The apostacy of Judah and CHAPTER XXIII. Jerusalem from God. A. M. 3412. wall, the images of the Chaldeans || alienated from her, like as my mind A. M. 3412. portrayed with vermilion, B. C. 592. 15 Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in died attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity: 8 was alienated from her sister. B. C. 592. 19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. 20 For she doted upon their paramours, 16" And as soon as she saw them with her whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messen-issue is like the issue of horses. gers unto them into Chaldea. 21 Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth. 22 8 Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side; 10 Heb. loosed, or, disjointed.—P Jeremiah vi. 8.-9 Verse 3. r Chap. xvi. 26.- Chap. xvi. 37; Verse 28. being still continued with the foregoing verse. The meaning is, She was open and notorious in her lewd Then my mind was alienated from her-As she, by her idolatries, had broken all the bonds of duty and allegiance whereby she was engaged to me, a sin often compared to a wife's disloyalty toward her -Added to the number of her idolatries; for when she saw men portrayed, &c.—These were probably || the pictures of those deified heroes, whom the Chal-practices, and in the highest degree shameless. deans worshipped as gods; such were Bel, Nebo, and Merodach, mentioned Isa. xlvi. 1; Jer. 1. 2. Calmet, however, understands the words in a different sense, paraphrasing them thus: "Before she had seen the Assyrians, upon the bare relation concern-husband, so I withdrew my love and affection from ing them, or upon the painting only which was made of them, her passion was inflamed toward them." Girded with girdles upon their loins-A girdle was a mark of dignity, and worn as such by princes and men in authority. In died attire upon their heads --Houbigant reads, Having their heads bound with a died tiara, or turban. The Chaldeans, and afterward the Persians, wore a sort of turban upon their heads, died of different colours, and with different degrees of ornaments, according to their different qualities. As soon as she saw them, she doted upon them-These images pleased her so much, that she sent to Babylon to learn the manner how their idols were to be worshipped: see verses 40, 41; chap. xvi. 17. This, Lowth thinks, relates to those times when a correspondence was maintained between the cities of Babylon and Jerusalem, after that Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Judea, and made it a tributary kingdom, in the beginning of the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Verses 17-20. And the Babylonians came to her, &c.-The metaphor of representing idolatry by the inordinate lust of adultery is still carried on. And her mind was alienated from them--She quickly grew weary of these also, as lewd women are of their former gallants, and look out for new ones. She broke her league and covenant with them, as St. Jerome very well expresses the sense; meaning that covenant which Jehoiakim made with Nebuchadnezzar to be his tributary, and which was afterward renewed by Zedekiah. So she discovered, or, after she discovered, her whoredoms-The sense VOL. III. ( 42 ) || || her, and resolved to give her a bill of divorce, as the Prophet Jeremiah expresses it, and not own her any more as mine, as I had cast off her sister Samaria. Yet she multiplied, &c.-Though she was fond of new idolatries, she did not forget her old ones, even those which she had learned in Egypt. For she doted upon their paramours-Upon the idols of Egypt, and the impure rites which accompanied their idolatrous worship. This may relate to the time when Zedekiah entered into a new confederacy with Egypt, which made the people fond of admitting the Egyptian idolatries. Whose flesh, &c.— These expressions seem to be made use of, to signify the excess of the Egyptian idolatry. They may likewise metaphorically express the great power and riches of the Egyptians, which made the Jewish people fond of courting their friendship and alliance. Verses 22-24. I will raise up thy lovers against thee, &c.-I will execute my judgments upon thee, by those very Babylonians whose alliance and idolatries thou hast been so fond of, but since hast broken the league thou madest with them, contracting a new one with Egypt, and thereby hast provoked them to revenge thy perfidiousness. Pekod, and Koa, and Shoa, and all the Assyrians with them-The inhabitants of the several provinces of the Babylonish monarchy; for most of the ancients understand these words as names of places. Pekod is mentioned as a province of Babylon, Jer. 1. 21. St. Jerome, however, upon the place, understands these three words, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, in an appellative sense, to denote so many titles, or degrees 3 657 Judgments denounced B. C. 592. t EZEKIEL. A. M. 3412. 23 The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: "all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses. 24 And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee a buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments. 25 And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. 27 Thus will I make thy lewdness A. M. 3419. to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more. 28 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them a whom thou hatest, in the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated: b 29 And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms. 30 I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols. 31 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sis e 26 They shall also strip thee out of thy ter; therefore will I give her cup into thy clothes, and take away thy 11 fair jewels. hand. Jer. 1. 21.- ——— Verse 12.ments of thy decking. Chap. xvi. 39. Heb. instru -y Chap. xvi. 41; xxii. 15. z Verses 3, 19. Chap. xvi. 37. Verse 17.- Chapter chap. xvi. 39. And take away thy fair jewels—All of honour; as much as to say, governors, princes, teresses in Egypt. They shall also strip thee, &c. and great men. In which sense the two former-As lewd, disgraced harlots and captives were used words, Pekod (or Pakud) and Shoa, are confessedly taken in Scripture. All of them desirable young men, &c.—As their riches and bravery made them appear amiable in your eyes when you first courted their alliance, so they shall appear in the same splendid equipage when they come to invade your country and to besiege your city; but then their gallant appearance shall strike a terror and a consternation into you. And they shall come against thee with chariots, &c.--Chariots are mentioned, both by sacred and profane writers, as of principal use in the ancient way of fighting. And I will set judgment before them, &c.-I will deliver thee into their power, as the ministers of my justice, who shall make thy punishments bear a correspondence with thy guilt. || And Verses 28-30. Behold, I will deliver thee, &c.— I will give thee up into the power of the Chaldeans, whom thou wast formerly fond of, verse 22; but since thou hast broken thy league and friendship Verses 25-27. I will set my jealousy against thee, with them, thy love is turned into hatred: see verse &c.-I will be against thee, as a jealous man is 17. They shall deal with thee hatefully, &c.— against his wife; and they shall deal furiously-As thou hast changed thy friendship for them into And they, as the executioners of my wrath, shall || enmity, so shall they deal with thee; their hatred act toward thee as persons provoked to great fury. And they shall take away thy nose, &c.-A punishment of adultery which rage sometimes dictated.|| As husbands in that case render those women deformed whose beauty hath been too pleasing to strangers, so shall the Chaldeans deface all the glories and ornaments of Jerusalem, and after they have slain and carried captive its inhabitants, shall set the city on fire, and reduce it to a heap of ashes. The mutilations mentioned in this verse were common among the Chaldeans. St. Jerome assures us, that they frequently cut off the nose and the ears Verses 31-35. Therefore will I give her cup, &c. of adulterers. And this was practised toward adul-||--I will make thee drink the same bitter draught, or against thee shall be greater than their former love toward thee. This shall prompt them to take a full revenge upon thy perfidiousness, to consume all the fruits of thy labours, and to take away all the wealth thou hast gathered by thine industry. Thy whoredoms shall be discovered-All thy foul and shameful deeds shall be brought to light. I will do these things, because thou hast gone a whoring, &c. I will cause all these things to be done unto thee by the Babylonians, who are the executioners of my anger. 658 ( 42*) 3 The joint wickedness of B. C. 592. CHAPTER XXIII. A. M. 3412. 32 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large; thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much. 33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria. 34 Thou shalt & even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. 35 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms. Samaria and Jerusalem. B. C. 592. 37 That they have committed adul- A. M. 3412. tery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, n whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them. 38 Moreover, this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. 39 For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and lo, P thus have they done in the midst of my house. 40 And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messen 13 36 The LORD said moreover unto me; Songer was sent; and lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, * paintedst thine eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments, of man, wilt thou * judge 12 Aholah and Aholibah? yea, 1 declare unto them their abominations; 1 Chap. xxii. 4, 5.- — ii. 32; . 21; xiii. 25; Nehemiah ix. 26.1 Isa. lviii. 1. Psalm lxxv. 8; Isaiah li. 17. Jer. m Chapter xvi. 38; Verse 45.- Chap. xvi. 20, 21, 36, 45; xx. 26, 31. Chap. xxii. 8. -P2 Kings xxi. 4.- 13 Heb. coming. - Isa. lvii. 9.- Ruth iii. 3.2 Kings ix. 30: Jer. iv. 30. experience the same calamity that has fallen upon of the heinous sins of murder and adultery; and her. God's judgments are often compared to a cup have also caused their sons, &c.-Have caused their of intoxicating liquors, because they astonish men, children, who of right belonged to me, and who and bereave them of common judgment and discre- ought to have been bred up to be my worshippers, tion, and likewise expose them to the scorn and con- to be burned in the fire, by way of sacrifice in honour tempt of their enemies. Thou shalt even drink it to false gods. They have defiled my sanctuary in and suck it out-There shall be no punishment the same day-They have also come directly from which thou shalt not partake of. Thou shalt drink || these idolatrous and abominable rites and sacrifices of the cup of calamity even to the dregs; that which || into my temple, as though they could worship me is the very worst and most bitter: see notes on Psa.|| acceptably when they were thus horribly polluted. lxxv. 8, and Isa. li. 17. Thou shalt break the sherds || And have profaned my sabbaths—Have spent the thereof-People who are quite intoxicated, often in sabbaths, which I appointed to be observed to my their drunken madness break the cups out of which honour alone, in the service and to the honour of they had drunk; therefore by this expression here idols. Or, they profaned them by coming into is meant, that the Jewish people should be, as it God's courts to observe them, immediately after were, driven to madness by the grievous judgments they had defiled themselves by their idolatrous and that should fall upon them. And pluck off thine horrid ceremonies. For when they had slain their own breasts-"Thou shalt tear away thy breasts children to their idols-To my great dishonour, and with the sharp pieces of the broken cup, through the reproach of the human nature; then they came grief and madness."--Bishop Newcome. Or, Thou into my sanctuary-With their hands imbrued, and shalt be in a fury with thyself for having by thine their clothes stained with their children's blood, to own sins brought such grievous calamities upon present themselves before me; expecting acceptthyself. Her breasts are mentioned as the parts ance with me notwithstanding their villanies, as if I which had a principal share in her guilt, according either did not know their wickedness, or did not hate to the allegorical description here given of her idol- || it. And lo, thus have they done in the midst of atries. Because thou hast forgotten me-Because || my house-In the inward part of my temple. Some thou hast not only forsaken my worship, but hast expound the words, of their setting up idols in the showed the utmost contempt of and aversion from very temple, and worshipping them there. me. Therefore bear thou also thy lewdnessTherefore thou shalt suffer the punishment of thy wickedness and idolatry. Verses 36-39. Wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah-That is, Samaria and Jerusalem? The meaning is, Wilt thou not judge, or, Wilt thou not condemn them? That they have committed adultery, and blood is, &c.-That they have been guilty Verses 40-42. And furthermore, ye have sent for men to come from far, &c.-Here the same thing which was spoken of in the former part of the chapter, is mentioned again in other words, namely, their courting the alliances of foreign nations, by complying with their idolatries: and this is set forth under the representation of the several arts which harlots used to recommend themselves to new lovers: The joint ruin of B. C. 592. EZEKIEL. A. M. 3412. 41 And sattest upon a 14stately bed, 44 Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot : so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women. 45 And the righteous men, they shall * judge them after the manner of adulteresses, 14 Heb. honourable.- - Esth. i. 6; Isa. lvii. 7; vi. 4.—————" Proverbs vii. 17; Chapter xvi. 18, 19; 5 Heb. of the multitude of men.- -16 Or, drunkards. her whoredoms.- - Chap. xvi. 38.-y Verse 37. Amos ii. 8; Samaria and Jerusalem. B. C. 592. and after the manner of women that A. M. 3412. 2 18 Heb. for a removing and spoil.- Chap. single them out. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 17, 19; Chap. xxii. 15; Verse 27.-d Deut. xiii. Verse 35.- Chap. xx. 38, 42, 44; xxv. 5. C e Chap. xvi. 40.xvi. 41.- 19 Or, Chap. xxiv. 21. 11; 2 Pet. ii. 6.therefore this may signify the compliance of the Jewish people with the grossest idolatries. Or the meaning may be, that Aholah and Aholibah, the inhabitants of Samaria and Jerusalem, put bracelets upon the hands, and beautiful crowns upon the heads, of such worthless idolaters as the Sabeans of the wilderness were; that is, courted their friendship and alliance with gifts. compare Isa. lvii. 7, 9. For whom thou didst wash thyself-A custom generally practised by women in those countries, before they entertained their lovers. Paintedst thy eyes-It seems to have been their fashion in those days to draw strokes about their eyes, or to colour their eye-brows with black lead. And sattest upon a stately bed-Here the custom of sitting or lying upon beds, at the feasts made in honour of idols, or false gods, seems to be particularly spoken of, as may be inferred from the following words: whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil--That is, whereupon thou hast offered up to idols that incense and oil which ought to have been offered up to me. It was usual, after a sacrifice to idols, for a table well spread to be placed before a couch, and a feast to be partaken of. The lectisternia of the Romans were borrowed from this eastern idolatrous rite, Livy, v. xiii. Houbigant thinks, that by the table here spoken of is meant the altar which Ahaz erected, after the similitude of that which he had seen at Damascus. And a voice of a multitude, &c.--The noise of festivity, and of people assembled together in jollity, was heard all Verses 45-49. And the righteous men, they shall around. It seems their loose mirth, at their meet- judge them—All just judges, yea, all men that have ings in honour of some of their idols, is here par- any sense of common honesty, will condemn their ticularly meant. And with the men of the common conduct, and pronounce them deserving of the punsort were brought Sabeans, &c.—The prophet pro-ishment of adulteresses and murderers. Or, as others ceeds in comparing the idolatries of the Jews to the interpret the words, "As upright magistrates used to practices of lewd women, who prostitute themselves condemn and execute judgment upon adulterers and to all comers, even those of the meanest condition. murderers, so did the prophets, in the name of God, Such were the Sabeans that came from the wilder- denounce sentence against Jerusalem and Samaria; ness, that is, from Arabia, called the desert, where and even the heathen princes, who executed the dwelt the posterity of Seba, mentioned Gen. x. 7. sentence, were more righteous than the apostate Which put bracelets upon their hands, &c.--That sufferers."-Scott. I will bring a company upon is, upon the hands and heads of these two lewd them, &c.-This is spoken of the Babylonians, who women, Aholah and Aholibah. Bracelets and were to plunder and carry away a great part of the crowns were ornaments proper for brides, and were || inhabitants of Jerusalem. And the company shall likewise presented by lovers to their mistresses: and stone them with stones, and despatch them with Verses 43, 44. Then I said unto her that was grown old in adulteries-Aholibah, who had been || long idolatrous. The words import that experience might, before this time, have sufficiently convinced her of the folly of her ways. Will they now commit whoredoms with her?-God is here represented as waiting to see whether that mutability, which is natural to the human race, would not occasion a difference between the Jewish people and their idolatrous allies, and make them grow weary of one another. Yet they went in unto her, &c.-Both Samaria and Jerusalem continued to defile themselves with the idolatries of all the heathen round about them: compare verses 7, 17. Jerusalem compared CHAPTER XXIV. to a boiling pot. swords-Stoning was the punishment of adulterers, all women may be taught not to do after your lewd and putting to death with the sword that of murder- || ness-That is, that all nations may dread defiling ers. The Babylonian army might be properly said themselves with the guilt of your idolatries. For as to be the executioners of both these punishments the kingdoms of Israel and Judah are here described upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as, without doubt, as two women, therefore, by all women here must they killed many of them during the siege by the be meant all nations. And ye shall bear the sins of stones they cast from their engines, and slew many || your idols-Ye shall bear the punishment due to by the sword when they took the city by assault. your sins of idolatry. To bear sin, or iniquity, is Thus will I cause lewdness to cease, &c.--Thus will an expression often used in the Scriptures to signify I put an end to idolatry in the Jewish nation. That undergoing the punishment due to it. CHAPTER XXIV. In this chapter, (1,) By the sign of flesh boiling in a pot are shown the miseries that Jerusalem should suffer during the siege, 1-14. (2) By the sign of Ezekiel's being forbidden to mourn for the sudden death of his wife is shown, that the calamities coming on the Jews should be so astonishing as to exceed all expressions of sorrow, 15–27. B. C. 590. A. M. 3414. AGAIN, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day. C B. C. 590. house, and say unto them, Thus saith A. M. 3414. 4 Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones. 5 Take the choice of the flock, and 1burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, 3 And utter a parable unto the rebellious and let them seeth the bones of it therein. a 2 Kings xxv. 1; Jer. xxxix. 1; lii. 4. b Chap. xvii. 12. Jer. i. 13; Chap. xi. 3.—1 Or, heap. NOTES ON CHAPTER XXIV. phets have uttered or done; nevertheless, still further Verses 1,2. Again, in the ninth year-Namely, of represent to them the destruction coming upon them Jehoiachin's captivity, and of Zedekiah's reign; the by a symbolical action. Set on a pot, &c.-By the word of the Lord came unto me--] ---Namely, in Chal- pot was signified Jerusalem, (under which figure it dea, where the prophet now was, and where, as the is represented, both by this prophet, chap. xi. 3, and words here evidently imply, God gave him notice, by Jeremiah, chap. i. 13,) and by the pieces gathered though many hundreds of miles distant from Jerusa- into it, the different ranks of men gathered into that lem, of Nebuchadnezzar's beginning to lay siege to city, by taking refuge within its walls, when the that city, just at the time when he began to do it. Chaldean army approached to besiege it. By the Saying, The king of Babylon set himself against || water and fire were signified the calamities which Jerusalem-Hebrew, oh, hath set him- they were to suffer. By every good piece, the thigh self, or, as Buxtorf renders it, accedit, vel appropin- || and the shoulder, the wealthiest and chief of the inquat, comes, or approaches, to Jerusalem, Dyhabitants of the land seem to be meant, who would in orn, this self-same day-Namely, this day that flee from their country houses to live in safety in I now speak to thee. Write thee the name of the Jerusalem; and by the choice bones, the bravest and day, &c.-Make a memorial of the day, and of my strongest among the common people, or the most having this day informed thee of this great event; warlike, who would betake themselves to the city for and signify it to the people, that when they shall re- its defence. Burn also the bones under it—Not the ceive intelligence from Judea of the siege having bones of the pieces to be boiled, but of the many inbeen begun this day, according to thy information, nocent persons to be murdered in Jerusalem, whose it may be a confirmation of the truth of thy mission, blood cried for vengeance, and their bones, scattered and of the certainty of the fulfilment of all thy pre- on the face of the earth, will both make and maindictions. This was about two years before the taking tain this fire. Bishop Newcome renders the clause, of Jerusalem: see 2 Kings xxv. 1; Jer. xxxix. 1;|| Pile also (in the margin we read heap) the bones and lii. 4. Verses 3-5. Utter a parable unto the rebellious house-Though the house of Judah has as yet paid no due regard to what thou and the rest of the pro under it: namely, as he explains it, "the useless bones (verse 10) which the coals (verse 11) would consume, to show what a general destruction of the meaner sort would be caused by the Chaldeans." |