Глава 16

Having shown the necessity of a fall for Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah from their present moral state (Ezek. 14.12–27), from the natural baseness of the Jewish people (chap. Eze. 15), the prophet now gives an extensive overview of the entire history of the people, with the goal of showing that in the destruction of the kingdom the long historical chain of wickedness and especially the idolatry of Israel only finds its necessary completion. The prophet's view of the past of his native people is the darkest. Using the beloved and accepted image of marriage in the Old Testament to designate Israel’s covenantal relationship with Jehovah, Ezekiel, like other prophets, presents Israel’s unfaithfulness to the covenant under the guise of adultery, so that this entire large chapter is like an endless paraphrase of Isaiah 1.21: “like a harlot, a faithful city.” But according to Isaiah, Jerusalem, before becoming a harlot, was faithful, full of righteousness, the mountain of God, the city of justice (Isaiah 1.26–27); in the same way, for the prophet Amos, wandering in the desert was an ideal time (Amos 5.25); Hosea begins the period of sin by falling away to Babylon (Hosea 9.10) and Jeremiah also knows the time when the people were a bride full of love for Jehovah (Jeremiah 2.2 etc.). On the contrary, Ezekiel traces the sin of Jerusalem to its first sources: already the origin of Jerusalem is pagan; idolatry began from the cradle - with Egyptian slavery. The entire historical review was written under the overwhelming impression of the terrible guilt of the people, which, constantly renewed, was transplanted from generation to generation. The entire past life of the people passed from idolatry to idolatry, which was to find its end in the destruction of Jerusalem. When the last remnant of old Israel disappeared from the earth with the kingdom of Judah, it became clear what the past of the people was like if it led to such an end (Jerusalem is here the same as all of Israel). The same sweeping condemnation of Israel's past is pronounced by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 20 and Ezekiel 23, which are very close to the present (the makings of thought in Ezekiel 6.9). But by depicting the past and present of Israel so gloomily, the prophet paints a more gratifying picture for the future (from v. 53), turning at the end of chapters, as usual, into eschatology (which may perhaps speak for the composition of this speech after the fall of Jerusalem; in its present place it could be placed in relation to Ezek. 15 ch. and this entire section. This speech was hardly delivered to the people, there is no appeal to fellow tribesmen anywhere; cf. Ezek.12). More specifically, the speech naturally falls into the following 5 sections: the good deeds of God (vv. 2–14) are contrasted with the guilt of the people (15–34), which must entail the gravest punishment (35–43); the people must be brought into the deepest contrition (44–58) before a better time can come (59–63). Ezek.16:3. and say: Thus says the Lord God to the daughter of Jerusalem: Your root and your homeland are in the land of Canaan; your father is an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite; The Prophet could say about Jerusalem that it was of Canaanite origin, on the grounds that it was originally a Canaanite, namely a Jebusite city; and the tribe of Judah from the very beginning accepted many non-Israeli elements. But the expression has not so much an ethnographic as a religious meaning and refers to the people as a whole: all the religious and moral inclinations of Israel are as if they were of Canaanite origin; he is the spiritual son of Canaan; Wed Isa 1.10; John 8.44. The Prophet Ezekiel here anticipates John the Baptist and Savior in the fight against Jewish pride in pious ancestors, especially Abraham, traces of which, although not as strong as in the time of Christ, indicate, for example, Eze. 23.27. Ezekiel himself speaks about these ancestors, no matter how often there was a reason for this, only completely by chance: Ezekiel 28:25, 37:25, which is quite natural given the teaching of Ezekiel 18 ch. Of the Canaanite peoples, the prophet named the most important Amorites and Hittites as representatives of all. The Amorites, although they lived on the other side of the Jordan, but mainly on this side and precisely in the region of the tribe of Judah (Deut. 1.19 and Joshua 10.5); the most powerful and developed of the Canaanite peoples, he was therefore more corrupted than others, and must have given rise to Sodom and Gomorrah, although under Abraham “the measure of his iniquity ... had not yet been fulfilled” (Gen. 15.16); All Canaanite tribes are often called by his name. According to Egyptian and Assyrian reports, the Hittites lived between the Euphrates and the Orontes, but their sphere of influence also extended to Canaan, which since the time of Sargon was included by the Assyrians in the concept of “Hati”, “Hittites”; in any case, the Hittites lived north of the Amorites and Jebusite Jerusalem may have been on the border of these two tribes; The Hittite was the wife of Esau, who caused grief to Rebekah (Gen. 27.46). “Root” corresponds to “father”, “homeland” to “mother”. Ezek.16:4. At your birth, on the day you were born, your navel was not cut off, and you were not washed with water for cleansing, and you were not salted with salt, and you were not wrapped in swaddling clothes. Israel at the beginning of its existence was like a foundling, thrown out as it came out of its mother’s womb, deprived of the first cares most necessary for the preservation of life. A child whose navel was not “cut off” or was poorly cut off may die when the placenta begins to decompose. LXX, instead of this natural and strong thought, they