Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 23:36

The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;

36. yea, declare ] then declare.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

36 49. New exposure of the immoralities of Oholah and Oholibah ( Eze 23:36-44), and threat of their punishment ( Eze 23:45-49)

The passage is not a continuation of Eze 23:1-35, but an independent description, parallel to these verses.

(1) Eze 23:36-37. The adulteries, that is, idolatries, and bloodshed of which the two women are guilty.

(2) vv, 38, 39. Their profaning the house of Jehovah, and breaking; his Sabbaths the former particularly in their entering his house fresh from the sacrifice of their children.

(3) Eze 23:40-44. Their alliances with idolatrous nations and receiving their gods, under the figure of a harlot receiving and entertaining men.

(4) Eze 23:45-49. Their punishment with the death of an adulteress at the hands of righteous men. The text in some passages is extremely difficult.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Wilt thou judge, excuse or plead for such adultresses. so Eze 22:2.

Declare unto them plainly, fully tell them, what they have been, and what they must expect for all their abominations.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

36-44. A summing up of the sinsof the two sisters, especially those of Judah.

wilt thou judgeWiltthou (not) judge (see on Eze 20:4)?

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

The Lord said moreover unto me, son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah?…. Plead the cause of Israel and Judah? say any thing in their defence, and in excuse of them? or intercede and pray for them, that threatened judgments may not come upon them? no, do nothing of this kind; if thou wilt do anything, do as follows:

yea, declare unto them their abominations; their abominable sins, their murders, adulteries, and idolatries; set them in a true light before them, in all their aggravated circumstances; that, if it can be, they may be brought to a true sight and sense of them, to repent of them, be ashamed of them, loath them, confess them, and forsake them.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Another Summary of the Sins and Punishment of the Two Women

Eze 23:36. And Jehovah said to me, Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholibah, then show them their abominations; Eze 23:37. For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and they have committed adultery with their idols; and their sons also whom they bare to me they have caused to pass through to them to be devoured. Eze 23:38. Yea more, they have done this to me; they have defiled my sanctuary the same day, and have desecrated my Sabbaths. Eze 23:39. When they slaughtered their sons to their idols, they came into my sanctuary the same day to desecrate it; and, behold, they have acted thus in the midst of my house. Eze 23:40. Yea, they have even sent to men coming from afar; to them was a message sent, and, behold, they came, for whom thou didst bathe thyself, paint thine eyes, and put on ornaments, Eze 23:41. And didst seat thyself upon a splendid cushion, and a table was spread before them, thou didst lay thereon my incense and my oil. Eze 23:42. And the loud noise became still thereat, and to the men out of the multitude there were brought topers out of the desert, and they put armlets upon their hands, and glorious crowns upon their heads. Eze 23:43. Then I said to her who was debilitated for adultery, Now will her whoredom itself go whoring, Eze 23:44. And they will go in to her as they go in to a shore; so did they go in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women. Eze 23:45. But righteous men, these shall judge them according to the judgment of adulteresses and according to the judgment of murderesses; for they are adulteresses, and there is blood in their hands. Eze 23:46. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will bring up against them an assembly, and deliver them up for maltreating and for booty. Eze 23:47. And the assembly shall stone them, and cut them in pieces with their swords; their sons and their daughters shall they kill, and burn their houses with fire. Eze 23:48. Thus will I eradicate lewdness from the land, that all women may take warning and not practise lewdness like you. Eze 23:49. And they shall bring your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols, and shall learn that I am the Lord Jehovah. – The introductory words ‘ point back not only to Eze 22:2, but also to Eze 20:4, and show that this section is really a summary of the contents of the whole group (Eze 20:23). The actual subject-matter of these verses is closely connected with Eze 23:16, more especially in the designation of the sins as adultery and bloodshed (compare Eze 23:37 and Eze 23:45 with Eze 16:38). , to commit adultery with the idols, whereby the idols are placed on a par with Jehovah as the husband of Israel (compare Jer 3:8 and Jer 2:27). For the Moloch-worship in Eze 23:37, compare Eze 16:20-21, and Eze 20:31. The desecration of the sanctuary ( Eze 23:38) is more minutely defined in Eze 23:39. in Eze 23:38, which has so offended the lxx and Hitzig that it is omitted by the former, while the latter proposes to strike it out as a gloss, is added for the purpose of designating the profanation of the sanctuary as contemporaneous with the Moloch-worship of Eze 23:37, as is evident from Eze 23:39. For the fact itself, compare 2Ki 21:4-5, 2Ki 21:7. The desecration of the Sabbaths, as in Eze 20:13, Eze 20:16. For Eze 23:39, compare Eze 16:21. The words are not to be understood as signifying that they sacrificed children to Moloch in the temple, but simply that immediately after they had sacrificed children to Moloch, they went into the temple of Jehovah, that there they might worship Jehovah also, and thus placed Jehovah upon a par with Moloch. This was a profanation ( ) of His sanctuary.

