The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 278

(Jor. xliv. 17), i.e. of the ABs}'l'ian lslitar, points tl,nt were most open to atb,ck (Gen. may have he.cl this origin, Yet couldest not xiii. 9). Ey the blood of thy children. Tbe bo satisfied. One is reminded once moro of words mny refer specially to the l\folooh- Juvenal (' Sat.,' vi. 130). sucrifices of ver. 21, but may also include Ver. 29.-In the land of Canaan, etc. The the lnvish wasto of life as well as treasure words at first seem to givo tho neare~t and which had been the comequence of the furthest points of the inlercourse of Israel foreign alliances. The harlot-city ie iucli- with foreign nntions. I incline, however, cnted as being also a murderess. with Smend and the margin of the llevised Ver. 37.-I will gather all thy lovers, etc. Ve1·sion, to ta.kc Oanacm in its secondary sense Interpreting the parable, the " lovers" are as "the land of tre.ffick," Chaldea being in the nations with which Judah had allied apposition with it (comp. I~n. xxiii. 8; Hos. herself, and whose religion she had adopted. xii. 7; Zei,h. i. 11, for a like use oftho Hebrew In that confederacy of Moabites, Ammonites, word). Ohaldea thus comes in its right Syrians.Philistines, Eclomites, and Chaldeans place e.s closing the list of the nations with there Bhould be small difference between whom the he.riot-city had been unfaithful. those whom she bad loved and those whom Ver. 30.-Row weak, etc. I The weakness she h::1d hated. All alike would exult in is that expressed in the Latin impotens her shame and her fall ( comp. Pa. cxxxvii. libidinis, with no strength to resist the 7; 2 Kings xxiv. 2). impulses of desire. The word imperious Ver. 38.-The bloodshed may refer, as in (perhaps masterful woulcl be better) is that ver. 36, to the Moloch-sacrifices, or may of one who is subject to no outward control. incluile also other crimes, e.ssa.ssinations and One is reminded of Dante on Semirami.s judicial murders (Jer. ii. 34). Strictly (' Inf.,' v. 56), The strange renderings of speaking, the punishment of the adulteress the LXX. (.-1 6u,Bw .-¾,u Bvya..-lpa. uou) and was death by sioning (Lev. xx. 2, 10; Dent. the Vulgate (in quo mundabo cor tuum) are xxi. 21; xxii. 21; John viii. 5). Did Eze- difficult to e.ccount for, but probably indicate kiel think of the stones cast against the the.t the present text is corrupt. city from the catapult-engines of tbe Ver. 31.-In that, etc. It is better to Ohaldeans as B literal counterpart of that take the words as beginning a fresh punishment? In the last clause read, with sentence: "when thou didst build," etc. the Revised Version, I un1l bring upon thee The historical survey of the harlot's pro- the blood of fury and jealousy; sc. the death gress is brought to a close, and the prophet which was inflicted by the inrligne.tion of points with bitter scorn to what aggravated Jehovah as the Husband against whom its degre.dation. Other ne.tions, like Tyre Judah had sinned. and Zidon, had risen to prosperity and Ver. 39.-(For eminent ple.oe and high eminence through thoir intercourse with place, see notes on ver. 24.) These the foreigners. To Judah it had brought only Cho.ldean conqueror treated as local subjection and the payment of tribute. sanctuaries, and le.id them waste. The She had given gifts to all her lovers, instead clothes and the jewels are, of course, all of receiving from them the rewards of her outward tokens of stateliness and prosperity. shame. She was as the adulterous wife The (or a) holy city, the perfection of beauty, who forsakes her husband, and gives what should be as '' some for lorn e.nd desperate belonged to him to strangers. The conduct castaway" (comp. LllIIl. i. 1-10 for e. com- of Ahaz in stripping the Temple of ite gold panion picture). and silver to pay tribute to Assyria (2 Kings Ver. 40.-The punishment or stoning was, xvi. 8), gives an apt illustre.tion of what as a rule, inflicted by the " congregation " the prophet means (comp. Hos. :xii. 1; Isa. (Numb. x:v. 36), or by the meu of the city XXX. 6). (Lev. :xx. 2). Other forms of punishment Ver, 36.-From the task of painting the for impurity were those of the sword e.nd guilt of Judah the prophet proceeds to tho.t burning, as in Lev. xx. H; :ui. 9. Tho of denouncing its puniMhment, thrusting through (better, hetoing ; the word Ver. 36.-Thy filthiness; literally, thy is not found elsewhere) probably points to brass; probe.bly as alluding to the tribute mutilation after denth, as in the case of referred to in the previous verses, "brass" Agag (1 Sam. :xv. 33; comp. Judg. x.ix. 29; being taken as used scornfully for money Dan. ii. 5; iii. 29). In this case the "con- generally. Possibly, however, as iu Jer. vi. greae.tion" 0 or "company" is the army of 28, the word stands for the symbol of shame the Uhaldeans, and each form of punishment and vileness (compare our" brazen-faced"), has its counterpart iu tho various agencie• and so justifies the rendeiing of the which they employed for the punishment of Authorized Version and Revised Version. tho city. Thy nakedness disoovered; i.e., interpreting Ver. 41.-They she.11 burn thine houses the pttro.ble, the intercourse of Judah with with fire, eto. (comp. 2 Kings xxv. 9 e.nd Jer. foreign nations had simply exposed tho lii. 13, for the fulfilment of the prediction).  276 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [err. xvr.1-83,