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. 20 And thou dost take thy sons and thy daughters Whom thou hast born to Me, And dost sacrifice them to them for food. Is it a little thing because of thy whoredoms, 21 That thou dost slaughter My sons, And dost give them up in causing them to pass over to them?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 16:11-21
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.