Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 16:6
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.
6. And when I passed ] More pathetic in the Heb. order: and I passed by thee and saw thee.
polluted ] weltering; wallowing or struggling.
when thou wast in thy blood ] The meaning may be: “I said unto thee, In thy blood live!” i.e. in spite of thy blood; although unclean and loathsome, live! Jehovah’s pitying eye looked through that which might repel, and saved. The repetition (which LXX., however, omits) may emphasise the great act of Jehovah’s pity.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Or, Then I passed by thee … and I said.
Polluted – wallowing, treading upon oneself.
In thy blood – may be connected either with I said or with Live. In the latter case, the state of blood and defilement is made the very cause of life, because it called forth the pity of Him who gave life. Since in the Mosaic Law blood was especially defiling, so was it also the special instrument of purification.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
After the manner of man God here speaks, alluding to some traveller or walker abroad, like Pharaohs daughter, or the good Samaritan that lighted on this poor forlorn infant.
Saw thee, in such manner as to pity and consider how to relieve. To Omniscience every thing is seen, but here compassion is included in this seeing, this was the only eye that pitied.
Polluted in thine own blood; most exact emblem of mans sinful and miserable state, his filthiness and death arising from himself, as the death and filthiness of one wallowing in his own blood.
I said unto thee; I purposed to save thy life, I declared my purpose, and wrought the effect; I took care of thee, that thou mightest not die.
Yea, I said: this is repeated, both to set forth the freeness and abundance of Gods love, and to work our heart to a suitable resentment thereof, and to intimate the stability and stedfastness of the purposes and effects of grace.
Live; it sounds like a command, but it is such a command as sends forth a power accompanying it to effect what is commanded; he gave that life; he spake, and it was done.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. when I passed byas if atraveller.
polluted in . . . bloodbutPISCATOR, “ready tobe trodden on.”
I saidIn contrast toIsrael’s helplessness stands God’s omnipotent word of grace whichbids the outcast little one “live.”
in thy bloodThoughthou wast foul with blood, I said, “Live” [GROTIUS].”Live in thy blood,” that is, Live, but live a life exposedto many deaths, as was the case in the beginnings of Israel’snational existence, in order to magnify the grace of God [CALVIN].The former view is preferable. Spiritually, till the sinner is madesensible of his abject helplessness, he will not appreciate theprovisions of God’s grace.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when I passed by thee,…. Alluding to a traveller passing by where an infant lies, exposed, and looks upon it, and takes it up; or it may be to Pharaoh’s daughter walking by the river side, when she spied the ark in which Moses was, and ordered it to be taken up, and so saved his life:
and saw thee in thine own blood; keeping up the simile of a newborn infant, that has nothing done to it, but is all over covered with menstruous blood; denoting the wretched and miserable estate the Jews were in when in Egypt; when they were not only loathsome and abominable to the Egyptians, and ill used and unpitied by them; but were in danger of being utterly destroyed, and ready to expire. The word rendered “polluted” signifies “trodden underfoot” l; like mire in the streets; and so denotes both pollution and distress; so the Israelites were trodden under foot by the Egyptians, when they made them to serve with rigour, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field; and so the Targum paraphrases it,
“for it was manifest before me that you were afflicted in your bondage;”
as they then sighed and cried because of their bondage, the Lord looked upon them with an eye of pity and compassion, and delivered them, Ex 1:14;
I said unto thee, [when thou wast] in thy blood, live: yea, I said unto thee, [when thou wast] in thy blood, live; the Lord preserved them and saved them alive, when they were near to ruin, and delivered them by the hands of Moses, which was as life from the dead; and this he did of his own sovereign good will and pleasure, and not for any worth or merit, in them, any goodness or righteousness of theirs; for this he did when they were in their blood, pollution, and guilt; and which, that it might be observed, is repeated. The word for “blood”, which is thrice mentioned, is in the plural number, “bloods”; and denotes not the blood of circumcision, and the blood of the passover; for, or by which, the Lord had mercy upon them, and redeemed them, as the Targum and Jarchi interpret it; but the abundance of it, as upon a newborn infant; and the great pollution and distress in which the Israelites were, through the many murders committed on them by their enemies. The whole is an emblem of the state and condition the elect of God are in, when they are quickened by him; who are by their first birth unclean; under the pollution, power, and guilt of sin; wallowing and weltering in it; deserving of the wrath of God, and liable to punishment for it; trodden under foot, quite neglected and despised in all appearance; and are both hopeless and helpless: when the Lord “passes” by them, not by chance, but on purpose, knowing where they are; and this he often does by the ministry of the word, under which they are providentially cast; and where he “sees” them, and looks upon then, not merely with his eye of omniscience, much less with an eye of scorn, contempt, and abhorrence; but with an eye of pity and compassion, and even of complacency and delight in their persons, though not in their sins: and when he speaks life into them, a principle of spiritual life; or quickens them by his word, so that they live a life of faith and holiness, which issues in everlasting life: this flows from divine love, and is the effect of divine power; it is of pure rich grace, and not of man’s merit; as his case, being in his blood, and dead in sins, show; see Eph 2:4.