In Eze 23:40-44 the allusion is not to actual idolatry, but to the ungodly alliance into which Judah had entered with Chaldea. Judah sent ambassadors to Chaldea, and for the purpose of receiving the Chaldeans, adorned herself as a woman would do for the reception of her paramours. She seated herself upon a splendid divan, and in front of this there was a table spread, upon which stood the incense and the oil that she ought to have offered to Jehovah. This is the explanation which Kliefoth has correctly given of Eze 23:40 and Eze 23:41. The emphatic in Eze 23:40 is sufficient to show that the reference is to a new crime deserving of punishment. This cannot be idolatry, because the worship of Moloch has already been mentioned in Eze 23:38 and Eze 23:39 as the worst of all the idolatrous abominations. Moreover, sending for (or to) men who come from afar does not apply to idolatry in the literal sense of the word; for men to whom the harlot sent messengers to invite them to come to her could not be idols for which she sent to a distant land. The allusion is rather to Assyrians or Chaldeans, and, according to Eze 23:42, it is the former who are referred to here (compare Isa 39:3). There is no force in Hitzig’s objection, namely, that the one woman sent to these, and that their being sent for and coming have already been disposed of in Eze 23:16. For the singulars in the last clause of Eze 23:40 show that even here only one woman is said to have sent for the men. Again, might even be the third person singular, as this form does sometimes take the termination (vid., Ewald, 191 c, and Ges. 47, Anm. 3). At the same time, there is nothing in the fact that the sending to Chaldea has already been mentioned in Eze 23:16 to preclude another allusion to the same circumstance from a different point of view. The woman adorned herself that she might secure the favour of the men for whom she had sent. is the Arabic khl, to paint the eyes with stibium ( kohol). For the fact itself, see the remarks on 2Ki 9:30. She then seated herself upon a cushion (not lay down upon a bed; for does not mean to lie down), and in front of this there was a table, spread with different kinds of food, upon which she placed incense and oil. The suffix to refers to , and is to be taken as a neuter, which suits the table as a thing, whilst generally takes the termination in the plural. In Eze 23:41, Ewald and Hvernick detect a description of the lectisternia of the licentious worship of the Babylonian Mylitta. But neither the sitting ( ) upon a cushion (divan), nor the position taken by the woman behind the table, harmonizes with this. As Hitzig has correctly observed, “if she has taken her seat upon a cushion, and has a table spread before her, she evidently intends to dine, and that with the men for whom she has adorned herself. The oil is meant for anointing at meal-time (Amo 6:6; Pro 21:17; cf. Psa 23:5), and the incense for burning.” “My incense and my oil” are the incense and oil given to her by God, which she ought to have devoted to His service, but had squandered upon herself and her foreign friends (cf. Eze 16:18; Hos 2:10). The oil, as the produce of the land of Palestine, was the gift of Jehovah; and although incense was not a production of Palestine, yet as the money with which Judah purchased it, or the goods bartered for it, were the fists of God, Jehovah could also call it His incense.

