Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 16:61
Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
61. Sodom and Samaria, the sisters of Jerusalem, shall be restored also with her and given her for daughters. This restoration of her sinful sisters and her receiving them for daughters shall bring the sense of her own sin home to Jerusalem, and she shall be ashamed of all she has done.
not by thy covenant ] This glory of receiving Samaria and Sodom and her other sister cities and nationalities for daughters shall not accrue to Jerusalem as the result of her former covenant with Jehovah, for that covenant of his she broke. It shall be like the new covenant itself, something altogether additional, an act of God’s goodness in no way depending on former relations ( Eze 16:62).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 61. Thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger] The Gentiles, who were before the Jews were called, and after the Jews were cast off, are here termed the elder and younger sister. These were to be given to Jerusalem for daughters; the latter should be converted to God by the ministry of men who should spring out of the Jewish Church. The former, who were patriarchs, c., profited by the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world. Among the latter the Gospel was preached, first by Christ and his apostles, and since by persons raised up from among themselves.
But not by thy covenant.] This was the ancient covenant, the conditions of which they broke, and the blessings of which they forfeited but by that new covenant, or the renewal to the Gentiles of that covenant that was made originally with Abraham while he was a Gentile, promising that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed; that covenant which respected the incarnation of Christ, and was ratified by the blood of his cross.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Then; when that new covenant, made and confirmed, shall operate and take effect.
Remember; consider and lay to heart, repent of, mourn for, loathe and abhor, and turn from all thy wicked ways, all thy evil practices and doings.
Be ashamed; though whilst thou wast an adulteress, and false to thy Husband, thou didst not blush, now thou shalt with a deep shame remember and detest thy lewdness.
Receive; admit into church communion, own them as members of the church of God.
Thy sisters; the Gentiles, now strangers, but then sisters.
Thine elder; or those that are greater and mightier than thou, or that by their power, wealth, and honour are as much above thee as the elder children are above the younger.
Thy younger; thy lesser or meaner sister.
I will give them unto thee; they shall be to thee as a gift bestowed in love.
For daughters: as daughters in duty hearken to and obey, so shall the Gentiles brought into the church hearken to the word of God, which sounded out from the Jews from Jerusalem.
By thy covenant; not by that old covenant which was violated, not by external ceremonies, which were a great part of the first covenant, but by that covenant which writes the law in the heart, and puts the fear of God into the inward parts.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
61. thou shalt rememberIt isGod who first remembers her before she remembers Him and her own waysbefore Him (Eze 16:60; Eze 20:43;Eze 36:31).
ashamedthe fruit ofrepentance (2Co 7:10; 2Co 7:11).None please God unless those who displease themselves; a foretaste ofthe Gospel (Lu 18:9-14).
I will give them unto theefor daughters (Isa 54:1;Isa 60:3; Isa 60:4;Gal 4:26, c.). All the heathennations, not merely Sodom and Samaria, are meant by “thysisters, elder and younger.” In Jerusalem first, individualbelievers were gathered into the elect Church. From Jerusalem theGospel went forth to gather in individuals of the Gentiles andJudah with Jerusalem shall also be the first nation which, assuch, shall be converted to Christ; and to her the other nationsshall attach themselves as believers in Messiah, Jerusalem’s King(Psa 110:2; Isa 2:2;Isa 2:3). “The king’sdaughter” in Ps45:12-14 is Judah; her “companions,” as “thedaughter of Tyre,” are the nations given to her as converts,here called “daughters.”