have a “strange” (Krechm.): “I did not oblige your breasts” (isn’t the umbilical cord so named here for its role in feeding the fetus?). - “You were not washed with water for purification.” The last word is a tentative translation of the dark Hebrew. words (“lemishya”), not transmitted by Greek, but glory. according to Aquila, Theodotion and the Vulgate: “for salvation,” that is, for the preservation of life. - “It wasn’t salted.” “The tender bodies of children, while they still retain the warmth of their mother’s womb and respond with their first cry to the beginning of a difficult life, are usually salted by midwives to make them drier and shrink” (Blessed Jerome). This custom, mentioned by Galen, is still in use in the East; the fellahs think that through this the child is strengthened and tempered (Nowack. Archaol, I, § 28). In addition to dietary, it could also have a symbolic meaning, serving as an expression of the wish for healthy vigor to the newborn or indicating his entry into a covenant with God, which the Old Testament is sometimes called the “covenant of salt” (Lev. 2.13; Num. 18.19; 2 Chr. 13.5). As for the meaning of this allegory in relation to Israel, it should be noted, first of all, that in a parable not every detail should have a symbolic meaning and contain any thought. So, in this depiction of the original fate of Israel, there can only be the general idea that Israel at the first stages of its history, for example, during Egyptian slavery, was more helpless than other nations, and if God had not taken it under his care, he would have died like a child abandoned to the mercy of fate. This may also refer to the time when Israel was still the family of Jacob, almost perishing from famine. Ezek.16:5. No one's eye took pity on you, to do you any of this out of mercy; but you were thrown out into the field, out of contempt for your life, on your birthday. “You were thrown out into the field because of contempt for your life.” Even now in the East, newborn girls are often thrown up, but among the ancient Arabs they were buried alive: Koran LXXXVIII, 8. Ezek.16:6. And I passed by you and saw you trampled underfoot in your blood, and I said to you: “Live in your blood!” So, I told you: “Live in your blood!” As if by chance and because I had to go to that place, God found Israel; This humanoid representation conveys the idea that God had no need for this people (contrary to the popular belief that the glory of God is inseparable from the fate of Israel) and no reason to seek them. - “In your blood” - in bleeding from not removing the umbilical cord, disastrous for a barely struggling life. - “Live in your blood.” Despite the bleeding, live. The divine “live” stands in sharp contrast to the intention of the child’s parents. The repetition brings out the greatness of this work of God. Ezek.16:7. He has multiplied you like the plants of the field; you have grown and become big, and have achieved excellent beauty: your breasts have risen and your hair has grown; but you were naked and uncovered. "Multiplied you". An indication of the rapid multiplication of Israel in Egypt, and a deviation is made from the allegory, hitherto strictly adhered to: it cannot be said of the child that it has multiplied. - “Like field plants.” Poetic comparison. “Achieved excellent beauty”, lit. "beauties of beauties." Although this is the conjectural and doubtful meaning of the Hebrew word "adi" used here; and one cannot expect any talk about natural beauty here (that’s why they suggest reading “addim”, “menstruation”). LXX changed Dalet to Rosh and it turned out: “You entered into the cities of cities,” that is, the main cities - again a direct, non-allegorical indication of the settlement of Israel in Egyptian cities. - “The hair... has grown.” Long hair is a sign of mature femininity. “Naga and uncovered” (in Hebrew, alliteration: erom - ereya), as Bedouin children usually walk. Ezek.16:8. And I passed by you and saw you, and behold, it was your time, the time of love; and I stretched out My garments over you, and covered your nakedness; And I swore to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became Mine. “And I passed by you” is secondary. As can be seen from what follows, the depiction of the second period in God’s relationship with Israel begins, when the Sinai covenant was concluded between them. – “Time of love”, i.e. maturity sufficient for marriage; in relation to Israel - sufficient to conclude a covenant of national development. Slav.: “the time of the soaring” - messages with men (Blessed Jerome). - “And I stretched out My garments over you” - a marriage ceremony (Ruth 3.9). - “Swore.” When getting engaged, they took an oath. - “Joined the union”, glory. “testament”, i.e. Sinai. Ezek.16:9. I washed you with water and washed away your blood and anointed you with oil. “Blood” of verse 6, which is thought of as permanently attached uncleanness. An undoubted indication of the purifying sacrifices of the Sinai legislation. - “I anointed you with oil” - a wedding custom, cf. Ruth 3.3 with Esther 2.12; Judith. 