Eze 23:42 is very obscure. Such renderings of the first clause as et vox multitudinis exultantis in ea (Vulg)., and “the voice of a careless multitude within her” (Hvernick), can hardly be sustained. In every other passage in which occurs, it does not signify the voice of a multitude, but a loud tumult; compare Isa 13:4; Isa 33:3; Dan 10:6, and 1Sa 4:14, where is used as synonymous with . Even in cases where is used for a multitude, it denotes a noisy, boisterous, tumultuous crowd. Consequently cannot be taken as an adjective connected with , because a quiet tumult is a contradiction, and does not mean either exultans or recklessly breaking loose (Hvernick), but simply living in quiet, peaceful and contented. must therefore be the predicate to ; the sound of the tumult or the loud noise was (or became) quiet, still. , thereat (neuter, like , thereby, Gen 24:14). The words which follow, ‘ , are not to be taken with the preceding clause, as the connection would yield no sense. They belong to what follows. .swollof tah can only be the men who came from afar (Eze 23:40). In addition to these, there were brought, i.e., induced to come, topers from the desert. The Chetib is no doubt a participle of , drinkers, topers; and the Hophal is chosen instead of the Kal , for the sake of the paronomasia, with . The former, therefore, can only be the Assyrians ( , Eze 23:5 and Eze 23:7), the latter (the topers) the Chaldeans ( ( sn , Eze 23:15). The epithet drinkers is a very appropriate one for the sons of Babylon; as Curtius (Eze 23:1) describes the Babylonians as maxime in vinum et quae ebrietatem sequuntur effusi . The phrase “from the desert” cannot indicate the home of these men, although corresponds to in Eze 23:40, but simply the place from which they came to Judah, namely, from the desert of Syria and Arabia, which separated Palestine from Babylon. These peoples decorated the arms of the harlots with clasps, and their heads with splendid wreaths (crowns). The plural suffixes indicate that the words apply to both women, and this is confirmed by the fact that they are both named in Eze 23:44. The subject to is not merely the , but also the eht osla in Eze 23:40. The thought is simply that Samaria and Judah had attained to wealth and earthly glory through their intercourse with these nations; the very gifts with which, according to Eze 16:11., Jehovah Himself had adorned His people. The meaning of the verse, therefore, when taken in its connection, appears to be the following: – When the Assyrians began to form alliances with Israel, quiet was the immediate result. The Chaldeans were afterwards added to these, so that through their adulterous intercourse with both these nations Israel and Judah acquired both wealth and glory. The sentence which God pronounced upon this conduct was, that Judah had sunk so deeply into adultery that it would be impossible for it ever to desist from the sin.

This is the way in which we understand Eze 23:43, connecting with : “I said concerning her who was debilitated with whoredom.” , feminine of fo enini , used up, worn out; see, for example, Jos 9:4-5, where it is applied to clothes; here it is transferred to persons decayed, debilitated, in which sense the verb occurs in Gen 18:12. , which is co-ordinated with , does not indicate the means by which the strength has been exhausted, but is an accusative of direction or reference, debilitated with regard to adultery, so as no longer to be capable of practising it.

(Note: The proposal of Ewald to take as an independent clause, “adultery to the devil,” cannot be defended by the usage of the language; and that of Hitzig, “the withered hag practises adultery,” is an unnatural invention, inasmuch as , if taken as nota dativi , would give this meaning: the hag has (possesses) adultery as her property – and there is nothing to indicate that it should be taken as a question.)

In the next clause , is the subject to , and the Chetib is correct, the Keri being erroneous, and the result of false exposition. If were the object to , so that the woman would be the subject, we should have the feminine . But if, on the other hand, is the subject, there is no necessity for this, whether we regard the word as a plural, from , or take it as a singular, as Ewald (259 a) has done, inasmuch as in either case it is still an abstract, which might easily be preceded by the verb in the masculine form. gives greater force, not only to the suffix, but also the noun – and that even she (her whoredom). The sin of whoredom is personified, or regarded as (Hos 4:12), as a propensity to whoredom, which continues in all its force after the capacity of the woman herself is gone. – Eze 23:44 contains the result of the foregoing description of the adulterous conduct of the two women, and this is followed in Eze 23:45. by an account of the attitude assumed by God, and the punishment of the sinful women. , with an indefinite subject, they ( man, one) went to her. , the one woman, Oholibah. It is only in the apodosis that what has to be said is extended to both women. This is the only interpretation of Eze 23:44 which does justice both to the verb (imperfect with Vav consec. as the historical tense) and the perfect . The plural does not occur anywhere else. Hitzig would therefore alter it into the singular, as “unheard of,” and confine the attribute to Oholibah, who is the only one mentioned in the first clause of the verse, and also in Eze 23:43, Eze 23:40, and Eze 23:41. The judgment upon the two sisters is to be executed by righteous men (Eze 23:45). The Chaldeans are not designated as righteous in contrast to the Israelites, but as the instruments of the punitive righteousness of God in this particular instance, executing just judgment upon the sinners for adultery and bloodshed (vid., Eze 16:38). The infinitives and in Eze 23:46 stand for the third person future. For other points, compare the commentary on Eze 16:40 and Eze 16:41. The formula is derived from Deu 28:25, and has been explained in the exposition of that passage. is the inf. abs. Piel. For the meaning of the word, see the comm. on Eze 21:24. From this judgment all women, i.e., all nations, are to take warning to desist from idolatry. is a mixed form, compounded of the Niphal and Hithpael, for , like in Deu 21:8 (see the comm. in loc.). – For Eze 23:49, vid., Eze 16:58. – The punishment is announced to both the women, Israel and Judah, as still in the future, although Oholah (Samaria) had been overtaken by the judgment a considerable time before. The explanation of this is to be found in the allegory itself, in which both kingdoms are represented as being sisters of one mother; and it may also be defended on the ground that the approaching destruction of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah affected the remnants of the kingdom of the ten tribes, which were still to be found in Palestine; whilst, on the other hand, the judgment was not restricted to the destruction of the two kingdoms, but also embraced the later judgments which fell upon the entire nation.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

      36 The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;   37 That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, 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, thus have they done in the midst of mine house.   40 And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,   41 And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.   42 And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.   43 Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?   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, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.   46 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.   47 And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.   48 Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.   49 And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

      After the ten tribes were carried into captivity, and that kingdom was made quite desolate, the remains of it by degrees incorporated with the kingdom of Judah, and gained a settlement (many of them) in Jerusalem; so that the two sisters had in effect become one again; and therefore, in these verses, the prophet takes those to task jointly who were thus conjoined: “Wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah together? v. 36. Wilt thou go about to frame an excuse for them? Thou seest the matter is so bad as not to bear an excuse.” Or, rather, “Thou shalt now be employed, in God’s name, to judge them, ch. xx. 4. The matter is rather worse than better since the union.”

      I. Let them be made to see the sins they are guilty of: Declare unto them openly and boldly their abominations. 1. They have been guilty of gross idolatry, here called adultery. With their idols they have committed adultery (v. 37), have broken their marriage-covenant with God, have lusted after the gratifications of a carnal sensual mind in the worship of God. This is the first and worst of the abominations he is to charge them with. 2. They have committed the most barbarous murders, in sacrificing their children to Moloch, a sin so unnatural that they deserve to hear of it upon all occasions: Blood is in their hands, innocent blood, the blood of their own children, which they have caused to pass through the fire (v. 37), not that they might be dedicated to the idols, but that they might be devoured, a sign that they loved their idols better than that which was dearest to them in the world. 3. They have profaned the sacred things with which God had dignified and distinguished them: This they have done unto me, this indignity, this injury, v. 38. Every contempt put upon that which is holy reflects upon him who is the fountain of holiness, and from a relation to whom whatever is called holy has its denomination. God had set up his sanctuary among them, but they defiled it, by making it a house of merchandise, a den of thieves; nay, and much worse; there they set up their idols and worshipped them, and there they shed the blood of God’s prophets. God had revealed to them his holy sabbaths, but they profaned them, by doing all manner of servile work therein, or perhaps by sports and recreations on that day, not only practised, but allowed and encouraged by authority. They defiled the sanctuary on the same day that they profaned the sabbath. To defile the sanctuary was bad enough on any day, but to do it on the sabbath day was an aggravation. We commonly say, The better day the better deed; but here, the better day the worse deed. God takes notice of the circumstances of sin which add to the guilt. He shows (v. 39) what was their profanation both of the sanctuary and of the sabbath. They slew their children, and sacrificed them to their idols, to the great dishonour both of God and of human nature; and then came, on the same day, their hands imbrued with the blood of their children and their clothes stained with it, to attend in God’s sanctuary, not to ask pardon for what they had done, but to present themselves before him, as other Israelites did, expecting acceptance with him, notwithstanding these villanies which they were guilty of; as if God either did not know their wickedness or did not hate it. Thus they profaned the sanctuary, as if that were a protection to the worst of malefactors; for thus they did in the midst of his house. Note, It is a profanation of God’s solemn ordinances when those that are grossly and openly profane and vicious impudently and impenitently so intrude upon the services and privileges of them. Give not that which is holy unto dogs. Friend, how camest thou in hither? 4. They have courted foreign alliances, been proud of them, and reposed a confidence in them. This also is represented by the sin of adultery, for it was a departure from God, not only to whom alone they ought to pay their homage and not to idols, but in whom alone they ought to put their trust, and not in creatures. Israel was a peculiar people, must dwell alone and not be reckoned among the nations; and they profane their crown, and lay their honour in the dust, when they covet to be like them or in league with them. But this they have now done; they have entered into strict alliances with the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Egyptians, the most renowned and potent kingdoms at that time; but they scorned alliances with the petty kingdoms and states that lay near them, which yet might have been of more real service to them. Note, Affecting an acquaintance and correspondence with great people has often been a snare to good people. Let us see how Jerusalem courts her high allies, thinking thereby to make herself considerable. (1.) She privately requested that a public embassy might be sent to her (v. 40): You sent a messenger for men to come from far. It seems, then, that the neighbours had no desire to come into a confederacy with Jerusalem, but she thrust herself upon them, and sent under-hand to desire them to court her: and, lo, they came. The wisest and best may be drawn unavoidably into company and conversation with profane and wicked people: but it is no sign either of wisdom or goodness to covet an intimacy with such and to court it. (2.) Great preparation was made for the reception of these foreign ministers, for their public entry and public audience, which is compared to the pains that an adulteress takes to make herself look handsome. Jezebel-like, thou paintedst thy face and deckedst thyself with ornaments, v. 40. The king and princes made themselves new clothes, fitted up the rooms of state, beautified the furniture, and made it look fresh. Thou sattest upon a stately bed (v. 41), a stately throne; a table was prepared, whereon thou has set my oil and my incense. This was either, [1.] A feast for the ambassadors, a noble treat, agreeable to the other preparations. There was incense to perfume the room and oil to anoint their heads. Or, [2.] An altar already furnished for the ambassadors’ use in the worship of their idols, to let them know that the Israelites were not so strait-laced but that they could allow foreigners the free exercise of their religion among them, and furnish them with chapels, yea, and complimented them so far as to join with them in their devotions; though the law of their God was against it, yet they could easily dispense with themselves to oblige a friend. The oil and incense God calls his, not only because they were the gift of his providence, but because they should have been offered at his altar, which was an aggravation of their sin in serving idols and idolaters with them. See Hos. ii. 8. (3.) There was great joy at their coming, as if it were such a blessing as never happened to Jerusalem before (v. 42): A voice of a multitude being at east was with her. The people were very easy, for they thought themselves very safe and happy now that they had such powerful allies; and therefore attended the ambassadors with loud huzzas and acclamations of joy. A great confluence of people there was to the court upon this occasion. The men of the common sort were there to grace the solemnity, and to increase the crowd; and with them were brought Sabeans from the wilderness. The margin reads it drunkards from the wilderness, that would drink healths to the prosperity of this grand alliance, and force them upon others, and be most noisy in shouting upon this occasion. Whoever they were, in honour of the ambassadors they put bracelets upon their hands and beautiful crowns upon their heads, which made the cavalcade appear very splendid. (4.) God by his prophets warned them against making these dangerous leagues with foreigners (v. 43): “Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, that from the first was fond of leagues with the heathen, of matching with their families (Judg. iii. 6), and afterwards of making alliances with their kingdoms, and, though often disappointed therein, would never be dissuaded from it (this was the adultery she was old in), I said, Will they now commit whoredoms with her and she with them? Surely experience and observation will by this time have convinced both them and her that an alliance between the nation of the Jews and a heathen nation can never be for the advantage of either.” They are iron and clay, that will not mix, nor will God bless such an alliance, or smile upon it. But, it seems, her being old in these adulteries, instead of weaning her from them, as one would expect, does but make her the more impudent and insatiable in them; for, though she was thus admonished of the folly of it, yet they went in unto her, v. 44. A bargain was soon clapped up, and a league made, first with this, and then with the other, foreign state. Samaria did so, Jerusalem did so, like lewd women. They could not rest satisfied in the embraces of God’s laws and care, and the assurances of protection he gave them; they could not think his covenant with them security enough. But they must by treaties and leagues, politic ones (they thought) and well-concerted, throw themselves into the arms of foreign princes, and put their interests under their protection. Note, Those hearts go a whoring from God that take a complacency in the pomp of the world and put a confidence in its wealth, and in an arm of flesh, Jer. xvii. 5.