not by thy covenantThisdoes not set aside the Old Testament in its spirit, but in its mereletter on which the Jews had rested, while they broke it: the latter(“thy covenant”) was to give place to God’s covenantof grace and promise in Christ who “fulfilled” the law. Godmeans, “not that thou on thy part hast stood to the covenant,but that ‘I am the Lord, I change not’ (Mal3:6) from My original love to thee in thy youth” (see Ro3:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed,…. When covenant grace is manifested and applied, it brings persons to a sense of their sins, and to an ingenuous acknowledgment of them, with shame and blushing; they remember their evil ways in which they have walked, and blush at the thoughts of what they have been guilty of; and how they have sinned against a God of love, grace, and mercy; and what vile ungrateful creatures they have been:
when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger; Samaria and Sodom, Eze 16:46; the ten tribes, or Benjamin and Simeon, whose part was in Judah, as Ben Melech; rather the Gentiles, even of all nations, ancient and modern, great and small, where the Gospel should come, and such of them as are called and converted by it; these, according to this prophecy, should be received into the communion of the church, to participate of all the privileges and ordinances of it, under the Gospel dispensation. The passage respects the calling of the Gentiles, and the incorporating of them into the Gospel church state. The Syriac version renders it, “when I shall receive thy sisters”, c. which the Targum interprets of greater and lesser provinces:
and I will give them unto thee for daughters to be nursed up by the church, through the ministry of the word and ordinances, where they have a place, and a name better than that of sons and daughters; become members of the church, and so daughters of Jerusalem, the mother of us all, Ga 4:26; to the laws, rules, and ordinances of which they submit, and yield an obedience, as daughters to their mother. The Targum is,
“I will deliver them unto thee for obedience.”
The Septuagint renders it, “for edification”; to be built up on their, most holy faith:
but not by thy covenant: made with the Israelites at Sinai, which genders to bondage, and under which the Jewish church with her children were in bondage, Ga 4:24; but by virtue of the covenant of grace made with Christ; one article of which is, “[I] will be [their] father, and [they] shall be my sons and daughters”, 2Co 6:18; or not on condition of observing the rites and ceremonies of the law, under which the former covenant was administered, the Gentiles being freed from that, the ceremonial law being abrogated by Christ; or, not because thou hast kept the covenant made with thee, therefore I give thee those (for that thou hast broken), but of my own mere grace and favour, so Jarchi: or I will give daughters to thee, which are not of thy covenant, of thy law, so Kimchi; who are not of the same religion, meaning the Gentiles; and so the phrase is the same with that in Joh 10:16; “which are not of this fold”. There is an ancient exposition of the Jews, mentioned by Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, which renders it, “but not of that patrimony”; and explains it of the inheritance which God gave to Abraham between the pieces; as if the persons intended by those who are given for daughters did not belong thereunto.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
As God, then, shows that he would not be merciful to the Jews for any other reason than through being mindful of his covenant, so now, in return, he informs us what he requires from them, namely, that they should begin to acknowledge how basely they had abjured their pledged fidelity — how unworthily they had despised his law — how impiously obstinate they had been against all his prophets in deriding their threats, and in being stupid under manifest penalties. But this passage is worthy of notice, since we gather that none are capable of obtaining God’s mercy except those who are dissatisfied with themselves, and, being ashamed and confounded, betake themselves to his mercy. In fine, we see that God’s grace does not profit the obstinate at all: it is offered to all in common; but none receive it except those who condemn themselves, and bear in mind their crimes, so that they are forgotten before God. If, therefore, we wish our sins to be buried before God, we must remember them ourselves; if we wish our iniquities to be blotted out before God and the angels, we must disgrace ourselves; that is, we must blush and be ashamed of our baseness whenever we transgress and provoke God’s wrath. Hence we here see that the whole contents of the Gospel are shortly summed up; for the Gospel contains nothing else but repentance and faith, as is well known. Concerning faith, Ezekiel has proclaimed that God, mindful of his covenant, will become reconciled to the lost; but he now adds an exhortation that they should acknowledge their faults: but we know that the shame of which the Prophet speaks is the fruit or part of repentance, as is evident from Paul’s description of penitence in the seventh chapter of his second epistle to the Corinthians, (2Co 7:9.) But we shall have yet to speak on this subject, so that I now hasten forwards, because what I have hitherto taught cannot be understood until we come to the end of the verse. He says, when you shall receive thy sisters, as well the elder as the younger; for he does not speak here of Sodom and Samaria alone,, but of all nations; for all the nations may properly be called sisters, for all the world was corrupt. Since, therefore, they were all alike in vices, their union was like that of relationship. For this reason he says, that when the Jews shall return to favor, they shall then have a great multitude with them, who shall receive their own sisters; that is, shall collect from all sides an immense multitude, so that all shall be assembled in obedience to God, and shall be partakers of the same covenant. If any one object that this has never been fulfilled, the answer is at hand, that the prophets speak of the calling of the Gentiles in two ways. They sometimes proclaim it so as to declare that the Jews and Israelites are the leaders of all the others, so as to confer upon them the favor and patronage of God. In that day seven men shall lay hold of the skirt of a single Jew, and shall say, Lead us to your God, (Zec 8:23😉 and this was the legitimate order, that the Jews, as first-born, should join others in alliance to themselves, and thus unite all into one body and one Church: but because the Jews were cut off through their ingratitude, the prophets make mention of another calling, that the Gentiles should succeed in the place of the ungrateful people, as Paul says that the natural branches were cut off, and that we were grafted in who belonged to the unfruitful tree. (Rom 11:16.) The Prophet adds this former reason, that the Jews should receive their sisters, both elder and younger, since they should collect God’s Church from all nations; and this has been partly fulfilled. For whence came the Gospel except from this fountain? as it had been foretold, A law shall go out from Zion, and God’s word from Jerusalem. (Isa 2:3; Mic 4:2.) Again, in the 110 Psalm, (Psa 110:1,) Thy scepter shall go forth from Zion; that is, the kingdom of Christ shall be propagated throughout the whole world: because, therefore, salvation flowed from the Jews, and the Gospel emanated from thence, what is here promised was partly fulfilled, namely, that other people were received by the Jews.
He now subjoins, I will give them to thee for daughters: for if the Jews had not, by their ingratitude, rejected the honor of which God had reckoned them worthy, they had always been the first-born in the Church. Then the Gentiles would have been, as it were, under a mother, since they were “ the primitive Church “ (according to the language of the day,) and thus they would have obtained the degree of mother among all nations. Therefore God here deservedly pronounces that he would give them, all nations for daughters, to be added to the Jews, when the Gentiles were grafted into the same body of the Church by faith in the Gospel. But he adds, not from thy covenant. Some refer this to ceremonies, since, when the Gentiles were adopted, they still remained free from the ceremonies of the law; but that is cold. Others compare this passage with Jeremiah: I will establish a new covenant with you, not such as I established with your fathers, which they rendered vain; but this is the covenant which I will make with you, etc. (Jer 31:31.) Since, then, it is here said, the covenant shall not be according to the covenant of the people, this is said with truth, because it will be a New Testament. But such expounders are partly right, but not wholly so; for a contrast must be understood between the people’s covenant and God’s. He had said just before, I will be mindful of my covenant: he now says, not of thine. Hence he reconciles what seemed opposites, namely, that he would be mindful of his own agreement, and yet it had been dissipated, broken, and abolished. He shows that it was fixed on his own side, as they say, but vain on the people’s side. I will be reconciled, then, but not through thy covenant; for there was now no covenant, as Hosea says — Not my people, not beloved. (Hos 1:9.) All the progeny of Abraham were not God’s people, nor all their daughters beloved: but although the covenant was vain through the people’s perfidy, yet God overcame their malice, and so he again erected his own covenant towards them. And when he says, I will establish a covenant, we may explain it, I will set it up again, or restore it afresh: for we said that the New Testament was so distinguished from the Old, that it was founded upon it. For what is proposed to us in Christ, unless what God had promised in the law? and therefore Christ is called the end of the law, and elsewhere its spirit: for if the law be separated from Christ, it is like a dead letter: Christ alone gives it life. Since, therefore, God at this day exhibits to us nothing in his only-begotten Son but what he had formerly promised in the law, it follows that his covenant is set up again, and so perpetually established; and yet this is not man’s part. Wherefore? For men had so revolted from the faith, that God was free; nay, the covenant itself had no force, and lost its effect through their perfidy: for it is easy to collect the points in which the New and Old Testaments are alike, and those, in which they differ. They have this similarity, that God to this day confirms to us what he had formerly promised to Abraham, and in no other sense could Abraham be called the Father of the Faithful.
Since, therefore, Abraham is at this time the father of all the faithful, it, follows that our safety is not to be thought otherwise than in that covenant which God established with Abraham; but afterwards the same covenant was ratified by the hand of Moses. A difference must now be briefly remarked from a passage in Jeremiah, (Jer 31:32,) namely, because the ancient covenant was abolished through the fault of man, there was reed of a better remedy, which is there shown to be twofold, namely, that God should bury men’s sins, and inscribe his law on their hearts: that also was done in Abraham’s time. Abraham believed in God: faith was always the gift of the Holy Spirit; therefore God inscribed his covenant in Abraham’s heart. (Gen 15:6; Rom 4:3; Eph 2:8.) He inscribed his law on the heart of Moses and on the rest of the faithful. This is true: but at first that inner grace was more obscure under the law, and then it was an additional benefit. It could not therefore be ascribed to the law that God regenerated his own elect, because the spirit of regeneration was from Christ, and therefore from the Gospel and the new covenant. But yet we must remember what I have said, that the faithful under the ancient covenant were gifted and endowed with a spirit of regeneration. As far as relates to the remission of sins, it was still more obscure: for cattle were sacrificed, which could not acquire salvation for miserable men, nor blot out their sins. Therefore, if the law is regarded in itself, the promise in the new covenant will not be found in it: I will not remember thy sins: yet to this day God is propitious to us, because he promised to Abraham that all nations should be blest in his seed. (Jer 31:34; Gen 12:3, and Gen 18:18.) We see then that the difference which Jeremiah points out was really true; and yet the new covenant so flowed from the old, that it was almost the same in substance, while distinguished in form.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(61) Give them unto thee for daughters.The humiliation of Jerusalem must be so complete that she will gladly receive these once-despised enemies to the closest family relationship. We are not here to think of Sodom specifically, but (the concrete passing into the general) of that which Sodom represented, the heathen world at large. This shall be received with Jerusalem to the church of God; but not by thy covenant. The covenant with Israel, however it may have been preceded by a preaching of the Gospel to Abraham (Gal. 3:8), was distinctly a covenant of works, under which neither Jew nor Gentile could attain salvation (see Rom. and Gal. throughout). Not, therefore, by this should the nations of the earth be given to Jerusalem as representing the Church.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
61. But not by thy covenant Smend and Cornill, “but not because of thy covenant;” Kliefoth and Keil, “though they be not of thy covenant.” None of these new glories of Israel will bring pride, but only shame to the nation’s heart; for the old covenant has been broken and these new honors only come because of the unquenchable mercy and love of the God whom they have dishonored. These come not because of the Mosaic covenant, but are of grace alone. (Compare Romans iii, etc.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Eze 16:61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
Ver. 61. And be ashamed. ] With a saving and savoury shame, such as was that of Ezra and of the penitent publican, proceeding from true compunction, and producing repentance never to be repented of.
When thou shalt receive thy sisters.
But not by thy covenant.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
remember: Eze 16:63, Eze 20:43, Eze 36:31, Eze 36:32, Job 42:5, Job 42:6, Psa 119:59, Jer 31:18-20, Jer 50:4, Jer 50:5
when: Eze 16:53-55, Son 8:8, Son 8:9, Isa 2:2-5, Isa 11:9, Isa 11:10, Hos 1:9-11, Rom 11:11, Rom 15:8, Rom 15:9, Rom 15:16, Gal 4:26, Gal 4:27, Eph 2:12-14, Eph 3:6
I will: Isa 49:18-23, Isa 54:1, Isa 54:2, Isa 60:4, Isa 66:7-12, Gal 4:26-31
but not: Jer 31:31-40, Joh 15:16, Heb 8:13
Reciprocal: Gen 2:25 – ashamed Deu 9:7 – Remember 1Ki 8:47 – Yet if they 2Ch 30:15 – were ashamed Jer 3:24 – General Jer 31:19 – I was ashamed Eze 16:46 – thy younger sister Eze 43:10 – that they Rom 6:21 – whereof Eph 2:11 – remember 2Th 3:14 – that he Heb 7:12 – a change Heb 8:8 – covenant Rev 2:5 – Remember Rev 3:3 – Remember
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 16:61. This verse is a prediction of the cure from idolatry. See the note at Isa 1:25 for the fulfillment of this prophecy. Judah was to be united with her former associates after the captivity. Not by thy covenant signifies that Judah had not made any agreement that would have entitled her to this reunion.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
16:61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive {n} thy sisters, thy elder and thy younger: and I will give them to thee for daughters, but not {o} by thy covenant.
(n) By which he shows that among the most wicked, he always had some seed of his Church, which he would cause to bear fruit in due time: and here he declares how he will call the Gentiles.
(o) But of my free mercy.