A. M. 3410. Tarquinii Prisci, EZEKIEL. of the apostate Israelites which I have given to the fire | ye shall know that I am the LORD, 7 And I will set my face e against them they shall go out from one them. 8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have fire, and another fire shall devour them; f and trespass, saith the Lord God. A. M. 3410 OL XLVI. 3 Anno Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., 23. committed a d Lev. xvii. 10; chap. xiv. 8.- Isa. xxiv. 18.—f Chap. vi,7; | vii. 4; xi. 10; xx. 38, 42, 44.—Heb. trespassed a trespass. will be impossible. It will be to them according to the proverb : The design of this parable is to abate the pride of the Jews; to show them that, in their best estate, they had nothing but what they had received, and therefore deserved nothing; and now, having fallen from all righteousness, they can have no expectation of any thing but judgment unmixed with mercy. Verse 7. They shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them] If they escape the sword, they shall perish by the famine; if they escape the famine, they shall be led away captives. To escape Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim. "Out of the scald, into the flame." Verse 8. They have committed a trespass] They have prevaricated; they are the worst of sinners, and shall have the heaviest of punishments. Can men suppose that it is possible to hide even their dark hearts from God? CHAPTER XVI. In this chapter the mercy of God to Jerusalem, (or the Jewish Church and nation,) is set forth by the em blem of a person that should take up an exposed infant, bring her up with great tenderness, and afterwards marry her, 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, 15-52. But, notwithstanding these her heinous provocations, God promises, after she should suffer due correction, to restore her again to his favour, 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. A. M. 3410. B. C. 594. OL. XLVI. 3.- Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., 23. nations, AGAIN the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, a cause Jerusalem to know her abomi Chap. xx. 4; xxii. 2; xxxiii. 7, 8, 9. Verse 2. Cause Jerusalem to know her abominations] And such a revelation of impurity never was seen before or since. Surely the state of the Jews, before the Babylonish captivity, was the most profligate and corrupt of all the nations of the earth. This chapter contains God's manifesto against this most abominable people; and although there are many metaphors here, yet all is not metaphorical. Where there was so much idolatry, there must have been adulteries, fornications, prostitutions, and lewdness of every description. The description of the prophet is sufficiently clear, except where there is a reference to ancient and obsolete customs. What a description of crimes! The sixth satire of Juvenal is its counterpart. General remarks are all that a commentator is justified in bestowing on this very long, very circumstantial, and caustic invective. For its key, see on the thirteenth and sixty-third verses. Verse 3. Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan] It would dishonour Abraham to say C b Heb. cutting out, or habitation. Chap. xxi. 30.—d Ver. 45. that you sprung from him: ye are rather Canaanites than Israelites. The Canaanites were accursed; so are ye. Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.] These tribes were the most famous, and probably the most corrupt, of all the Canaanites. So Isaiah calls the princes of Judah rulers of Sodom, chap. i. 10; and John the Baptist calls the Pharisees a generation or brood of vipers, Matt. iii. 7. There is a fine specimen of this kind of catachresis in Dido's invective against Æneas:— Nec tibi Diva parens, generis nec Dardanus auctor, "False as thou art, and more than false, forsworn ; DRYDEN. The wretched and exposed A. M. 3410. OL. XLVI. 3. R. Roman., 23. CHAP. XVI. e infant taken up and educated. 1 A. M. 3410. Anno Ol. XLVI. 3. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., 23. 4 And as for thy nativity, in 8 Now when I passed by thee, the day thou wast born, thy navel and looked upon thee, behold, thy Tarquinii Prisci, was not cut, neither wast thou time was the time of love; and washed in water to supple thee; I spread my skirt over thee, and thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto 5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. but thou wast cast out in the open field, to 9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I the loathing of thy person, in the day that throughly washed away thy "blood from thee thou wast born. and I anointed thee with oil. 6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. 7 I have i caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. e Hos. ii. 3.- fOr, when I looked upon thee. Or, trodden under foot.- Exod. i. 7.- Heb. made thee a million.- Heb. ornament of ornaments. This is strong: but the invective of the prophet exceeds it far. It is the essence of degradation to its subject; and shows the Jews to be as base and contemptible as they were abominable and disgusting. 12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and ear-rings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. 13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and 1 Ruth iii. 9.—m Exod. xix. 5; Jer. ii. 2. Heb. bloods. • Gen. xxiv. 22, 47.- - Prov. i. 9.- - Heb. nose; see Isa. in. 21. Verse 6. I said-Live] I received the exposed child from the death that awaited it, while in such a state as rendered it at once an object of horror, and also of compassion. -Modo primos Edere vagitus, et adhuc a matre rubentem. Verse 8. Was the time of love] Thou wast marriageable. I spread my skirt over thee] I espoused thee. This was one of their initiatory marriage ceremonies. See Ruth iii. 9. I-entered into a covenant with thee] Married thee. Espousing preceded marriage. Verse 10. I clothed thee also with broidered work] Cloth on which various figures, in various colours, were wrought by the needle. Verse 4. As for thy nativity, &c.] This verse refers to what is ordinarily done for every infant on its birth. The umbilical cord, by which it received all its nourishment while in the womb, being no longer necessary, is cut at a certain distance from the abdomen on this part a knot is tied, which firmly uniting the sides of the tubes, they coalesce, and incarnate bgether. The extra part of the cord on the outside of the ligature, being cut off from the circulation by which it was originally fed, soon drops off, and the part where the ligature was is called the navel. In many places, when this was done, the infant was plunged into cold water; in all cases washed, and sometimes with a mixture of salt and water, in order With badgers' skin] See Exod. xxv. 5. The same to give a greater firmness to the skin, and constringe kind of skin with which the tabernacle was covered. the pores. The last process was swathing the body, Fine linen] vv beshesh, with cotton. I have seen to support mechanically the tender muscles till they cloth of this kind enveloping the finest mummies. should acquire sufficient strength to support the body. I covered thee with silk.] D meshi. But among savages this latter process is either wholly bably the produce of the silk-worm. neglected, or done very slightly and the less it is Verse 12. I put a jewel on thy forehead] done, the better for the infant; as this kind of unna-al appech, upon thy nose. This is one of the most tural compression greatly impedes the circulation of common ornaments among ladies in the east. Eurothe blood, the pulsation of the heart, and the due in- pean translators, not knowing what to make of a ring flation of the lungs; respiration, in many cases, being in the nose, have rendered it, a jewel on thy forehead rendered oppressive by the tightness of these ban- or mouth, (though they have sometimes a piece of gold dages. or jewel fastened to the centre of their forehead.) I have already spoken of this Asiatic custom, so often referred to in the sacred writings: see Gen. xxiv. 22, 42; Exod. xxxii. 2; Job xlii. 11; Prov. xi. 22; Isa. iii. 21; Hos. ii. 13. Verse 5. Thou wast cast out in the open field] This is an allusion to the custom of some heathen and barbarous nations, who exposed those children in the open fields to be devoured by wild beasts who had any kind of deformity, or whom they could not support. Very pro by Verse 13. Thus wast thou decked, &c.] The Tar The ingratitude and A. M. 3410. B. C. 594. OL. XLVI. 3. Anno EZEKIEL. wickedness of the infant silver; and thy raiment was of | thee, and madest to thyself ima- Tarquinii Prisci, Work; thou didst eat fine flour, 8 R. Roinan., 23. and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. y A. M. 3410. B. C. 594. OL. XLVI. 3. Anno Tarquinii Prisci, 18 And tookest thy broidered R. Roman., 23. garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them. 14 And thy renown went forth among the 19 My meat also which I gave thee, fine heathen for thy beauty for it was perfect flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed through my comeliness, which I had put thee, thou hast even set it before them for a upon thee, saith the Lord GOD. sweet savour and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD. u 15 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. 20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, 21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them? 22 And in all thine abominations and thy chap. vii. 20; Hos. ii. 8.- Heb. of 2 Kings xxiii. 7; male.-y Hos. ii. 8.3; Psa. cvi. 37, 38; Isa. xx. 26; xxiii. 37. Heb. a savour of rest.—2 Kings xvi. lvii. 5; Jer. vii. 31; xxxii. 