      II. Let them be made to foresee the judgments that are coming upon them for these sins (v. 45): The righteous men, they shall judge them. Some make the instruments of their destruction to be the righteous men that shall judge them. The Assyrians that destroyed Samaria, the Chaldeans that destroyed Jerusalem, those were comparatively righteous, had a sense of justice between man and man and justly resented the treachery of the Jewish nation; however, they executed God’s judgments, which, we are sure, are all righteous. Others understand it of the prophets, whose office it was, in God’s name, to judge them and pass sentence upon them. Or we may take it as an appeal to all righteous men, to all that have a sense of equity; they shall all judge concerning these cities, and agree in their verdict, that forasmuch as they have been notoriously guilty of adultery and murder, and the guilt is national, therefore they ought to suffer the pains and penalties which by law are inflicted upon women in their personal capacity that shed blood and are adulteresses. Righteous men will say, “Why should bloody filthy cities escape any better than bloody filthy persons? Judge, I pray thee,” Isa. v. 3. This judgment being given by the righteous men, the righteous God will award execution. See here, 1. What the execution will be, Eze 23:46; Eze 23:47. The same as before, v. 23, c. God will bring a company of enemies upon them, who shall be made to serve his holy purposes even when they are serving their own sinful appetites and passions. These enemies shall easily prevail, for God will give them into their hands to be removed and spoiled this company shall stone them with stones as malefactors, shall single them out and dispatch them with their swords; and, as was sometimes done in severe executions (witness that of Achan), they shall slay their children and burn their houses. 2. What will be the effects of it. (1.) Thus they shall suffer for their sins: Their lewdness shall be recompensed upon them (v. 49); and they shall bear the sins of their idols,Eze 23:35; Eze 23:39. Thus God will assert the honour of his broken law and injured government, and let the world know what a just and jealous God he is. (2.) Thus they shall be broken off from their sins: I will cause lewdness to cease out of the land,Eze 23:27; Eze 23:48. The destruction of God’s city, like the death of God’s saints, shall do that for them which ordinances and providences before could not do; it shall quite take away their sin, so that Jerusalem shall rise out of its ashes a new lump, as gold comes out of the furnace purified from its dross. (3.) Thus other cities and nations will have fair warning given them to keep themselves from idols. That all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness. This is the end of the punishment of malefactors, that they may be made examples to others, who will see and fear. Smite the scorner and the simple will beware. The judgments of God upon some are designed to teach others, and happy are those who receive instruction from them not to tread in the steps of sinners, lest they be taken in their snares; those who would be taught this must know God is the Lord (v. 49), that he is the governor of the world, a God that judges in the earth, and with whom there is no respect of persons.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