l “conculcatam”, Pagninus, Montanus, Starckius; “praebentem conculcandam te”, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Israel therefore owes its preservation and exaltation to honour and glory to the Lord its God alone. – Eze 16:6. Then I passed by thee, and saw thee stamping in thy blood, and said to thee, In thy blood live! and said to thee, In thy blood live! Eze 16:7. I made thee into myriads as the growth of the field, and thou grewest and becamest tall, and camest to ornament of cheeks. The breasts expanded, and thy hair grew, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Eze 16:8. And I passed by thee, and saw thee, and, behold, it was thy time, the time of love; and I spread my wing over thee, and covered thy nakedness; and I swore to thee, and entered into covenant with thee, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, and thou becamest mine. Eze 16:9. And I bathed thee in water, and rinsed thy blood from thee, and anointed thee with oil. Eze 16:10. And I clothed thee with embroidered work, and shod thee with morocco, and wrapped thee round with byssus, and covered thee with silk. Eze 16:11. I adorned thee with ornaments, and put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain around thy neck. Eze 16:12. And I gave thee a ring in thy nose, and earrings in thine ears, and a splendid crown upon thy head. Eze 16:13. And thou didst adorn thyself with gold and silver; and thy clothing was byssus, and silk, and embroidery. Wheaten-flour, and honey, and oil thou didst eat; and thou wast very beautiful; and didst thrive to regal dignity. Eze 16:14. Thy name went forth among the nations on account of thy beauty; for it was perfect through my glory, which I put upon thee, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. – The description of what the Lord did for Israel in His compassionate love is divided into two sections by the repetition of the phrase “I passed by thee” (Eze 16:6 and Eze 16:8). The first embraces what God had done for the preservation and increase of the nation; the second, what He had done for the glorification of Israel, by adopting it as the people of His possession. When Israel was lying in the field as a neglected new-born child, the Lord passed by and adopted it, promising it life, and giving it strength to live. To bring out the magnitude of the compassion of God, the fact that the child was lying in its blood is mentioned again and again. The explanation to be given of (the Hithpolel of , to trample upon, tread under foot) is doubtful, arising from the difficulty of deciding whether the Hithpolel is to be taken in a passive or a reflective sense. The passive rendering, “trampled upon” (Umbreit), or ad conculcandum projectus , thrown down, to be trodden under foot (Gesenius, etc.), is open to the objection that the Hophal is used for this. We therefore prefer the reflective meaning, treading oneself, or stamping; as the objection offered to this, namely, that a new-born child thrown into a field would not be found stamping with the feet, has no force in an allegorical description. In the clause Eze 16:6, which is written twice, the question arises whether is to be taken with or with : I said to thee, “In thy blood live;” or, “I said to thee in thy blood, ‘Live.’ “ We prefer the former, because it gives a more emphatic sense. is a concise expression; for although lying in thy blood, in which thou wouldst inevitably bleed to death, yet thou shalt live. Hitzig’s proposal to connect in the first clause with , and in the second with , can hardly be entertained. A double construction of this kind is not required either by the repetition of , or by the uniform position of before in both clauses, as compared with 1Ki 20:18 and Isa 27:5.
In Eze 16:7 the description of the real fact breaks through the allegory. The word of God , live, was visibly fulfilled in the innumerable multiplication of Israel. But the allegory is resumed immediately. The child grew ( , as in Gen 21:20; Deu 30:16), and came into ornament of cheeks ( with , to enter into a thing, as in Eze 16:8; not to proceed in, as Hitzig supposes). , not most beautiful ornament, or highest charms, for is not the plural of ; but according to the Chetib and most of the editions, with the tone upon the penultima, is equivalent to , a dual form; so that cannot mean ornament in this case, but, as in Psa 39:9 and Psa 103:5, “the cheek,” which is the traditional meaning (cf. Ges. Thes. p. 993). Ornament of cheeks is youthful freshness and beauty of face. The clauses which follow describe the arrival of puberty. , when applied to the breasts, means to expand, lit., to raise oneself up. = , pubes. The description given in these verses refers to the preservation and marvellous multiplication of Israel in Egypt, where the sons of Israel grew into a nation under the divine blessing. Still it was quite naked and bare ( and are substantives in the abstract sense of nakedness and bareness, used in the place of adjective to give greater emphasis). Naked and bare are figurative expressions for still destitute of either clothing or ornaments. This implies something more than “the poverty of the people in the wilderness attached to Egypt” (Hitzig). Nakedness represents deprivation of all the blessings of salvation with which the Lord endowed Israel and made it glorious, after He had adopted it as the people of His possession. In Egypt, Israel was living in a state of nature, destitute of the gracious revelations of God.