10.3; Wed whole verse from Eph 5.25–26. Ezek.16:10. And he put on you a patterned robe, and shod you with morocco sandals, and girded you with fine linen, and covered you with a silk coverlet. “Patterned dress”, fame. “variegated” - clothes woven in different colors, gold, silver, which are still in use in Egypt; expensive fabric (Judges 5.30; Ezek.27:7, 16, 24), worn mainly by royalty (Ps. 44.15; Ezek.26.16; cf. explanation to Ezek.17.3). – “Maffia sandals; glory “scarlet”, i.e. wearing red shoes. Both are tentative translations of the Hebrew. “tahash”, meaning, as in Exodus 25.5 etc. (see explanation there) high quality skin of some kind of sea animal (maybe from the fauna of the Red Sea; hardly a seal or dolphin, because their skin is hard); the dignity of the leather can be judged by its use for the coverings of the tabernacle, to which there may be a hint here. - “I girded you with fine linen.” The Hebrew verb “havash” gives the idea not of a belt, but of a headband; fine linen headbands, like tunics, were priestly vestments, and of course it is not insignificant that the bride of Jehovah dresses either in royal (“variegated” and silk) or in sacred materials (morocco and fine linen). – “Silk” is a tentative (according to Rashi and other rabbis) meaning only here and in Art. 13 of the word “mesh” used; the question is whether silk was known to the Jews at the time of the prophet Ezekiel. Slav. "trichapton", a word, according to the explanation of the blessed. Jerome, compiled by the LXX to designate a fabric made of threads, in fineness not inferior to hair (θριξ, “hair”, and ‘απτομαι, to touch). The bride was covered with such a veil from head to toe (the same as our veil). Ezek.16:11. And he dressed you in finery, and put your wrists on your hands and a necklace on your neck. Ezek.16:12. And he gave you a ring for your nose and earrings for your ears and a beautiful crown for your head. The description of women's outfits, the jewelry itself, is, of course, taken from reality, which is also proven by the similarity with Hosea 2.13 and Isaiah 3.16–22. But there is no mention of a crown; if he does not indicate here the royal dignity of the bride of God, then the present place may indicate that the crown at that time was already an accessory to the marriage. The “necklace” is named by the same word that denotes the chain placed by Pharaoh on Joseph (“ravid” Gen. 41.42); it must have been a chain of double or triple gold thread, set with precious stones, and descending from the neck to the chest. That earrings were also worn on the nose is evident from Proverbs 11.22; Isa 3.20. Jewels signify the prosperity and wealth of the Jews under David and Solomon, when the people became a kingdom (crown and chain). Ezek.16:13. So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was fine linen and silk and embroidered fabrics; You ate bread made from the best wheat flour, honey and oil, and you were extremely beautiful and achieved royal greatness. A brief repetition of the legend about the outfits. - “You ate bread... honey and oil.” Interesting data about the usual food of noble women is very simple; no mention of meat; perhaps because it alludes to the natural productions of Palestine. - “Achieved royal greatness.” The allusion is that Israel only in the course of time passed into kingship; LXX is omitted, but hardly for political reasons, as they think. Ezek.16:14. And your glory spread through the nations because of your beauty, because it was completely perfect in the splendid attire that I placed on you, says the Lord God. Of course, mainly a visit to the Queen of Sheba. It is insistently pointed out that the Jewish people owe all their glory to Jehovah. Ezek.16:15. But you trusted in your beauty, and, taking advantage of your glory, you began to commit fornication and squander your fornication on everyone who passed by, giving yourself to him. “Began to fornicate.” This is how Hosea first called Israel’s idolatry, which was a violation of the covenant with God. Idolatry among the Jews began to spread especially quickly due to the wide relations that arose during the period of Israel’s greatest glory with the surrounding pagan peoples and the passion for their culture. - “She wasted her fornication on everyone who passed by.” This refers to the custom of the then harlots to wait for visitors on the streets (Gen. 38.14; Jer. 3.2). The comparison was even more applicable to Israel, since in Palestine there was the main branch of the trade roads of Western Asia (Krechm.). Ezek.16:16. And she took from your garments, and made herself heights of many colors, and committed fornication on them, as never has happened or will ever happen. "Colorful Heights". The hills on which idolatry was practiced are called “high places” everywhere in the Old Testament; and here, as they think, it is called a tent on such hills for idolatry; such tents were probably set up mainly for the service of Asherah (more precisely: Asherah), which was accompanied by debauchery and revelry; Wed 2 Kings 23.7 Heb. t. Am 2.8; see explanation. Ezek.23.7; they were probably hung and covered with multi-colored carpets or made of colorful fabrics. Pathetically, it seems that these colorful tents are sewn from scraps of the clothes in which Jehovah clothed his bride. But it is possible that by “multi-colored heights” here we mean not tents, but something else: striped altars (Kimkhi), idols (glorified: “knitted idols”), vestments for idols (cf. 2 Kings 23.7) or some kind of bed for idolatry (Krechm.). - “As it will never happen and never will.” With all this, Israel showed unprecedented unfaithfulness to God, which will not be repeated in the future; but this is a conjectural translation of an obscure Hebrew expression; glory “and you will not see it, and it will not be”, i.e. From now on you will not enter the idols to commit fornication before you, and this will not happen: God will put an end to idolatry. Ezek.16:17. And she took your fine clothes from My gold and from My silver, which I gave you, and made for herself images of men, and committed fornication with them. "Male Images". Since Jerusalem is represented in the guise of an adulterous woman, the idols in relation to her are considered as men with whom she commits fornication; but, being soulless, idols can only be compared with images of men. They also find in these words an indication of a phallic cult, which, they think, of course, is also found in Isaiah 57.8 (“memory” in Hebrew is consonant with “man”) and Ezek.8.17. Ezek.16:18. And she took thy patterned garments, and clothed them with them, and set My oil and My incense before them, The idols were dressed, but, in addition, perhaps on solemn occasions they were dressed in expensive clothes - “purple and hyacinth”: Jer 10.9. Ezek.16:19. and My bread which I gave you, the wheat flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, you set before them as a pleasant aroma; and it was, says the Lord God. “Bread” is a common name for the three products listed below... “She set it before them as a pleasant incense,” that is, she burned it as a sacrifice. Ezek.16:20. And she took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to Me, and sacrificed them to eat. Was it not enough for you to commit fornication? The prophet sees the height of Israel's iniquity in human sacrifices: not only the soulless gifts that Israel owes to God, he brings to idols, but also the living children of God, that is, the young generation (young people full of life and strength were used for human sacrifices, on the grounds that they would make more pleasant food for the gods), which could and should be raised for God and serving Him. Human sacrifices among the Jews became widespread (Isaiah 57.5) from the time of Ahaz (2 Kings 16.3), therefore, from the time of the closest contact with the Assyrians, they intensified under Manasseh (2 Kings 21.6); they came to Israel from the Canaanites, but were also used by the Moabites (2 Kings 3.27) and Syrians (2 Kings 17.31); They were performed mainly in honor of Moloch, but in places like Micah 6.6; Jer 7:31 Wed. Ezekiel 20.26 seems to indicate that such sacrifices, contrary to the clear prohibition of the law of Moses, were offered to Jehovah - “For their consumption” is a strong expression. - “Was it not enough for you to commit fornication?” Human sacrifices were unexpected on the part of Israel and after all their abominations. Ezek.16:21. But you also slaughtered My sons and gave them to them, causing them to pass through the fire. Repetition from a strong feeling of grief and regret. “My sons” - in the sense of children in general and because male sacrifices were preferred to female ones. "Toughened". Victims of earlier burnings were killed. - “Seeing them off.” Not added in the original text: “through fire” because the word has become technical. Ezek.16:22. And with all your abominations and your fornications, you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and uncovered and thrown in your blood to be trampled under foot. It represents a preliminary conclusion to the reckoning of the iniquities of Jerusalem through a reminder of the former state of Israel - not of its former piety, as Hosea and Jeremiah would have done, but of the helplessness from which the love of Jehovah saved it. Israel's ingratitude increases the severity of her iniquities. Ezek.16:23. And after all your atrocities, woe, woe to you! says the Lord God, These iniquities already deserve God’s curse; but their counting is far from over, and what follows is even more difficult and more worthy of punishment. Indeed, in the last times of the Kingdom of Judah, pagan cults began to spread to an unprecedented extent, and it was the sins of Manasseh according to Jeremiah that caused the destruction of Jerusalem. This sufficiently explains the exclamation “woe, woe.” Ezek.16:24. You have built for yourself whorehouses and made for yourself elevations in every square; “Whoredom”, glory. more precisely, a “church of fornication”, i.e. churches for religious prostitution; “elevation”, glory. “positions”, i.e. something like altars in open and high places for the same vile purpose, so that they can be seen from afar by everyone (Blessed Jerome). But both words are presumptive translations of Hebrew words, of which the meaning of the first is unknown (gai from the root “elevation”, “vault”, like the Latin fornicare from fornix, “cave”, which in ancient times served as a common place of prostitution), and the second means “hill”, “elevation” for the altar or the altar itself. Therefore, if the first word has a connotation of its meaning of “fornication,” then by “fornication” one can generally understand pagan temples, so named because in them Israel betrayed the covenant with Jehovah. Such an understanding will be more reliable because although dissolute cults (for example, Astarte, perhaps Isis) found followers in Israel, but from the book. Jeremiah and Kings are not seen to have reached such a development in Judea as would be implied by the literal meaning of the present expressions. - “In every square.” Urban, even predominantly metropolitan, idolatry is described, whereas previously it was provincial. The expression is reminiscent of the speech of the Apostle Paul in the Areopagus about the many altars in Athens: excessive passion for foreign cults appears in an era of national decay (decadence). The prophet refers mainly to the last century of the kingdom of Judah (from Ahaz), but the expression can also cover the previous period. Ezek.16:25. at the beginning of every road you have built for yourself exaltations, you have disgraced your beauty, you have spread out your legs for everyone to pass by, and you have multiplied your fornications. “At the beginning of every road” - on street corners, more crowded and prominent parts of the city; Wed Ezek.11.13. - “Spread her legs.” Realism, for which the simplicity of the ancients is not rightly condemned without the corruption of their imagination. Ezek.16:26. She committed fornication with the sons of Egypt, your neighbors, tall men, and multiplied your fornications, angering Me. "She fornicated with the sons of Egypt." Having painted a picture of the modern idolatry of Israel, the prophet now gives a brief historical outline of it (vv. 26-29), listing those cults that Israel was carried away with one after another. Among them, the first is called the Egyptian cult, and, as Art. 27 shows, the prophet puts this passion for the Egyptian cult, or rather, the beginning of such a hobby back in the period of Egyptian slavery (about which nothing is said in Exodus); but mainly the prophet here has in mind that political attraction to Egypt, which began to be revealed in the last century of the Kingdom of Judah and which was so strongly denounced by Isaiah (Isaiah 23.1), Nahum (Nahum 3.1); Wed OS 7.11; According to the prophet Ezekiel, this political attraction could not but be accompanied by religious sympathies (about which again nothing is positively known from the historical holy books), just as it could not but have deep roots in the ancient history (Egyptian period) of Israel. Instead of “with the gods of Egypt” here with “the sons of Egypt,” perhaps to show the political background of religious hobbies. “Large people”, glory. more precisely: “fleshed out”, with large flesh (i.e. extreme, as shown by the parallel expression in Ezek. 23.20). The sensuality of the Egyptians, to which their monstrous zoolatry was indebted (Blessed Theodoret), turned into a proverb (Krechm.). Ezek.16:27. And behold, I stretched out My hand against you, and reduced what was assigned to you, and gave you over to the daughters of the Philistines who hated you, who were ashamed of your shameful behavior. “I have reduced what was assigned to you” - the limits of the promised land, as the husband seems to have the right to limit the means of support for his unfaithful wife (Exodus 21.10); glory otherwise: “and I will reject your laws,” pagan rituals. - “To the Daughters of the Philistines.” 5 cities of the Philistine pentapolis. Philistine oppression at the end of the period of the judges, not particular facts like Am 1.6ff. Irony: she was looking for men, fell into the hands of women. - “Ashamed.” Faithful pagans could not understand the disloyalty to Jehovah on the part of Israel, or in general the pagans sometimes turned out to be morally higher and purer than Israel; Wed Ezek.3.7; Ezek.5.6; Am 3.9. Ezek.16:28. And you played the harlot with the sons of Asshur and were not satisfied; she fornicated with them, but was not satisfied with that; The admonition had no effect. The alliance with Assyria, accompanied by a passion for its idolatry, began with Ahaz, and sympathy for these eastern monarchies must have prompted Josiah to oppose Necho so unsuccessfully; Wed Jer 2.18, 36. The insatiability of idolatry among Israel is persistently pointed out. Ezek.16:29. and you multiplied your fornications in the land of Canaan to Chaldea, but you were not satisfied with that either. “In the land of Canaan to Chaldea” - more precisely, the glory: “to the land of the Canaanites, the Chaldeans.” Since, after indicating Assyrian idolatry, the historical sequence does not allow us to wait for speech about Canaanite idolatry, but only about Chaldean idolatry, then “Canaanite” is here an epithet for Chaldea, applied to it not for its immorality, as some think, but for trade: cf. Ezek.17.4; Soph 1.11. Chaldean idolatry in Judea is indicated by Eze.8.9 (the cult of Tammuz) and should be Jeremiah 44.11 (service to the “queen of heaven” in Hebrew “meleketh” - Melitta; cf. 2 Kings 23.5); in essence, Chaldean idolatry differs little from Assyrian. Ezek.16:30. How weary your heart must be, says the Lord God, when you did all this like an unbridled harlot! “How weary your heart must be.” Slav.: “what will I do to your heart.” Greek: “as I enter into a covenant with your daughter.” "Like an unbridled harlot". Slav.: “The harlots recovered their health; and thou hast committed fornication with thy daughters" ; the second sentence is another translation (doublet) of the same Hebrew. a word that was first translated “proderzya.” Ezek.16:31. When you built for yourself whorehouses at the beginning of every road and made for yourself high places in every public square, you were not like a harlot, because you rejected gifts, In the fornication (idolatry) of Jerusalem, in the prophet’s opinion, the worst thing was that it was not committed because of the means of subsistence, therefore, could not be justified by hunger, this only justification for hired harlots, but was committed out of love for this matter, therefore, entirely due to moral depravity. Ezek.16:32. but like an adulterous wife who accepts strangers instead of her husband. Adultery is a graver sin than fornication and even prostitution. Ezek.16:33. All harlots are given gifts, and you yourself gave gifts to all your lovers and bribed them so that they would come to you from all sides to fornicate with you. By “gifts” (glorified “hire”, Hebrew letters: “dowry”) we mean both sacrifices to idols and taxes to neighboring peoples or gifts to them to appease them, like Ahaz’s gifts to the king of Damascus. The real allegory of the prophet is conveyed in direct speech in Hosea 8.9. Ezekiel 16:34. In your fornications you were contrary to what happens to women: they did not pursue you, but you gave gifts, but they did not give you gifts; and therefore you acted contrary to others. The description of the sins of Jerusalem, surpassing the sins of other nations, ends. Ezek.16:35. Therefore, hear, O harlot, the word of the Lord! The term “harlot” in this connection is amazing. Ezek.16:36. Thus says the Lord God: Because you lavished your money in this way, and in your fornications your nakedness was revealed before your lovers and before all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your sons which you gave to them - Before the image of God's judgment on the harlot, he gives, as it were, a brief summary of her crimes. "Money" lit. “copper”, which may indicate that the Jews then already had copper money; but they are not mentioned anywhere else. - “For the blood of your sons.” Of the private crimes of Jerusalem, one is named - human sacrifices to idols, as the most serious and as justifying the death punishment of the harlot described below. Ezek.16:37. Therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you delighted and whom you loved, with all those whom you hated, and I will gather them from everywhere against you, and I will uncover your nakedness before them, and they will see all your shame. “Lovers”, glory. “lustster” - the peoples whose idolatry Jerusalem was addicted to. Previously, by lovers the prophet meant idols, so the allegory does not quite hold up. - “Whom I hated” - maybe who got tired of them (Krechm.). For the judgment of Jerusalem, God gathered not only its later allies - the Assyro-Chaldeans, but also its old enemies, the Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites - so that the punishment would be nationwide and complete - “I will reveal my nakedness” - I will disgrace and devastate the country. – Wed. Nahum 3.5; OS 2.5, 12. Ezekiel 16:38. I will judge you with the judgment of adulterers and bloodshedters, and I will give you over to bloody rage and jealousy; “The judgment of adulterers” - stoning (Deut. 22.24) “and those who shed blood” - also death (Gen. 9.6; Ex. 21.12). “As the harlot was stoned, so Jerusalem was broken with stones from the Chaldean catapults” (Grotius). The shedding of blood is most closely related to human sacrifice. - “Bloody rage and jealousy”, glorious, more precisely: “in the blood of rage and zeal”. God is compared to a husband whose jealousy is carried to a degree requiring bloody satisfaction. Rage is for murder, jealousy is for treason. Ezek.16:39. I will deliver you into their hands, and they will destroy your whorehouses, and scatter your high places, and tear off your clothes, and take your finery, and leave you naked and uncovered. “Whoredoms” and “exaltations”, see explanation. Art. 24. – “They will tear your clothes from you... and leave you naked and uncovered.” It seems that harlots and adulteresses were placed naked in the pillory as punishment; Wed Maybe OS 2.3. Ezek.16:40. And they will call an assembly against you, and stone you, and cut you in pieces with their swords. "Meeting", Heb. "kagal". The execution was the work of the people's assembly, because the sin was directed against the existence, the spiritual integrity of the people. - “They will cut you with their swords.” This refers to the execution practiced by the Chaldeans and other eastern peoples by cutting the body into two, dichotomy Dan 2:5, 3:96; Matthew 24.51; Lk 12.46, execution, probably imposed for adultery in any violation of oath obligations, which explains the ritual at the conclusion of the covenant - the dissection of animals in Gen 15.10; They must have dissected a corpse, and not a living person (Judges 19.29; 1 Samuel 11.7 and this place). Allegories point to the invasion of the Chaldeans (cf. Isa 8.7, etc.), the breaking of the walls of Jerusalem during the siege and the beating of the inhabitants. Ezek.16:41. They will burn your houses with fire and execute judgment on you in the sight of many women; And I will put an end to your fornication, and you will no longer give gifts. “They will burn your houses with fire.” The houses and property of idolaters were ordered to be burned (Deut. 13.16); especially serious criminals were also subjected to burning - such as an incestuous man with his wife’s mother (Lev. 20.14), a priest’s fornicating daughter (Lev. 21.9) - all this so that no soulless thing would remain on earth to defile it; The real punishment, fulfilled in the burning of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, has the same meaning. - “Before the eyes of many women,” that is, neighboring peoples, as a warning example; the punishment of the harlot was especially aggravated by the presence of women with her - “You will no longer give gifts.” With the loss of independence, Jerusalem will not be able to maintain wicked relations with pagan nations. Ezek.16:42. And I will satisfy My anger over you, and My indignation will depart from you, and I will calm down, and I will no longer be angry. With the punishment of Judea, the wrath of God will, as it were, be exhausted and subside altogether, completely and without regard (deep thought); As for Israel, God will no longer be angry with him for his sins, which will deprive him (at least for a while) of his special election, just as a husband cannot be jealous of his dismissed wife: “And My indignation will depart from you” according to Heb. "My jealousy." Ezek.16:43. Because you did not remember the days of your youth and irritated Me with all this, behold, I will turn your behavior on your head, says the Lord God, so that you no longer indulge in debauchery after all your abominations. The justification for the punishment just described: the main fault of Jerusalem is in the previous blessings of God to him, by neglecting which he most irritated the Lord. No matter how severe the punishment, it is fair: this is only the behavior of a criminal people, directed at its head (Ezek.9.10). - “So that you do not indulge in debauchery anymore...”