35; chap Heb. to devour. gum understands all this of the tabernacle service, the the same may be said of the language by which such book of the law, the sacerdotal vestments, &c. Thou didst prosper into a kingdom.] Here the figure explains itself: by this wretched infant, the low estate of the Jewish nation in its origin is pointed out; by the growing up of this child into woman's estate, the increase and multiplication of the people; by her being decked out and ornamented, her tabernacle service, and religious ordinances; by her betrothing and consequent marriage, the covenant which God made with the Jews; by her fornication and adulteries, their apostasy from God, and the establishment of idolatrous worship, with all its abominable rites; by her fornication and whoredoms with the Egyptians and Assyrians, the sinful alliances which the Jews made with those nations, and the incorporation of their idolatrous worship with that of Jehovah; by her lovers being brought against her, and stripping her naked, the delivery of the Jews into the hands of the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans, who stripped them of all their excellencies, and at last carried them into captivity. This is the key to the whole of this long chapter of metaphors ; and the reader will do well to forget | the figures, and look at the facts. The language and figures may in many places appear to us exceptionable but these are quite in conformity to those times and places, and to every reader and hearer would appear perfectly appropriate, nor would engender either a thought or passion of an irregular or improper kind. Custom sanctions the mode, and prevents the abuse. Among naked savages irregular passions and propensities are not known to predominate above those in civilized life. And why? Because such sights are customary, and therefore in themselves innocent. And states and circumstances of life are described. Had Ezekiel spoken in such language as would have been called chaste and unexceptionable among us, it would have appeared to his auditors as a strange dialect, and would have lost at least one half of its power and effect. Let this be the prophet's apology for the apparent indelicacy of his metaphors; and mine, for not entering into any particular discussion concerning them. See also on ver. 63. Verse 15. Thou didst trust in thine own beauty} Riches, strength, alliances, &c.; never considering that all they possessed came from God; therefore it was his comeliness which he had put upon them. Witness their original abject state, and the degree of eminence to which they had arrived afterwards through the protecting power of God. Verse 17. And madest to thyself images of men] tsalmey zachar, male images. Priapi are here meant, which were carried about in the ceremonies of Osiris, Bacchus, and Adonis; and were something like the lingam among the Hindoos. Herodotus, lib. ii, c. 48, 49, gives us an account of these male images: Πηχυαία αγαλματα νευρόσπαστα, τα περιφορέουσα κατά κώμας και γυναίκες, νεύον το αιδοιον, ου πολλῳ τες έλασσον εον του άλλου σώματος. This was done at the worship of Bacchus in Egypt: and they who wish to see more may consult Herodotus as above. In this phallic worship the women were principally concerned. Verse 18. Hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.] It appears that they had made use of the holy vestments, and the different kinds of offerings which belonged to the Lord, to honour their idols, Verse 21. To cause them to pass through the fire] The ingratitude and A. M. 3410. R. Roman., 23. с CHAP. XVI. woman; punishment of the infant. A. M. 3410. Tarquinii Prisci, whoredoms thou hast not re-work of an imperious whorish membered the days of thy youth, a when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood. 23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (wo, wo unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;) 24 That thou hast also built unto thee an feminent place, and hast made thee a high place in every street. 31 In that P thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as a harlot, in that thou scornest hire; 25 Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms. 26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger. 27 Behold, therefore, I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way. 28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. 29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan "unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith. 30 How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the e Jer. ii. 2; ver. 43, 60; Hos. xi. 1. d Ver. 4, 5, 6. Ver. 31. Or, brothel house.- Isa. lvii. 5, 7; Jer. ii. 20; iii. 2. Prov. ix. 14. Chap. viii. 10, 14; xx. 7, 8; xxiii. 19, 20, 21.- -k2 Chron. xxviii. 18, 19; ver. 57. Or, cities. Bp. Newcome quotes a very apposite passage from Dionysius Halicarnass. Ant. Rom. lib. i., s. 88, p. 72, and marg. p. 75, Edit. Hudson: Mera de rouro, tugκαΐας προ των σκηνων γενεσθαι κέλευσας, εξαγει τον λέων τας φλόγας ὑπερθρωσκοντα, της όσιωσεως των μιασματων Evexa." And after this, having ordered that fires should be made before the tents, he brings out the people to leap over the flames, for the purifying of their pollutions." This example shows that we are not always to take passing through the fire for being entirely consumed by it. Among the Israelites this appears to have been used as a rite of consecration. Verse 24. Thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place] gab, a stew or brothel; Vulg. lupanar; Septuag. oxua Topvikov. So my old MS. Bible, a bordel house. "Thou hast builded thy stewes and bordell houses in every place."-Coverdale's Bible, 1535. Bordel is an Italian word: how it got so early 32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband! 33 They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom. 34 And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.. 35 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD: 36 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them; 37 Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness. mn 2 Kings xvi. 7, 10; 2 Chron. xxviii. 23; Jer. ii. 18, 36. n Chap. xxiii. 11, &c. Or. in thy daughters is thine, &c. P Ver. 24, 39.- Isa. xxx. 3; Hos. viii. 9.- Heb. bribest. Ver. 20; Jer. ii. 34. Jer. xiii. 22, 26; Lam. i. 8; chap. xxiii. 9, 10, 22, 29; Hos. ii. 10; viii. 10; Nah. iii. 5. into our language I know not. Our modern word brothel is a corruption of it. Diodati translates, Tu hai edificato un bordello, "Thou hast built a brothel." Houses of this kind were of a very ancient date. Verse 26. Great of flesh] The most extensive idolaters. Bene vasatis-longa mensura incognita nervi.-Juv. Sat. ix. 34. This is the allusion. Verse 27. Have diminished thine ordinary] p chukkech means here the household provision made for a wife-food, clothing, and money. Verse 36. Thy filthiness was poured out] nechushtech. As this word signifies a sort of metal, (brass,) it is generally supposed to mean money. They had given money literally to these heathen nations to procure their friendship and assistance; but the word also means verdigris, the poisonous rust of copper or brass. It is properly translated in our version filthiness, poisonous filth. Does it not refer to that vene 38 And I will judge thee, women that break wedlock w shed blood are judged; and I R. Roman., 23. will give thee blood in fury and jealousy. Tarquinii Prisci, fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more. A. M. 3410. Tarquinii Prisci, 45 Thou art thy mother's daughter, that loathed her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite. 46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy 'younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. 47 Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but 41 And they shall burn thine houses with as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways. 48 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. 49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, Pfulness of bread, and abundance of idleness, was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. h 50 And they were haughty, and a committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away, as I saw good. 42 So fwill I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. 43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore, I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations. 51 Neither hath Samaria committed half of 44 Behold, every one that useth proverbs thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine aboa Heb. with judgments of.— Lev. xx. 10; Deut. xxii. 22; Chap. v. 13.- - Ver. 22; Psa. lxxviii. 42. Chap. ix. chap. xxiii. 45. w Gen. ix. 6; Exod. xxi. 12; see ver. 20, 36. 10, 11, 21; xxii. 31.- Ver. 3.- Deut. xxxii. 32; Isa. i. 10. * Ver. 24, 31. -y Chap. xxiii. 26; Hos. ii. 3.- Heb. instru-Heb. lesser than thou. Or, that was loathed as a small thing. ments of thine ornament. Chap. xxiii. 10, 47. John viii. 5,2 Kings xxi. 9; chap. v. 6, 7; ver. 48, 51. Matt. x. 15; xi. 7.- Deut. xiii. 16; 2 Kings xxv. 9; Jer. xxxix. 8; lii. 13. 24. Gen. xiii. 10.4 Gen. xiii. 13; xviii. 30; xix. 5. 4 Chap. v. 8; xxiii. 10, 48.- Chap. xxiii. 27. Le real virus which is engendered by promiscuous con nexions? Verse 39. They shall strip thee also of thy clothesthy fair jewels] Alluding to a lot common enough to prostitutes, their maintainers in the end stripping them of all they had given them. Verse 42. I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. I will completely abandon thee; have nothing more to do with thee; think no more of thee. When God in judgment ceases to reprehend, this is the severest judgment. Verse 43. Thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth] Thy former low beginning, when God made thee a people, who wast no people. He who maintains not a proper recollection of past mercies is not likely to abide steadfast in the faith. Ingratitude to God is the commencement, if not the parent, of many crimes. Verse 44. As is the mother, so is her daughter.] keimmah bittah, "As the mother, her daughAs is the cause, so is the effect. As is the ter." 466 r Gen. xix. 24. m breeding, so is the practice. A silken purse cannot be made out of a swine's ear. What is bred in the bone seldom comes out of the flesh. All such proverbs show the necessity of early holy precepts, supported by suitable example. Verse 46. Thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left] It is supposed that the prophet by Sodom in this place means the Israelites that dwelt beyond Jordan, in the land of the Moabites and Ammonites; or rather of the Moabites and Ammonites themselves. Literally, Sodom could not be called the younger sister of Jerusalem, as it existed before Jerusalem had a name. In looking east from Jerusalem, Samaria was on the left, and Sodom on the right hand; that is, the first was on the north, the second on the south of Jerusalem. Verse 49. This was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom] If we are to take this place literally, Sodom was guilty of other crimes besides that for which she appears to have been especially punished; in addition to her unnatural crime, she is charged with pride, luxury, idle( 30* ) |