Eze 16:8-14 The Lord then went past again, and chose for His bride the virgin, who had already grown up to womanhood, and with whom He contracted marriage by the conclusion of the covenant at Sinai. , thy time, is more precisely defined as , the time of conjugal love. I spread my wing over thee, i.e., the lappet of my garment, which also served as a counterpane; in other words, I married thee (cf. Ruth. Eze 3:9), and thereby covered thy nakedness. “I swore to thee,” sc. love and fidelity (cf. Hos 2:21-22), and entered into a covenant with thee, i.e., into that gracious connection formed by the adoption of Israel as the possession of Jehovah, which is represented as a marriage covenant (compare Exo 24:8 and Exo 19:5-6, and Deu 5:2: – for ). Eze 16:9. describe how Jehovah provided for the purification, clothing, adorning, and maintenance of His wife. As the bride prepares herself for the wedding by washing and anointing, so did the Lord cleanse Israel from the blemishes and impurities which adhered to it from its birth. The rinsing from the blood must not be understood as specially referring either to the laws of purification given to the nation (Hitzig), or as relating solely to the purification effected by the covenant sacrifice (Hvernick). It embraces all that the Lord did for the purifying of the people from the pollution of sin, i.e., for its sanctification. The anointing with oil indicates the powers of the Spirit of God, which flowed to Israel from the divine covenant of grace. The clothing with costly garments, and adorning with all the jewellery of a wealthy lady or princess, points to the equipment of Israel with all the gifts that promote the beauty and glory of life. The clothing is described as made of the costliest materials with which queens were accustomed to clothe themselves. , embroidered cloth (Psa 45:15). , probably the sea-cow, Manati (see the comm. on Exo 25:5). The word is used here for a fine description of leather of which ornamental sandals were made; a kind of morocco. “I bound thee round with byssus:” this refers to the headband; for is the technical expression for the binding or winding round of the turban-like headdress (cf. Eze 24:17; Exo 29:9; Lev 8:13), and is applied by the Targum to the headdress of the priests. Consequently covering with , as distinguished from clothing, can only refer to covering with the veil, one of the principal articles of a woman’s toilet. The . . (Eze 16:10 and Eze 16:13) is explained by the Rabbins as signifying silk. The lxx render it . According to Jerome, this is a word formed by the lxx: quod tantae subtilitatis fuerit vestimentum, ut pilorum et capillorum tenuitatem habere credatur . The jewellery included not only armlets, nose-rings, and ear-rings, which the daughters of Israel were generally accustomed to wear, but also necklaces and a crown, as ornaments worn by princesses and queens. For , see comm. on Gen 41:42. Eze 16:13 sums up the contents of Eze 16:9-12. Sheeshiy is made to conform to ; the food is referred to once more; and the result of the whole is said to have been, that Jerusalem became exceedingly beautiful, and flourished even to royal dignity. The latter cannot be taken as referring simply to the establishment of the monarchy under David, any more than merely to the spiritual sovereignty for which Israel was chosen from the very beginning (Exo 19:5-6). The expression includes both, viz., the call of Israel to be a kingdom of priests, and the historical realization of this call through the Davidic sovereignty. The beauty, i.e., glory, of Israel became so great, that the name of fame of Israel sounded abroad in consequence among the nations. It was perfect, because the Lord had put His glory upon His Church. This, too, we must not restrict (as Hvernick does) to the far-sounding fame of Israel on its departure from Egypt (Exo 15:14.); it refers pre-eminently to the glory of the theocracy under David and Solomon, the fame of which spread into all lands. – Thus had Israel been glorified by its God above all the nations, but it did not continue in fellowship with its God.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| God’s Kindness to Israel. | B. C. 593. |
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 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. 8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. 9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. 10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. 11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. 12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. 13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. 14 And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
In there verses we have an account of the great things which God did for the Jewish nation in raising them up by degrees to be very considerable. 1. God saved them from the ruin they were upon the brink of in Egypt (v. 6): “When I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thy own blood, loathed and abandoned, and appointed to die, as sheep for the slaughter, then I said unto thee, Live. I designed thee for life when thou wast doomed to destruction, and resolved to save thee from death.” Those shall live to whom God commands life. God looked upon the world of mankind as thus cast off, thus cast out, thus polluted, thus weltering in blood, and his thoughts towards it were thoughts of good, designing it life, and that more abundantly. By converting grace, he says to the soul, Live. 2. He looked upon them with kindness and a tender affection, not only pitied them, but set his love upon them, which was unaccountable, for there was nothing lovely in them; but I looked upon thee, and, behold, thy time was the time of love, v. 8. It was the kindness and love of God our Saviour that sent Christ to redeem us, that sends the Spirit to sanctify us, that brought us out of a state of nature into a state of grace. That was a time of love indeed, distinguishing love, when God manifested his love to us, and courted our love to him. Then was I in his eyes as one that found favour, Cant. viii. 10. 3. He took them under his protection: “I spread my skirt over thee, to shelter thee from wind and weather, and to cover thy nakedness, that the shame of it might not appear.” Boaz spread his skirt over Ruth, in token of the special favour he designed her, Ruth iii. 9. God took them into his care, as an eagle bears her young ones upon her wings,Deu 32:11; Deu 32:12. When God owned them for his people, and sent Moses to Egypt to deliver them, which was an expression of the good-will of him that dwelt in the bush, then he spread his skirt over them. 4. He cleared them from the reproachful character which their bondage in Egypt laid them under (v. 9): “Then washed I thee with water, to make thee clean, and anointed thee with oil, to make thee sweet and supple thee.” All the disgrace of their slavery was rolled away when they were brought, with a high hand and a stretched-out arm, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. When God said, Israel is my son, my first-born–Let my people go, that they may serve me, that word, backed as it was with so many works of wonder, thoroughly washed away their blood; and when God led them under the convoy of the pillar of cloud and fire he spread his skirt over them. 5. He multiplied them and built them up into a people. This is here mentioned (v. 7) before his spreading his skirt over them, because their numbers increased exceedingly while they were yet bond-slaves in Egypt. They multiplied as the bud of the field in spring time; they waxed great, exceedingly mighty,Exo 1:7; Exo 1:20. Their breasts were fashioned when they were formed into distinct tribes and had officers of their own (Exod. v. 19); their hair grew when they grew numerous, whereas they had been naked and bare, very few and therefore contemptible. 6. He admitted them into covenant with himself. See what glorious nuptials this poor forlorn infant is preferred to at last. How she is dignified who at first had scarcely her life given her for a prey: I swore unto thee and entered into covenant with thee. This was done at Mount Sinai: “when the covenant between God and Israel was sealed and ratified then thou becamest mine.” God called them his people, and himself the God of Israel. Note, Those to whom God gives spiritual life he takes into covenant with himself; by that covenant they become his subjects and servants, which intimates their duty–his portion, his treasure, which intimates their privilege; and it is confirmed with an oath, that we might have strong consolation. 7. He beautified and adorned them. This maid cannot forget her ornaments, and she is gratified with abundance of them, v. 10-13. We need not be particular in the application of these. Her wardrobe was well furnished with rich apparel; they had embroidered work to wear, shoes of fine badgers’ skins, linen girdles, and silk veils, bracelets and necklaces, jewels and ear-rings, and even a beautiful crown, or coronet. Perhaps this may refer to the jewels and other rich goods which they took from the Egyptians, which might well be spoken of thus long after as a merciful circumstance of their deliverance, when it was spoken of long before, Gen. xv. 14. They shall come out with great substance. Or it may be taken figuratively for all those blessings of heaven which adorned both their church and state. In a little time they came to excellent ornaments, v. 7. The laws and ordinances which God gave them were to them as ornaments of grace to the head and chains about the neck, Prov. i. 9. God’s sanctuary, which he set up among them, was a beautiful crown upon their head; it was the beauty of holiness. 8. He fed them with abundance, with plenty, with dainty: Thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil–manna, angels’ food–honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock. In Canaan they did eat bread to the full, the finest of the wheat, Deu 32:13; Deu 32:14. Those whom God takes into covenant with himself are fed with the bread of life, clothed with the robe of righteousness, adorned with the graces and comforts of the spirit. The hidden man of the heart is that which is incorruptible. 9. He gave them great reputation among their neighbours, and made them considerable, acceptable to their friends and allies and formidable to their adversaries: Thou didst prosper into a kingdom (v. 13), which speaks both dignity and dominion; and, They renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty, v. 14. The nations about had their eye upon them, and admired them for the excellent laws by which they were governed, the privilege they had of access to God, Deu 4:7; Deu 4:8. Solomon’s wisdom, and Solomon’s temple, were very much the renown of that nation; and, if we put all the privileges of the Jewish church and kingdom together, we must own that it was the most accomplished beauty of all the nations of the earth. The beauty of it was perfect; you could not name the thing that would be the honour of a people but it was to be found in Israel, in David’s and Solomon’s time, when that kingdom was in its zenith-piety, learning, wisdom, justice, victory, peace, wealth, and all sure to continue if they had kept close to God. It was perfect, saith God, through my comeliness which I had put upon thee, through the beauty of their holiness, as they were a people set apart for God, and devoted to him, to be to him for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory. It was this that put a lustre upon all their other honours and was indeed the perfection of their beauty. We may apply this spiritually. Sanctified souls are truly beautiful; they are so in God’s sight, and they themselves may take the comfort of it. But God must have all the glory, for they were by nature deformed and polluted, and, whatever comeliness they have, it is that which God has put upon them and beautified them with, and he will be well pleased with the work of his own hands.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
ISRAEL’S LIBERATION FROM SHAME AND
MISERY IN EGYPT
Verses 6-14:
Verse 6 reminds Israel of God’s pity on her when she was in throes of birth in Egypt. Polluted in her own blood, He looked upon her with compassion and acted in mercy. He called to her, in her own trampled or polluted blood, repeatedly saying, “live.” She was being trampled on by the heel of hatred of the Egyptians who had decreed that all her male children should be killed at birth, and laid slave burdens on all the Israelites, sons of Jacob in the land, Exo 1:15-22. Even so the Lord sees sinners with compassion and calls in pity for them to live.
Verse 7 reminds the nation of Israel that it was He who had caused them to multiply in population, like the bud of the field, the produce, until they had become great, according to His promise, Exo 1:7; Exo 1:12. With growing physical beauty and attraction she is described as having excellent ornaments (cheeks of beauty) with uplifted breasts, hair that is grown. Such referred to the beauty of a maid developing to puberty and full womanhood with compulsive attractiveness. God almighty thus beheld her in Egypt, kidnapped her from the land, courted her in the wilderness, was married to her in covenant relationship there in the wilderness, then carried her to her new home in the promised land, as His chosen wife, Exo 19:1-8; Jer 3:1; Jer 3:6-7; Jer 3:14; Jer 31:32; Hos 2:19-20. This is Grace, mercy, and love, shown to a people that was found “in her polluted blood,” “naked and bare,” foul and unclean in an heathen land, and redeemed by the living God who saved her, and chose her for His own, from her barren and naked condition, Hos 2:3.
Verse 8 describes Israel, when He chose her, as an attractive maid, an object of affection, to be courted and loved, yet so open to harm, Son 2:10-12. He spread His skirt of protection and defense over her, to cover her nakedness and shield her from harm of defilement, until He should betroth her to Himself by covenant, as His own, similar to that described, Rth 3:9; Exo 20:5-6; Exo 19:2; Exo 19:5; Deu 5:2. He reminds Israel that He “sware unto her and entered into covenant” with her, referring to that betrothal union cited above, at Sinai. He was to love, protect, and provide for her; She was to love, worship, and obey Him, putting away all false gods, thus avoiding spiritual adultery, Exo 20:1-5.
Verse 9 further describes preparation for marriage by Eastern custom, in which there was a time of purification for the bride, adorning ones self with ornaments, and anointing with oil, Ezr 2:9-12; Israel was required, as God’s espoused, to undergo purification before He entered marriage covenant with her, Exo 19:14; Jer 2:2-3. The anointing with oil symbolized the Spirit of God that was to flow to Israel by grace, 1Co 6:11.
Verse 10 further describes what God had done for Israel through His grace, not because of any special virtue in her. He had clothed her with garments of a queen, broidered work, in wrought with silver and gold, wrought with many rich colors, Psa 45:13-15. He had dressed her as a bride, Isa 61:10; Rev 3:18; Rev 19:8. he had shod her with badger’s skin, or seal’s skin, soft but durable; It was the kind used for one cover layer on the tabernacle, Exo 26:14. As His beloved espoused He had girded her with fine, soft linen for the headband and covered her with outer garments of silk, Exo 24:17; Exo 29:9; Lev 6:10; Lev 8:13.
Verse 11 adds that the Lord had withheld no reasonable outward show of courting affection toward His espoused in bedecking her with ornaments, Eph 3:20. He placed multiple bracelets upon her hands and a chain about her neck, Pro 1:9; with jewelry befitting a princess or a queen, espoused to be married, Gen 24:22; Gen 24:30-31; Gen 24:47; Isa 3:18-19.
Verse 12 states that the Lord put a jewel or Heb ring on the forehead, also rendered “on or in the nose,” Isa 3:21. He also adorned her with earrings for her ears and a beautiful crown upon her head, indicating that she was to reign as queen over His house, or order of worship, the blue-print of which He gave to Moses, who is alluded to as the builder, Exo 19:6; Rev 1:6; Heb 3:1-6. See also Isa 3:21.
Verse 13 summarizes what God’s loving grace had done for the maid He caused to live, to grow, and whisked out of Egypt to court, to marry, and to endow in the wilderness, for settling in her new home in Canaan, v. 9-12. There He fed her with fine flour, honey, and oil, the sweet food of royalty, Deu 32:13-14; Psa 48:2; Psa 29:2. She was exceeding beautiful there, and prospered into a kingdom, Exo 19:5-6; Gen 49:10.
Verse 14 recounts that Israel’s renowned beauty went forth among the heathen or nations. But He would have Israel recognize that her elevation from a polluting death to beauty and renown as objects of envy among the heathen was of His grace and goodness to her, not of her merit, 1Ki 10:1; Lam 2:15. She was therefore obligated to respond with service and praise and gratitude to Him, not with arrogant pride and rebellion against His laws, Exo 19:1-8; Exo 20:1-17. As a kingdom she reached the meridian height of her glory under David and Solomon, as a celebrity among the heathen nations about her, 1Kings Ch. 10. O that men might recognize and continually acknowledge that their redemption and daily blessings are of God’s grace, not of the merit of their being or works, Eph 2:8-10; Jon 2:9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
I have already explained the time to which the Prophet alludes, when the seed of Abraham began to be tyrannically oppressed by the Egyptians. For God here assumes the character of a traveler when he says that he passed by. For he had said that the Jews and all the Israelites were like a girl cast forth and deserted. Now, therefore, he adds, that this spectacle met him as he passed by: as those who travel cast their eyes on either side, and if anything unusual occurs they attend and consider it; meanwhile God declares that he was taking care of his people. And truly the matter is sufficiently evident, since he seemed to have neglected those wretched ones, while he had wonderfully assisted them. For they might have perished a hundred times a-day, and if he had not taken notice of them, they had not dragged out their life to the end. That celebrated sentence is well known — I have seen, I have seen, the affliction of my people. When he sent for Moses and commanded him to liberate the people, he prefaces it in this way, I have seen, I have seen. (Exo 3:7) Hence he had long ago seen, though he seemed to despise them by shutting his eyes. There is no doubt that the doubling of the word here means that God always watched for the safety of this desperate people, although he did not assist them directly: he now means the same thing when he says, that he passed by: I passed by, then, near thee, and saw thee defiled with blood. That spectacle could not turn away God’s eyes; for whatever is contrary to nature excites horror. God therefore here shows how compassionate he was towards the people, because he was not horrified by that disgraceful foulness, when he saw the infant so immersed in its own gore without any shape. As to the following phrase, I said to thee, he does not mean that he spoke openly so that the people heard his voice, but he announces what he had determined concerning the people. The expression, live in thy blood, may indeed be taken contemptuously, as if God had grudged moving his hand, lest the very touch should prove contagious; for we do not willingly touch any putrid gore. The words, live in thy blood, may be thus explained, since at first God did not deign to take care of the people. But it is evident from the context, that God here expresses the secret virtue by which the people was preserved contrary to the common feelings. For if we consider what has been previously said, the people surely had not lived a single day, unless it had received rigor from this voice of God. For if a new-born child is cast out, how can it bear the cold of the night? surely it will instantly expire: and I have already said that death is prepared for infants, unless their navel-string be cut. Since therefore a hundred deaths encompassed the people, they could never have continued alive, had not the secret voice of God sustained them.
God therefore in commanding them to live, already shows that he was willingly and wonderfully preserving them amidst various kinds of death. As it is said in the 68 psalm, (Psa 68:20,) “In his hands are the issues of death,” so that death is converted into life: since he is the sovereign and lord of both. But this phrase is doubled, since the people were afflicted in Egypt for no short period. But if that tyranny had endured only a few years, they must have been consumed. But their slavery was protracted to many years: whence that remarkable wonder occurred, that their remembrance and their name were not often cut off. We see then that God has reason enough to speak that sentence in which the safety of the people was included, live in thy bloods, live in thy bloods. The fact itself shows the people to have been preserved, since it pleased God. The history which Moses relates in the book of Exodus is a glass in which we may behold the living image of that life of which we have made mention as drawing its whole vigor from the secret good pleasure of God. Now the reason is asked why God did not openly and directly take up his people, and treat them as kindly as he did during their youth? The reason is sufficiently manifest, since if the people had been freed at the very first, the memory of the benefit would have by and by vanished away, and God’s power would have been more obscure. For we know that men, unless thoroughly convinced of their own misery, never acknowledge that they have obtained safety through God’s pity. The people then thought so to live, as always to have death before their eyes — nay, as if they were bound by the chains of death. It lived, then, in bloods, that is, in the tomb, like a carcass remaining in its own putridness, and its life in the meantime lying hid: so it happened to the sons of Abraham. Now then we understand God’s intention why he did not raise up the children of Abraham with grandeur from the beginning, but suffered them to drag out a miserable life, and to be steeped in the very pollution of death. It now follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) Live.While they were in this condition, God took pity on them. He delivered them from their oppressors; He raised up a leader for them , He gave them a law and a Church, with its priesthood and its sacraments; He led them into the land of promise, delivered them from their enemies, and constituted them a nation under the most favourable circumstances for their growth and development in all righteousness. The sense is well expressed in our version; but the original does not contain the word when, nor words corresponding to the words in italics. The connection shows that in thy blood is to be taken with I said, and not with live; it was while Israel was in its unclean and neglected condition that the gracious word live was spoken. The Chaldee paraphrast has adopted the other connection, and ingeniously explained, I revealed myself that I might redeem you, because I saw that you were afflicted in your bondage; and I said unto you, In the blood of circumcision I will pity you. and I said unto you, In the blood of the passover I will redeem you. The word polluted is better rendered by the margin, trodden under foot, referring to their oppressed condition in Egypt.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Polluted R.V., “weltering.” When thou wast in thy blood Rather, though thou art in thy blood. That is, it was in spite of her uncleanness and loathsomeness, and even after the parents cast her off, that Jehovah defended her.
I said unto thee Live Here begins the proof that the love of God for his people surpasses the love of father or mother. It was Jehovah who gave life to the Hebrew nation. This was historically true. The fountain of life for Israel was in Jehovah, the merciful and gracious One, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth (Exo 3:14; Exo 6:2; Exo 33:14; Exo 33:19; Exo 34:6-7; Deu 5:33). The entire religious, political, and social life of Israel, so far as it differed from surrounding nations, can be traced back to the national thought of and connection with Jehovah. (See especially Piepenbring.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And when I passed by you and saw you weltering in your blood, I said to you, ‘In your blood, live.’ Yes I said to you, ‘In your blood live.’ ”
Yahweh found her in her dreadful state, kicking and struggling in her own blood and had pity on her. There is divided opinion as to whether ‘in your blood’ is part of what Yahweh said or not. Either we read ‘I said to you in your blood, “Live”, where there is huge emphasis on the fact that Israel was lying in her blood, to bring out her dreadful state (much blood would have been spilled in Egypt), or the phrase means basically ‘I said to you, “out of imminent death, live” ’. Either way the important fact is that Yahweh commanded and gave life. Without Him she would have ceased to be. Life began again when Israel was spared at the Passover and crossed the Sea of Reeds. But it is also a beautiful picture of the new birth, something experienced by God’s true people in every age.
Several versions and the LXX omit the repetition of ‘in your blood live’, but it is typical of ancient literature and is probably repeated for emphasis. It was the moment of deliverance from which all else followed.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 16:6. Polluted in thine own blood Wallowing in thy blood. The last clause of this verse is not found in the Syriac and LXX. That horrid custom of the ancients of exposing their infants when they could not support them, or when the children had any natural defects, is very well known. This inhumanity was not permitted among the Hebrews; but Ezekiel alludes to it, as a matter very common among other nations. See Calmet.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Here is the grand cause and the only cause of man’s recovery. Jesus passing by, as the divine Samaritan, and beholding our nature in our blood. His grace, and not man’s merit, is the sole source of all that follows in mercy. For though the Lord takes occasion from our misery to magnify the riches of his grace, yet his love and mercy are both before our misery. Sweet thought! And there is another uncommonly great beauty in this verse, I mean in the Lord’s repeating, and thereby the more confirming, His love to His people: When thou wast in thy blood I said live; yea, when thou wast in thy blood (not when thou hadst crept out of it) I said live. Reader! may we not, without violence to the passage, conceive that thus the Lord Jesus speaks to His redeemed now as living, though in their blood all the days of their unregeneracy? Precious thought! Was it not to this sovereign decree that you and I were preserved all the while from going down to the pit, whilst living as without God and without Christ in the world?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 16:6 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.
Ver. 6. And when I passed by thee. ] Not by chance, as Luk 10:31 but of free choice, and according to mine eternal purpose.
And saw thee in thy blood.
I said unto thee, Live,
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 16:6-7
6When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ 7I made you numerous like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine ornaments; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare.
Eze 16:6-14 This describes YHWH’s loving acts toward Israel.
1. saw her predicament and commanded life (two Qal IMPERATIVES, BDB 310, KB 309), Eze 16:6
2. made her numerous, like the plants of the field, Eze 16:7
3. Israel grew like a young woman to maturity (full height, full breasts, long hair or pubic hair), but was uncared for (i.e., naked and bare). YHWH proposed to her and made promises to her (i.e., marriage covenant), Eze 16:7-8
a. bathed with water, Eze 16:9
b. anointed with oil, Eze 16:9
c. clothed, Eze 16:10
d. put shoes on her feet, Eze 16:10
e. wrapped in fine shawl, Eze 16:10
f. gave jewelry, Eze 16:11-13 a
g. gave good food, Eze 16:13 b
4. her beauty was renowned because of YHWH’s care and gifts, Eze 16:14
She was nothing, yea despised, until YHWH chose her, cared for her, and married her (i.e., swore, BDB 989, KB 1396, Niphal IMPERFECT).
Eze 16:6
NASB, TEVsquirming
NKJVstruggling
NRSVflailing about
NJBkicking
The term (BDB 100) normally means to tread down or trample, but in the Hithpolel stem (here and Eze 16:22) it seems to refer to the random movement of an infant’s limbs.
Eze 16:7
NASBnumerous
NKJVthrive
NRSVgrow up
TEV, NJBgrow
A myriad (BDB 914) literally refers to ten thousand, but it is often used in a figurative sense (i.e., Gen 24:60; Psa 3:6; Son 5:10).
NASBreached the age for fine ornaments
NKJVbecame very beautiful
NRSVarrived at full womanhood
TEVbecame a young woman
NJBreached marriageable age
This is literally with ornament of ornaments (BDB 725 CONSTRUCT 725). Remember, context, context, context is crucial for word meaning!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
when. This word is not in the Hebrew text.
polluted = trodden under foot. Referring to the city, of course.
when thou . . . blood, &c. Note the Figure of speech Epizeneia (App-6), for emphasis. Canaanite cities were founded in blood, as proved to-day by human sacrifices discovered on the foundations. See note on s Kings Eze 9:15-17.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
and saw: Exo 2:24, Exo 2:25, Exo 3:7, Exo 3:8, Act 7:34
polluted: or, trodden under foot, Isa 14:19, Isa 51:23, Mic 7:10, Mat 5:13, Heb 10:29, Rev 14:20
Live: Eze 20:5-10, Exo 19:4-6, Deu 9:4, Psa 105:10-15, Psa 105:26-37, Joh 5:25, Rom 9:15, Eph 2:4, Eph 2:5, Tit 3:3-7
Reciprocal: Psa 68:13 – the wings Isa 1:2 – I have Isa 4:4 – washed away Isa 46:3 – borne Isa 63:7 – mention Eze 16:8 – thy time Eze 16:9 – blood Hos 11:1 – Israel Luk 15:20 – But Luk 19:5 – he looked Act 9:6 – Arise 2Co 5:15 – that they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 16:6. The man who was to represent God in thiB great parable was one whose affairs caused him to make various journeys through the country; on one of his trips he passed by the infant described in the preceding verses. He saw the miserable condition of the neglected creature and had compassion on it. I said . . . live. A story like this could not include all the details connected with the case. We are not told how the traveler could make his kindness effective but in some way he arranged that this baby girl could live in spite of the flithy and neglected condition. Having made the necessary preparation for the survival and growth of the babe, the traveler went on his way.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 16:6-7. And when I passed by thee While as yet no body took so much care of thee as to wash thee from thy native filthiness, I took pity on thee; as a traveller that passes by and sees an infant lie exposed; and I provided all things necessary for thy support. God here speaks after the manner of men. I said unto thee, Live This is such a command as sends forth a power to effect what is commanded: he gave that life: he spake, and it was done. I caused thee to multiply, &c. The prophet in this verse describes the Israelites increasing in Egypt, under the metaphor of a female child growing up to maturity: compare Exo 1:7. Thou art come to excellent ornaments Hebrew, , to ornaments of ornaments, that is, thou wast adorned with the choicest blessings of Divine Providence. Or, as Dr. Waterland renders it, Thou didst arrive to the perfection of beauty. Thy breasts were fashioned, &c. Thou didst come to womans estate.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
16:6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thy {c} own blood, I said to thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live; yea, I said to thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live.
(c) Being thus in your filthiness and forsaken by all men, I took you and gave you life: by which is meant that before God wash his Church and give life, there is nothing but filthiness and death.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The youth of Jerusalem 16:6-14
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord had compassion on Jerusalem in her helpless and undesirable condition and took care of her so she survived. [Note: See Block, The Book . . ., p. 472, for the chiastic structure of Eze 16:6-22.] The city remained as an unwanted child until, at the Lord’s direction, David captured it from the Jebusites and made it the capital of his kingdom (2Sa 5:6-10).