. A tentative translation of an obscure Hebrew expression conveyed in the LXX: “and thus you have created wickedness according to all your iniquities.” Ezek.16:44. Behold, anyone who speaks in parables can say about you: “Like a mother, like a daughter.” A lover of proverbs, a prophet, in order to more powerfully and clearly present the wickedness of Jerusalem, in v. 44–58, based on the proverb: “like the mother, like the daughter” (corresponding to ours: “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”; in Hebrew: “keimma bittach”) makes a comparison between Jerusalem, on the one hand, and Samaria and Sodom, on the other... “Mother” of Jerusalem according to Art. 3. - Hittite. Ezek.16:45. You are a daughter after your mother, who abandoned her husband and her children, and you are a sister after your sisters, who abandoned their husbands and their children. Your mother is a Hittite, and your father is an Amorite. “Mother... who abandoned her husband and her children” - according to the blessed one. Theodoret, the Canaanite land, which abandoned its ancient service to the True God (cf. Rom 6), proven by the history of Melchizedek, and sacrificed children to idols. - “In your sisters” - Samaria and Sodom according to Art. 46 and 48. Ezek.16:46. Your elder sister is Samaria, who lives with her daughters on your left; and your youngest sister, who lives on your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. Samaria is called the elder sister of Jerusalem, and Sodom the younger, not because of the antiquity of these cities and kingdoms (then it would be the other way around), but because of the size of the territory and the degree of historical significance. To the left is to the north, to the right is to the south, since the cardinal points are considered from the east, if you turn your face to it. The daughters of Samaria and Sodom are the cities and areas subordinate to them, and the daughters of Sodom can also mean the Ammonite-Moabite cities. Ezek.16:47. But you did not walk in their ways and did not act in their abominations; this was not enough: you acted more depravedly than they in all your ways. “That was not enough” is a supposed translation of an obscure Hebrew. expressions; more correct, it seems, in LXX: παρα μικρον, slav. “not enough”, “almost”. Jerusalem did almost worse than Samaria and Sodom. Indeed, without such a limitation, the accusation might be exaggerated. Ezek.16:48. As I live, says the Lord God; Sodoma your sister did not do the same things she and her daughters did that you and your daughters did. An oath was required because the incredible is being affirmed, cf. Matthew 11.21 etc. “Your sister” is an addition that is strong because it is not necessary. Ezek.16:49. This was the iniquity of Sodom, your sister and her daughters: pride, satiety and idleness, and she did not support the hands of the poor and needy. “Your sisters”, see Art. 48, but here the addition is even more unnecessary. "In pride, satiety and idleness." Greek more precisely: “pride in the abundance (slav. “in abundance”) of bread and in prosperity (slav. “in abundance of wine”) she and her daughters were luxurious.” Pride came precisely from the extraordinary wealth of the country, which caused luxury. The reason given for the death of Sodom is not entirely identical with Genesis, but this is because the prophet speaks about it in application to the Jews and looks at the root of evil. - “She did not support the hands of the poor and the beggar.” The importance the prophet attaches to charity is remarkable. Ezek.16:50. And they became proud and did abominable things before Me, and when I saw this, I rejected them. "Abominations". Probably, of course, sodomy. – “When I saw this, I...” This refers to Gen. 18.21 (“I will go down and see”). The punishment followed immediately, and there was no place for long-suffering, which Jerusalem had so abused. Ezek.16:51. And Samaria did not commit half your sins; You have surpassed them in your abominations, and through your abominations that you have done, your sisters have been more righteous than you. Much less is said about Samaria than about Sodom: only 1 2 verses. Indeed, idolatry in the northern kingdom never reached such development and such extremes (human sacrifices) as in the southern one; with the exception of the time of Ahab, the worship of Jehovah prevailed there only under the guise of calves. That Samaria was better than Jerusalem was especially painful for the pride of the Jews, who considered the rapid fall of the Kingdom of Israel as a clear sign of God’s disfavor towards it in general and in itself. - “They turned out to be more right than you.” Slav. more precisely: “you justified your sisters” - in a relative sense, of course: the sins of Jerusalem made it possible to see the sins of Sodom and Samaria in a softer light. Ezek.16:52. Bear your shame also, you who condemned your sisters; for your sins, with which you have disgraced yourself more than them, they are more right than you. Turn red with shame, and bear your shame, having justified your sisters. “Shame” is captivity and the shame associated with it. Ezek.16:53. But I will restore their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and among them the captivity of your captives, “I will return captivity” - in relation to Sodom can only mean its restoration. Thus, this passage contains one of the most gratifying predictions about the times of the kingdom of glory, which will not begin until the resurrection of the dead. Only then can Sodom, buried underground, be restored, although, of course, not in its former form, but in another, unknown one. Then only, as this passage in Chap. XXXVII-XLVIII, the prophet awaits the final return from captivity of Judah and Israel. Wed. Isaiah's prophecy about the restoration of Egypt (Isaiah 29.11 etc.). Other understandings of this place weaken all its strength and joy. But one here predicts the entry into the church of pagans, who are represented under the image of Sodom, while Samaria is the image of heretics (Origen, Blessed Jerome, etc.). According to others, Sodom here refers to the Moabites and Ammonites, to whom Jeremiah promises restoration in Jeremiah 48.47 and Jeremiah 49.30. The newest interpreters, rationalists, believe that the opinion about the restoration of Sodom was snatched