SUMMARY OF JUDGMENTS OF JUDAH AND SAMARIA

Verses 36-49:

Verses 36, 37 call on Ezekiel to restate the judgment indictments the Lord had against Aholah (Samaria, the northern kingdom of Israel) and Aholibah (Judah, the southern kingdom). The summary charge of indictments are that they had: 1) Committed idolatrous adultery, 2) shed innocent blood for personal gain, and 3) caused their sons to pass through the fire, or burned their young children alive in the arms of Molech, the false god, Eze 16:20-21; Eze 16:36; Eze 16:45; Eze 20:26; Eze 20:31. See also Jer 2:27; Jer 3:8.

Verses 38, 39 charge Samaria and Judah with profaning the sanctuary of the Lord, by callously offering sacrifices there on the same day they had hypocritically offered children in idolatrous sacrifice, by shamefully burning them alive in the arms of Molech, in the valley of Gehenna nearby, Jer 7:9-10; 2Ki 21:4. They profaned God’s house and God’s sabbaths by these idolatrous actions, Eze 22:8. See also 2Ch 33:4; 2Ch 33:7; Jer 23:11; Eze 44:7.

Verse 40 charges the licentious sisters of Israel with deliberately sending for paramours from afar, and doing it continuously, as a repeated course of whoremongering after them, before their idol gods. They washed themselves, painted their eyes, and bejeweled themselves, as seductively as possible, to make themselves more attractive to their sent-for-lovers, as recounted 2Ki 9:30; Jer 4:30.

Verse 41 explains that Judah sat or reclined upon a bed or bedpillow with her table spread with oil and incense before her, to satisfy her lovers hunger before her adulterous consort with them; An exciting part of the way of adultery, both physical and spiritual is eating and drinking. Judah was politically making gifts to the Chaldeans, buying and worshipping their gods, along with her pretence to worship Jehovah God, an hypocritical thing, Isa 30:6; Pro 7:17; Eze 16:18-19; Hos 2:8; Jer 44:17; Amo 6:4.

Verse 42 certifies that they of Judah were at ease, with seared conscience toward wrong, because of their long pursuit of idolatrous rebellion. They also brought the Sabeans, Arab from the desert in, to be consorts in and party to their whoremongering against God; They were Willfully enticed by the gifts of bracelets and crowns their lovers brought to them, to their own destruction, Job 1:15.

Verses 43, 44 raise the question whether or not the Egyptian, Chaldean, and Sabean whoremongers would go in and continue to have adulterous relations with Aholah (Samaria) and Aholibah (Judah), who had grown old and worn in a course of whoremongering. Would their paramours or lovers keep on consorting with a worn-out, “old adulteress?” This is the question, As sat an-empowered, they did, until the total captivity judgment had covered all the land of Israel.

Verse 45 asserts that righteous men should judge them according to the degree of their adulteress guilt and the manner of those who committed murder, in the shedding of innocent blood, Eze 16:38; Joh 8:7. Heathen tyrants, like the Chaldeans, are here referred to as “righteous men,” or men who were used of God to administer righteous judgment, on a Willfully rebellious nation, Isa 49:24; Hab 1:3; Hab 1:12-13.

Verses 46, 47 warn that the Lord would bring upon them . a company, to remove them from their land, stone them, Joh 8:5; slay them by the sword, and burn their houses with fire–as the Chaldeans did, Eze 16:14; Eze 21:9-10; 2Ch 36:17; 2Ch 36:19; Eze 24:21.

Verses 48, 49 conclude that in this manner the Lord would cause idolatrous lewdness to cease from the land of Israel and all women would be taught not to do as they had done, Deu 13:11; Jer 39:8; Jer 52:13; 2Pe 2:6. Israel was to bear the judgment of the sins of her idols until she came to know by her bitter suffering that God was a God of His word, Exo 20:1-5; Psa 119:160.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary