words imply, that the Jews, instead of dedicating their first-born to G od, as the law required, offered them up a sacrifice to the devil, that was worshipped in their idols.
Ezekiel 16:22
Thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, &c. That miserable condition from which I rescued thee, when I first took notice of thee, and set thee apart for my own people. (Sec ver. 3, &e. and compare ver. 43. GO.)
Ezekiel 16:23
And ye shall know that I have not done without cause, &c. See the note on vi. 10.
Ezekiel 16:24
Thou hast also built to thee an eminent place in every street. Manasseh filled Jerusalem with idols, (see 2 Chron. xxxiii. 4, 5. 15.) many of which were worshipped Microsoft ® CHAP. XVI.] UPON EZEKIEL. upon high or eminent places. (Compare ver. 16. 31. and 2 Kings xxiii. 5. 12, 13.) The LXX. render the Hebrew word gab, a brothel-house; and it is certain that the worship of some of the heathen idols consisted in committing all manner of uncleanness. (See 2 Kings xxiii. 7. and the note upon ver. 2G.)
Ezekiel 16:25
TIiou hast also built thy high place at the head of every way, &c. These and the followingexpressions allude to the practices of common harlots, who used to frequent the most public places, to allure passengers to them: (see Gen. xxxviii. 21. Prov. ix. 14, 15.) idolatry, being in this chapter and elsewhere compared to the rage of lust. (See Isa. lvii. o. Jer. ii. 23, 24. iii. 2 )
Ezekiel 16:26
Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians, thy neighbours. While the Israelites sojourned in Egypt, they learned to practise their idolatries. (See xx. 7, 8. Lev, xx. 3. Deut. xxix. 16, 17. Josh. xxiv. 14.) From Josiah’s time the Jews were in a strict confederacy with the Egyptians, and, to ingratiate themselves with them, practised their idolatries. (Compare xxiii. 19 — 21. 40, 41.) And the worship of Tamuz, the idolatry they are upbraided with, viii. 14. was derived from the same country.. Great of flesh, and hast increased thy whoredoms.] Compare xxxiii. 20. The expressions may allude to the whoredoms which were committed in the worship of some of their idols. (See xxii. 9. Numb. xxxi. 16. Hos. iv. 4. Baruch vi. 43.).
Ezekiel 16:27
I have stretched but my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food. I have abridged thee of many necessaries and conveniences, by giving thy country into the hand of thine enemies, as it follows. And delivered thee into the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines.] As a punishment of the idolatries which king Ahaz introduced among you. (See ver. 57. and 2 Chron. xxviii. 18, 19.) The daughters of the Philistines are put here for the Philistines, as the daughters of Samaria, Sodom, and the Syrians, stand for the people of those places, ver. 46, 47. 57. to carry on the allegory and comparison between them and Jerusalem, being all of them described as so many lewd women prostituting themselves to idols. (See ver. 41.) By the same metaphor Samaria and Sodom are called sisters to Jerusalem, ver. 46., Which are ashamed of thy lewd tuay.] Those have not forsaken the religion of their country, as you Jews have done, nor have been so fond of foreign idolatries. (Compare v. 7. and Jer. ii. 11.) The Chaldee paraphrase explains the words to this sense: If I had sent my prophets to them, they would have beat ashamed; but thou art not converted. (See ver. 47, 48.)
Ezekiel 16:28
Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians. The Jews courted the alliance of their two potent neighbours, the Egyptians and Assyrians, as it served their present turn; and to ingratiate themselves with them, served their idols. (See Jer. ii. 18. 30.) This is particularly recorded of Ahaz. (See 2 Kings xvi. 10.. 2 Chron. xxviii. 23.)
Ezekiel 16:29
Moreover, thou hast multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea. Or, with the land of Canaan, as Noldius translates the particle el> in his Concordance, p. 59. The sense is, Thou hast defiled thyself with all the idolatries of the heathen, beginning with those which were practised by the former inhabitants of Canaan, and, by degrees, learning new species of idolatry derived from distant countries, such as Chaldea was reckoned. (See Jer. v. 15. and compare this verse with xxiii. 16, 17. 2 Kings xvii. 16, 17. xxi. 3, &c. xxiii. 5, &c.)
Ezekiel 16:30
How weak is thine heart. Not only unstable as to good resolutions, but even restless and unsettled in evil practices; still hankering after some new kind. of idolatry, and resolved to indulge a wandering appetite.,(See ver.
Ezekiel 16:31
In that thou buildest thine eminent place. See ver. 16. 24. And hast not been as a harlot, in that thou scornest hire."] Or, to prostitute thyself for hire; as some translate the words.
Ezekiel 16:33
But thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers. The Jews are often upbraided for making leagues with idolaters, and courting their favours by presents, and by complying with their idolatries. (See Isa. xxx. 6. lvii. 5. 9. Jer. ii. 18. 25. 36. and the notes upon these texts.)
Ezekiel 16:36
And by the blood of thy children. See ver. 20. Jer. ii. 34.
Ezekiel 16:37
Behold, therefore, I will gather all thy lovers. Those allies whose friendship thou hast courted by complying with their idolatries. (See xxiii. 9. 22. Jer. ii. 25. iv. 30. xxii. 20. Lam. i. 8. Hos. ii. 10.) With all them that thou heist hated.] Compare ver. 41. Such were Edom, Moab, and Ammon; who always bore a spite to the Jews, and insulted over their calamities. (See xxv. 3. 8.12.) •■’ And will discover thy nakedness unto them.] They shall see thee carried away captive, stripped and bare, (see ver. 39.) without any covering to thy nakedness, according <to the barbarous custom of conquerors. (See the notes on Isa. iii. 17. xx. 4.) The words allude to the punishment that used to be inflicted upon common harlots and adulteresses, which was to strip them naked, and expose them to the world. (Compare xxiii. 29. Jer. xiii. 22. 26. Hos. ii. 3.)
Ezekiel 16:38
And will judge thee as women that break wedlock. Whose punishment was death by the law, Lev. xx. 10. Deut. xxii. 22. And shed blood.] See ver. 20, 21. 26. This was likewise a capital crime. (See Exod. xxi. 12.) In these two parts of Jerusalem’s character, she was a type of the antichristian whore, who was likewise drunk with the blood of the saints, (Rev. xvii. 5, 6.) And I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.] 1 will make an utter destruction of thine inhabitants: (see xiv. 19.) or, I will pour out the blood of thy slain like water, (Psal. lxxix. 3.) Jealousy is the rage of a man, (Prov. vi. 34.) Such indignation will God shew against the idolatry of his own people, who hath declared himself a jealous God, and very tender of his honour, which is highly injured, by the worship of idols, set up as his rivals. (See the note on v. 13.)
Ezekiel 16:39
They shall throw down thine eminent places. They shall destroy all the high walls and fortifications; the expression alludes to the high places dedicated to idolatrous worship; (See ver. 24. 31.) They shall strip thee of thy clothes, &c] They shall first plunder thee before they carry thee away captive. (See ver. 37. and xxiii. 26.)
Ezekiel 16:40
And they shall bring a company against thee,
Ezekiel 16:42
So ivilllmake my fury towards thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, &c. See ver. 38. and the note upon v. 13.
Ezekiel 16:43
Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth. See ver. 22. And thou shall not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.] Thou shalt not add these manifold and shameless practices of idolatry to all thy other wickedness. But the words may be rendered, Neither hast thou laid to heart alt these thine abominations.
Ezekiel 16:44
Behold, every one that useth proverbs, shall use this proverb against thee, &c. They that love to apply the memorable sayings of former ages to the present times, shall apply that common saying to thee, That the daughter follows her mother’s steps, and Jerusalem is no better than the Amorites, whose land they inhabit, and whose manners they imitate. (See ver. 3.)
Ezekiel 16:45
Thou art thy mothers daughter, that loatheth her husband and her children. Both these qualities are the property of a harlot, and were verified in the Jews, who abhorred God their husband, (vcr. 8.) and cast oiFall natural affection to their children, sacrificing them in the fire to the honour of their idols, (ver. 20.) And thou art the sister of thy sisters.] Samaria and Sodom. (Ver. 46.) The worship of Moloch was generally practised by the ten tribes, whose metropolis was Samaria, (see 2 Kings xvii. 17.) as it was by the Ammonites, who derived their original from Lot, an inhabitant of Sodom. (See 1 Kings xi. 7.) Great and crying sins ure compared to those of Sodom. (See Isa. i. 9. iii. 9. Matt. xi. 23. Rev. xi.8.) Your mother ivas a JTtttite, &c] Sec ver. 3. Ver. AG. And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand, &c] Samaria is called the elder sister to Jerusalem, as being the capital city of the kingdom of Israel, a more large and potent kingdom than that of Judah, of which Jerusalem was the metropolis.
Ezekiel 16:47
Yet thou hast not ivalked after their ways, &c. See v. 7. Utou hast corrupted more than they, &c] See ver. 48. 51.
Ezekiel 16:48
Sodom thy sister hath not done as thou hast done. Their sins were not committed with such aggravations of ingratitude; nor did I use such powerful methods to convince them of their wickedness, as I have done towardsyou. (Compare v. G. Matt. x. 15. xi. 24.)
Ezekiel 16:49
Behold, this was the iniquity of Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness. Sodom abused that plenty which God gave them to pride and idleness, which gave rise to those enormities which they afterward were guilty of. The Scripture takes notice of the fruitfulness of the soil where Sodom stood. (Gen. xiii. 10.) " Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.] Pride and luxury make men expensive in their own way of living, and regardless of the wants and miseries of others. (Sec Luke xvi. 20, 21.)
Ezekiel 16:51
Neither huth Samaria committed half thy sins. The ingratitude of Jerusalem was greater than that of Samaria, because God had placed his name there, whose worship she forsook, and profaned the temple by placing idols in it; which was a degree of idolatry beyond any thing the ten tribes had been guilty of. (See v. 11. vii. 20. viii. 6. 15. xxiii. 38, 39. xliii. 8. 2 Kings xvi. 14. xxi.7. 9.) Tfiou hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations.] Thou hast made them appear less guilty. (See Jer. iii. 11.) Another aggravation of thy sin consists in this, that thou wouldest not take warning by the judgments God brought upon them. (See ibid. ver. 8.)
Ezekiel 16:52
Thou also which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame. Because wherein thou hast judged them, or declared them deservedly punished, thou hast condemned thyself, having been guilty of the same sins, and those accompanied with greater aggravations.
Ezekiel 16:53
When I shall bring again their captivity, the cap tivity of Sodom, and her daughters, &c.* When the fulness of the gentiles shall come into the church, some of whom may be compared with Sodom for wickedness, (sec Isa. i. 9.) then will 1 also remember yon, ^vho are my ancient people. St. Paul tells us, that the Jews will be provoked to emulation by the gentiles coming into the church, and thereby induced to acknowledge the truth. (See Rom. xi. chap, xvr.] UPON EZEKIEL; II, 12. 15. 25. 31.) The conversion of the gentiles is expressed in Jeremy, by returning the captivity of Moab, Amnion, and Elam, (xlviii. 47. xlix. 6. 39.) and by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Ethiopians, and Syrians, bringing presents to God, and acknowledging themselves his servants, in the prophecy of Isaiah, (xviii. 7. xix. 24, 25. xxiii. 18.) And by the same analogy we are to understand the returning of the captivity of Sodom here, of the gentiles coming into the church.
Ezekiel 16:54
That thou may est bear thine own shame, &c. In the mean time thou shalt beaT the shame and punishment due to thy sins, and shalt be some sort of comfort to thy neighbours, in being a companion with them in punishment, as thou hast been in wickedness. Vcr. 5^). When Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.] When the prophets foretell the general conversion and restoration of the Jewish nation, they always join Judah and Israel together, as equal sharers in that blessing. (Secxxxvii. 16. 22. and the notes there.) Ver. 5G, 57. For thy sister Sodom tvas not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride, before thy wickedness was discovered.] These words should be joined together in the same verse or sentence: God saith to Jerusalem, that in the height of her prosperity, before her wickedness so fully appeared to the eyes of the world, by the extraordinary judgments brought upon her, she did not reflect upon the terrible vengeance which befel Sodom, and was designed for an example or warning to those that should afterward live -ungodly, (2 Pet. ii. 6.) Ibid, and Ver. 5S. As at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, &c] The words begin a new sentence, which may be translated more perspicuously thus, joining them to the following verse: But when it was the time of thy becoming the reproach of the daughters of Syria, &c. The particle kemo sometimes signifies when. (See Noldius, p. 431.) The words, with regard to what goes before, import thus much: In thy prosperity thou didst despise those who arc no worse than thyself; but since thou hast been insulted and invaded by thy neighbours, both Syrians and Philistines, whom God hath made use of as executioners of his judgments upon thee, thou hast been a remarkable instance of his vengeance, and God’s hand hath beenhe^vy upon thee for all thine idolatries and abominations. The words relate to the frequent inroads the Syrians and Philistines made into Judca in the time of king Ahaz. (See 2 Kings xvi. 5. 2 Chron. xxviii. 18.) Vcr. 59. I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.] That solemn oath and covenant you entered into with me to be my people, and serve no other God besides: see Deut. xxix. 12. 14. which is likewise represented in this chapter, and many other places, under the solemnity of a marriage-contract. Hereupon God threatens her, that since she had broken her oath and promise, he should not think himself obliged to make good any of the promises of favour and protection which he had made to her, but would give her up to ruin and desolation. (See Numb, xiv. 34.) Vcr. GO. Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth.] I will have some regard for you, because you were formerly ray people, by virtue of the covenant I made with you at your coming out of Egypt: (compare vcr. 4. 22. of this chapter, and Hos. ii. 15. xi.l. Jer. ii. 2.) at which time God chose them to be his peculiar people. (See Exod. xix. 5, 6.) And I will establish with thee an everlasting covenant.] Such a one as shall never be abolished, viz. that of the gospel. (See Jer. xxxii. 40. and the note upon that place.)
Ezekiel 16:61
Then shalt thou remember thy tvays, and be ashamed. The Jews shall be touched with a deep sense and remorse for their former provocation, as a necessary preparation for their conversion. (Compare xx. 43. xxxvi. 21. Jer. xxxi.9. 1. 5. and sec the notes upon those places.) When thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger.] See ver. 53. And I will give them to thee for daughters.] Jerusalem thus restored shall be a type of that heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all, (Gal. iv. 2G.) And even in the times of the apostles there was a particular deference * paid to the church of Jerusalem, as the mother-church of the Christian world. (Sec Rom. xv. 2G, 27.) Accordingly she is styled the mother of all churches, by the Second General Council, in their Synodical Epistle: (see Thcodoret. Hist. Ecclcs. lib. v. cap. 9.) a title which the church of Rome now assumes, without any pretence from Scripture or antiquity. But not by thy covenant.] Not by virtue of that core 1 nant mentioned ver. 60. you have forfeited all your title to its privileges, ver. 59. but by virtue of that new covenant which I will make w r ith you, through the Messias. (Sec Jer. xxxi. 31.) Vcr. G2. And thou shalt know thai lam the Lord.] I will be then as conspicuous in my mercies, as I was before in my judgments! (See the note on vi. 7.) Vcr. 63. TJiat thou mayest remember, and be confounded.] Be confounded at the remembrance of thy former wickedness. (See ver. 61.) And never open thy mouth more, because of thy shame.] The mercies of the gospel in calling sinners to,repentance y and accepting them, notwithstanding their many imperfections, do unanswerably confute all claim or pretence to x merit. (See Rom. iii. 19.)