from Ezekiel for a moment by polemical interests and remained without influence on his subsequent views on future times (in Ezekiel 47 and Ezek. 48 ch.), that it is only a purely logical consequence of the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe restoration of Jerusalem, that the restoration of Sodom for Ezekiel was necessary insofar as its place lay within the boundaries of the promised land of the future. Ezek.16:54. so that you may bear your shame and be ashamed of all that you have done, serving as a consolation for them. "Serving as a consolation for them." – Not because the previously punished nations will be somewhat pleased to see that an even worse people have been found and are punished no less than them, but because the punishment of Jerusalem, which cannot be permanent by the very essence of God’s great promises to Israel, will promise restoration to those nations; but glory: “in My wrath.” Ezek.16:55. And your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, will return to their former state; and Samaria and her daughters will return to their former state, and you and your daughters will return to your former state. “They will return to their previous state” in Greek. αποκατασταθησονται. One of those mysterious predictions from which, among other things, the doctrine of Origen and others arose about αποκαταστασις᾿ e and chiliasm. Ezek.16:57. before your wickedness was revealed, as at the time of shame from the daughters of Syria and all those around her, from the daughters of Philistia, who looked at you with contempt on all sides. “As in the time of shame from the daughters of Syria... from the daughters of Philistia.” Of course, this probably refers to the humiliating attitude of Ahaz towards Syria (and perhaps the wars of the Kingdom of Israel with Syria) and Philistine slavery at the end of the period of the judges. Ezek.16:58. For your depravity and for your abominations you suffer, says the Lord. “You endure.” Present instead of future; but it is appropriate here and in its meaning, since the captivity has already begun; and in glory past: “you bore.” Ezek.16:59. For thus says the Lord God: I will do to you as you did, despising the oath by breaking the covenant. "Breaking the Union". “The unfaithfulness of man cannot change the faithfulness of God, and this is the point of contact between this verse and the promises contained in the following verses” (Keil). Punishment must follow before mercy appears. Justice must be done first. Ezek.16:60. But I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will restore an eternal covenant with you. “But I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth,” that is, the covenant with Abraham and with the people under Moses. Thus, the memory of this covenant, and not anything else, not even the repentance of the people, will be the only reason for the restoration of Israel. Repentance will follow after (v. 61) and God will complete the salvation of Israel before him. A very important idea from a dogmatic point of view. - “Eternal union”, i.e. a union that will never be broken by Israel, which was also predicted by Isaiah (Isaiah 55.3) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31.31; cf. Ezek.34:25, 37:26) and which was realized in Christ, but will be fully realized for all Israel in the times described in Ezek.40 - Ezek.48 ch. It will differ from the previous union in that God, for both parties (Himself and the people), will establish such conditions, the violation of which by the weaker party (the people) would not cause the termination of the covenant (the abolition of the law and the installation of grace in its place), as was the case with the Sinai covenant during the time of Ezekiel (cf. general comments on Chapter I). But this will not be a completely new covenant, but a restoration of the former (Matthew 5.17; Gal 3.17). What Jehovah began then, He will now bring to an end. Ezek.16:61. And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you begin to take to you your sisters greater than you, as well as those less than you, and when I give them to you as daughters, but not from your union. God promises Jerusalem that he will bring different nations under his spiritual influence (cf. Isaiah 60.1), large ones like Samaria and smaller ones like Sodom, and only this will shame Israel so much that it will mark the beginning of its correction. But all this will not be done by virtue of the previous covenant of God with Israel (“not from your covenant” - glory: “but not from your covenant”), the obligations of which did not include such infinite mercy on the part of God. Ezek.16:62. I will restore My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord, “And you will know that I am the Lord,” but not from God’s punishment, as everywhere before (Ezek. 15.7, etc.), but from mercy: therefore, Israel will now recognize God from the other side. In such a long chapter, this is a common expression in Ezekiel only here. Ezek.16:63. so that you remember and are ashamed, and so that you cannot open your mouth in shame in the future, when I forgive you everything that you have done, says the Lord God. God's infinite mercy will produce in Israel the deepest repentance, and, consequently, correction. But one cannot fail to notice how different this promise is from the promise of Christians, how different is the mood of converted Israel predicted here from the joyful mood of a Christian. Thus, what God gave turned out to be even greater than what He promised. Perhaps the prophetic contemplation of the Old Testament man was not able to penetrate the bright depths of the reborn Christian soul. However, we must not forget that the prophet has the need to describe here only the future repentance of the new Israel. You might be interested in: