Ezekiel 16:4
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On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.
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 ↗16:4-5 Jerusalem’s parents were heartless and did not perform the usual obstetrical practices. Ordinarily, someone cut the umbilical cord, washed the infant, smeared salt and oil over her body, and swaddled her tightly in cloth. Instead, as was common with baby girls in the ancient world, Jerusalem was abandoned: dumped in a field and left to die.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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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.
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.
Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
You summoned my attackers on every side, as for the day of an appointed feast. In the day of the LORD’s anger no one escaped or survived; my enemy has destroyed those I nurtured and reared.
But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt.
Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?