Ezekiel 16:39
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Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will level your mounds and tear down your lofty shrines. They will strip off your clothes, take your fine jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Still God is justifying himself in the desolations he is about to bring upon Jerusalem; and very largely, in this chapter, he shows the prophet, and orders him to show the people, that he did but punish them as their sins deserved. In the foregoing chapter he had compared Jerusalem to an unfruitful vine, that was fit for nothing but the fire; in this chapter he compares it to an adulteress, that, in justice, ought to be abandoned and exposed, and he must therefore show the people their abominations, that they might see how little reason they had to complain of the judgments they were under. In this long discourse are set forth, I. The despicable and deplorable beginnings of that church and nation (Eze 16:3-5). II. The many honours and favours God had bestowed upon them (Eze 16:6-14). III. Their treacherous and ungrateful departures from him to the services and worship of idols, here represented by the most impudent whoredom (v. 15-34). IV. A threatening of terrible destroying judgments, which God would bring upon them for this sin (Eze 16:35-43). V. An aggravation both of their sin and of their punishment, by comparison with Sodom and Samaria (v. 44-59). VI. A promise of mercy in the close, which God would show to a penitent remnant (Eze 16:60-63). And this is designed for admonition to us.
Open source ↗16:39-43 Ironically, Jerusalem’s lovers would turn against her and destroy her. The Lord’s fury would not be requited until the city had paid for all its former sins.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
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Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her like the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and turn her into a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst.
They will strip off your clothes and take your fine jewelry.
Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.
But when you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were not even like a prostitute, because you scorned payment.
They will treat you with hatred, take all for which you have worked, and leave you naked and bare, so that the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your indecency and promiscuity