Ezekiel 16:25 Komentář

Still God is justifying himself in the desolations he is about to bring upon Jerusalem; and very largely, in this chapter, he shows the prophet, and orders him to show the people, that he did but punish them as their sins deserved. In the foregoing chapter he had compared Jerusalem to an unfruitful vine, that was fit for nothing but the fire; in this chapter he compares it to an adulteress, that, in justice, ought to be abandoned and exposed, and he must therefore show the people their abominations, that they might see how little reason they had to complain of the judgments they were under. In this long discourse are set forth, I. The despicable and deplorable beginnings of that church and nation (Eze 16:3-5). II. The many honours and favours God had bestowed upon them (Eze 16:6-14). III. Their treacherous and ungrateful departures from him to the services and worship of idols, here represented by the most impudent whoredom (v. 15-34). IV. A threatening of terrible destroying judgments, which God would bring upon them for this sin (Eze 16:35-43). V. An aggravation both of their sin and of their punishment, by comparison with Sodom and Samaria (v. 44-59). VI. A promise of mercy in the close, which God would show to a penitent remnant (Eze 16:60-63). And this is designed for admonition to us.

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 16 In this chapter the Jewish nation is represented under the simile of a female infant, whose birth, breeding, marriage, grandeur, and conduct, are described, in order to show the wickedness and ingratitude of, his people; who, on account thereof, are threatened with judgments; though mercy is promised to a remnant that should repent. The prophet is directed to make known to Jerusalem her abominable sins, Eze 16:1; and, in order to this, is bid to take up the following parable of a female infant; whose descent, birth, and wretched condition, at the time of it, are pointed at, Eze 16:3; which are expressive of the low and forlorn estate of the Jews originally; and then follow the benefits and blessings of God bestowed upon them, both in their infant and adult state; the preserving them alive in Egypt, and their multiplication there; and afterwards the covenant made with them, when brought out from thence; and the Lord's espousal of them to himself, as his own people, having a strong affection for them, Eze 16:6; the large provision of good things he made for them, both in the wilderness, and especially in the land of Canaan; the riches he bestowed upon them, and the flourishing and prosperous kingdom he raised them to, which made them famous among all the nations round about them, Eze 16:9; and yet, after all this, such was the ingratitude of this people, as to commit spiritual whoredom, that is, idolatry, to a very great degree, Eze 16:15; which is aggravated by their converting and applying the good things which the Lord gave them to idolatrous uses, Eze 16:16; by sacrificing their sons and daughters to idols, which were the Lord's, Eze 16:20; by not calling to mind the former wretched estate out of which they were brought, Eze 16:22; by building high places in every street and way, and there committing idolatries, Eze 16:23; by the various nations, whose examples they followed, and with whom they joined, as the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans, Eze 16:26; and by the great difference between them and all other harlots, whom they exceeded, Eze 16:30; wherefore, on account of all this, they are threatened to be dealt with as an adulterous woman; made a spectacle of; condemned to die, to be stripped, stoned, and burned, Eze 16:35; and, that the Lord might appear to be just in executing such judgments on them, they are declared to be as bad as the Hittites and Amorites their parents; and worse than their sisters Samaria and Sodom; and therefore could expect to fare no better than they; and should become proverb and a byword, and bear their sins, shame, and punishment, in the sight of their neighbours, and be despised by them, Eze 16:44; nevertheless, the covenant of grace made with his chosen people among them should stand firm; which being manifested to them, would be a means of bringing them to a sense of sin, shame for it, and an acknowledgment of the Lord's grace and goodness to them Eze 16:60.

Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians,.... By entering into leagues and alliances with them, and seeking to them for help and assistance against their enemies; from whose bondage they had formerly been delivered, and whose society they were cautioned against; and yet they forsook the Lord, and joined themselves to them by solemn covenant; and not only so, but fell into the worship of their idols, who were a people of all others the most superstitious, and given to idolatry; and many of their idolatrous rites and ceremonies were received and retained by the Jews, as the worshipping of Tammuz, and other idols: thy neighbours, great of flesh: being their neighbours, and full of power and strength to assist them, they courted their friendship and alliance; and their idolatries being many and monstrous, were the more courted by them: the allusion is to women of shameless impudence and insatiable lust, who covet men, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and their issue as horses, Eze 23:20; flesh here signifies the privy parts of men; so Ben Melech; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke my anger; multiplied their idolatries, which they learned of the Egyptians, a people much given thereunto; and which were abominable and highly provoking to God, Pe1 4:3. The Targum is, "thou hast increased thine idols.''

Possessing these things, she is of great beauty, but she is corrupted by the divisions of heretics and foreign religious systems.

What then has persuaded you to contradict each other and to procure to yourselves so great a disgrace? You cannot give any good account of it; this supposition only remains, that all you do is but outward profession and pretense.… And you make nothing of accusing the Fathers, and you complain outright of the expressions as being unscriptural; and, as it is written, “opened your legs to every one that passed by;” so as to change as often as they wish, in whose pay and keep you are. Yet, though a person uses terms not in Scripture, it makes no difference, so that his meaning is religious. But the heretic, though he uses scriptural terms, because he is equally dangerous and depraved, will be asked in the words of the Spirit, “Why do you preach my laws and take my covenant in your mouth?”

(Verse 23 and following) And it came to pass after all your wickedness: woe, woe to you, says the Lord God. And you built yourself a brothel, and made for yourself a prostitute in all the streets. At every head of the road you built a sign of your prostitution, and you made your abominable beauty, and you spread your feet to everyone passing by, and multiplied your fornications. And you fornicated with the sons of Egypt, your neighbors with great flesh, and you multiplied your fornication to provoke me. LXX: And it came to pass after all your evils, woe, woe to you, says the Lord God. And you built for yourself a dwelling of prostitution, and you made for yourself prostitution in every street. And in the beginning of every way you built your prostitution: and you corrupted your beauty, and spread your legs to every passerby, and multiplied your prostitution: and you committed adultery with the sons of Egypt your neighbors, who are of great flesh, and you committed adultery in many ways, to provoke me to anger. What is said second, woe to you, the Vulgate edition does not have, but it has been added from the edition of Theodotion. And again, where we said: And you built for yourself a brothel, which the Seventy translated as: And you built for yourself a dwelling place of fornication, Symmachus and Theodotion interpreted as πορνεῖον; Aquila, wishing to express the etymology of the Hebrew word Gob (), put βάθυνον, which we can say means pit: to indicate a foul and deep den where the lust of prostitutes dwells. And what follows: And you have made for yourself a brothel in every street, for which Seventy translated ἔκθεμα, in Hebrew it is called Rama: and both Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotio have interpreted it as high or lofty. Finally, in the following passages, where it is written: To every head of the road you have erected a sign of your prostitution, as a sign and fornication, again in Hebrew it is called Rama (), which we have interpreted as either brothel or sign, since among the Hebrews it is one word. However, this is stated because it is lofty; so that for those who desire to fornicate, the place of fornication may be far away and there is no need to search for it. What we have said once and again and again, let it suffice to have said it forever, that under the guise of a woman, after many benefits from her husband, describing the fornication of Jerusalem, how she has departed from God and joined with idols, and was not satisfied with hidden fornication; but rather built herself a brothel and placed a sign on every street for those passing by, so they would come to the prostitute and satisfy their lust, not only their own, but also the one who has spread her legs for every passerby, and has defiled the greatness of beauty with the greatness of fornication: and among other things, she has also been bowing down to the Egyptians, her neighbors, in a love of great flesh. And in order to demonstrate every kind of ugliness, it was deformed by various forms of filth. But there is no doubt that Palestine is near Egypt, as the Lord said to Abraham: I will give you all the land from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates (Gen. XV, 18), so that on one side it includes the Egyptians, and on the other side it includes the Assyrians, with whom it is said to have committed fornication in later times. But the fornication of Jerusalem with the Egyptians is an imitation of their idolatry. But against our Jerusalem, whether the Church or the souls of the believers, if they are negligent and exposed to all vices, a double curse is pronounced, so that they may hear: Woe, woe to you, says the Lord God, according to what is written in the Apocalypse of John: Woe to all the inhabitants of the earth (Apoc. 8:13). For if the holy one says: I am a stranger and a sojourner like all my fathers (Psalm 38:13): why is it not said that the sinner is an inhabitant of the earth? However, he builds for himself a brothel, who sins with complete freedom of the forehead; according to what is written: When the sinner comes into the depths of wickedness, he despises (Prov. XVIII, 3). And he constructs the highest place in all the streets: For wide and spacious is the way that leads to death. And at every head of the street he builds; so that he leaves behind no types of sins; but imitating the prostitute of Proverbs, he openly invites foolish young men into his embraces in the streets and in the corners of the streets, and pollutes the beauty of their souls, which they obtained as a benefit from God the creator (Prov. V and VII). And all his journeys are full of filthiness, and he opens his heart to all thoughts that supply the incentives of vices, and he spreads his legs and fornicates with his Egyptian neighbors, whose examples he follows, namely the pagans, who glory in their filthiness, and it is so wicked that it even surpasses them in filthiness. And he does all these things to provoke God to anger. Moreover, the Egyptians are said to have large genitals, either because of the magnitude of their filthiness or because of the deformity of their sins. Wherefore the saint says, 'The flesh of little children, which daily decreases in it, and is attenuated by virtues, so that it is not called flesh, but spirit, and speaks in the psalm: My soul has thirsted for you, O God, how many ways does my flesh long for you (Psalm 62:2): or (as some copies have) how my flesh has been consumed: in a desert and impassable and waterless land, I have appeared to you in the saint (1 Corinthians 5).' Therefore, the Corinthian fornicator is condemned to the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved. Concerning this flesh, it is written: All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever (Isa. XL, 6, 7). The Apostle also spoke about this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (I Cor. XV, 50). And in Genesis, God speaks: My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh (Gen. VI, 3). And it is said to the believers: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit (Romans VIII, 8, 9). But there is another flesh of the saints, of which it is written: All flesh shall see the salvation of God (Isaiah XL, 5).

She will sit by the waters of loneliness, her pitcher laid aside, and open her legs to every one who passes by and be polluted to the crown of her head. It would have been better for her to have submitted to the yoke of marriage, to have walked in level places, than to aspire to loftier heights and fall into the depths of hell.

A noble alternative only to be embraced in preference to Satan! In the old days even Jerusalem went whoring and opened her legs to everyone that passed by. It was in Egypt that she was first deflowered and there that her teats were bruised.

Our Zion, in which at times there are Philistines and Tyre and Ethiopia; that watchtower, that meretrix, that harlot, that Rahab, that Babylon, that one who, according to Ezekiel, has prostituted herself to everyone on the crossroads; that meretrix, if she wills it, suddenly becomes a virgin. A virgin she becomes, conceives the Son of God and brings him forth. “From your fear, O Lord, we conceived and suffered the pangs of childbirth, bringing forth the spirit of your salvation on the earth.” Understand, therefore, that [Jerusalem], who was a prostitute, conceives of God and is in labor and brings forth the Savior.

In this chapter the mercy of God to Jerusalem, (or the Jewish Church and nation), is set forth by the emblem of a person that should take up an exposed infant, bring her up with great tenderness, and afterwards marry her, Eze 16:1-14. She is then upbraided with her monstrous ingratitude in departing from the worship of God, and polluting herself with the idolatries of the nations around her, under the figure of a woman that proves false to a tender and indulgent husband, vv. 15-52. But, notwithstanding these her heinous provocations, God promises, after she should suffer due correction, to restore her again to his favor, Eze 16:53-63. The mode of describing apostasy from the true religion to the worship of idols under the emblem of adultery, (a figure very frequent in the sacred canon), is pursued with great force, and at considerable length, both in this and the twenty-third chapter; and is excellently calculated to excite in the Church of God the highest detestation of all false worship.

DETAILED APPLICATION OF THE PARABOLICAL DELINEATION OF THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER TO JERUSALEM PERSONIFIED AS A DAUGHTER. (Eze. 16:1-63) cause Jerusalem to know--Men often are so blind as not to perceive their guilt which is patent to all. "Jerusalem" represents the whole kingdom of Judah.

at every head of the way--in the most frequented places (Pro 9:14). thy beauty . . . abhorred, . . . opened . . . feet to every one--The wanton advances were all on Israel's part; the idolatrous nations yielded to her nothing in return. She had yielded so much that, like a worn-out prostitute, her tempters became weary of her. When the Church lowers her testimony for God to the carnal tastes of the world, with a view to conciliation, she loses everything and gains nothing.