161 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 2 'Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, and thou hast said: 3 Thus said the Lord Jehovah to Jerusalem: Thy birth and thy nativity 'Are' of the land of the Canaanite, Thy father the Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite. 4 As to thy nativity, in the day thou wast born, Thou—thy navel hath not been cut, And in water thou wast not washed for ease, And thou hast not been salted at all, And thou hast not been swaddled at all. 5 No eye hath had pity on thee, to do to thee any of these, To have compassion on thee, And thou art cast on the face of the field, With loathing of thy person. In the day thou hast been born—thou!
6 And I do pass over by thee, And I see thee trodden down in thy blood, And I say to thee in thy blood, Live, And I say to thee in thy blood, Live. 7 A myriad—as the shoot of the field I have made thee, And thou art multiplied, and art great, And comest in with an excellent adornment, Breasts have been formed, and thy hair hath grown—And thou, naked and bare! 8 And I pass over by thee, and I see thee, And lo, thy time 'is' a time of loves, And I spread My skirt over thee, And I cover thy nakedness, And I swear to thee, and come in to a covenant with thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And thou dost become Mine. 9 And I do wash thee with water, And I wash away thy blood from off thee, And I anoint thee with perfume. 10 And I clothe thee with embroidery, And I shoe thee with badger's skin, And I gird thee with fine linen, And I cover thee with figured silk. 11 And I adorn thee with adornments, And I give bracelets for thy hands, And a chain for thy neck. 12 And I give a ring for thy nose, And rings for thine ears, And a crown of beauty on thy head. 13 And thou dost put on gold and silver, And thy clothing 'is' fine linen, And figured silk and embroidery, Fine flour, and honey, and oil thou hast eaten, And thou art very very beautiful, And dost go prosperously to the kingdom. 14 And go forth doth thy name among nations, Because of thy beauty—for it 'is' complete, In My honour that I have set upon thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
15 And thou dost trust in thy beauty, And goest a-whoring because of thy renown, And dost pour out thy whoredoms On every passer by—to him it is. 16 And thou dost take of thy garments, And dost make to thee spotted high-places, And dost go a-whoring upon them, They are not coming in—nor shall it be! 17 And thou dost take thy beauteous vessels Of My gold and My silver that I gave to thee, And dost make to thee images of a male, And dost go a-whoring with them, 18 And dost take the garments of thy embroidery, And thou dost cover them, And My oil and My perfume thou hast set before them. 19 And My bread, that I gave to thee, Fine flour, and oil, and honey, that I caused thee to eat. Thou hast even set it before them, For a sweet fragrance—thus it is, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 16:1-19
Commentary on Ezekiel 16:1-58
(Read Ezekiel 16:1-58)
In this chapter God's dealings with the Jewish nation, and their conduct towards him, are described, and their punishment through the surrounding nations, even those they most trusted in. This is done under the parable of an exposed infant rescued from death, educated, espoused, and richly provided for, but afterwards guilty of the most abandoned conduct, and punished for it; yet at last received into favour, and ashamed of her base conduct. We are not to judge of these expressions by modern ideas, but by those of the times and places in which they were used, where many of them would not sound as they do to us. The design was to raise hatred to idolatry, and such a parable was well suited for that purpose.