Ezekiel 16:47

Eze 16:47 Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as [if that were] a very little [thing], thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.

Ver. 47. Yet hast thou not walked after their ways.] But hast out sinned them. Nolunt solita peccare, Do not make a habit of sinning, saith Seneca of some, They will not sin in an ordinary way. Et pudet non esse impudentes, saith Augustine of others; i.e., they are ashamed not to be past shame.

But as if that were a very little thing.] Paululum pauxillumque; A peccadillo.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But done far worse.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

their abominations--Milcom and Chemosh, the "abominations of Ammon and Moab" (Kg1 11:5, Kg1 11:7).

corrupted more than they--So it is expressly recorded of Manasseh (Kg2 21:9).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Now the Prophet, not content with the simile which he had used, says that the Jews were far worse than either their mothers or sisters. Yet he is not inconsistent, for God wished by degrees to drag the wicked to trial. If at the very first word he had said that they were worse than the Sodomites, they would have been less attentive to this accusation. But when he proposed a thing incredible, namely, that they were the daughters of the nations of Canaan, and the sisters of Samaria and Sodom, and afterwards proceeded further, and pronounced that they surpassed both their mother and sisters, this, as I have said, would stir up their minds more vehemently. This difference then contains no inconsistency, but rather tends to magnify their crimes. You, says he, have not walked according to their ways. He does not here exempt the Jews from participating in sins as if they were faultless through not imitating the Hittites, or Sodomites, or Israelites: but the word walking ought to be restricted to the sense of equality, as if he said, you are not equal. But it is a kind of correction when God says that the Jews were not equal to the Hittites or Sodomites, meaning that their impiety was more detestable, since they rushed forward to all kinds of wickedness with greater license. We now understand the Prophet’s meaning when he says that; the Jews had not walked in the ways of either Sodom or Samaria or the nations of Canaan, since they had gone before them, and even with greater ardor of pursuit; for if they had simply imitated the three people of whom mention has been made, they had walked in their ways. But when they were so hurried on in their intemperance as to run before them, they did not walk in their ways only through leaving them behind. And this comparison will sufficiently explain the Prophet’s mind, that the Jews did not follow either the Sodomites, Israelites, or Canaanites, but through their base and headlong violence left them far behind. And he says, as if it were only a small matter, that is, as if it were of little moment to thee to be like thy mother and sisters. But you have been corrupt, says he, before them. He now explains the case more clearly, since they had not walked in their ways through precipitating themselves with greater license, as we have already said. It follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(47) As if that were a very little thing.—Better, thou hast not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations a little only, but hast done more corruptly than they, &c. This excess of wickedness is constantly charged upon the Jews (see Eze_5:6-7). Sodom had indeed sinned grievously in its day, but more than 1,000 years had since passed, in which resistance to Divine admonitions had led on to a still more grievous depth of wickedness; and Samaria had been carried into captivity more than a century before the time of the prophet, and during this period the people, with now and then a few short intervals of reformation, had been tending steadily downwards. This same thought is dwelt upon in the four following verses, in which the sin of Sodom is described, while that of Samaria is passed over as being sufficiently well known.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

47. as if that were a very little thing] Or temporally: but a little while, and then, i.e. speedily thou wast corrupted; though there seems no reference to any actual period of righteousness, such as the times of David. (The strange word ḳâṭ is utterly unknown; any connexion with Ar. ḳaṭ only, or with an Assyr. word “a little,” Fried. Del. p. xvi. is little probable. If the word be anything but an echo of preceding sounds it may be a fragment of the word “little,” cf. Isa_16:14; Isa_29:17.) Cf. ch. Eze_5:6-7.

47–51. The depravity of Jerusalem exceeded that of either of her sisters: Sodom (Eze_16:48-50), Samaria (Eze_16:51).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As I live, saith the Lord God,.... This is an oath, which the Lord God swore; who, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, by his life; and this he did to confirm what he had and was about to say, that the sins of Judah were greater than those of Samaria and Sodom; which might not be easily believed, but it was as true as he was the living God:

Sodom thy sister hath, or done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters; that is, the inhabitants of Sodom, and of the villages adjacent, as the Targum, had not committed such gross iniquities as the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the towns and villages about it, and of other cities of Judah.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ways, but hast done even worse. --- Almost. He seems to diminish their crimes, (Calmet) as if it could hardly be believed that Jerusalem should be more abandoned. Hebrew and Septuagint, "that would be but little: yea, thou hast done more," &c. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Yet, Heb. And.

Walked; lived and behaved thyself as they did, for they, all things considered, were less sinners than thou.

Nor done, & c.; the same in other words; their doings were abominable, but thine have been worse.

Thou, O Jerusalem! wast corrupted more than they; art deeper dyed in sin. These deep sins were more universal, if not as to the actors, for number, yet as to extent of the wickednesses those actors committed.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

47. Yet hast thou not walked after their ways — Every Hebrew would say Amen to this statement, but would grind his teeth when he found that the contrast drawn was in favor of these despised cities and nations. (Compare Mat_10:15; Mat_11:24.)

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The words in italics indicate, as usual, a difficulty. A better construction gives, Thou hast not done after a small measure only. So the Vulgate, Neque secundum scelera earum fecisti pauxillum minus. The LXX connects the words with the clause that follows: "Thou wast all but (para mikron) corrupted more than they."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Not walked after their ways - For they, all things considered, were less sinners than thou. Nor done - Their doings were abominable, but thine have been worse.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Yahweh continues to speak about Jerusalem as if the city were his unfaithful wife. The city represents the people who live there. (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)

You not only walked in their ways

The way a person lives is spoken of as if the person were walking on a path. AT: "You not only acted like them" (See: Metaphor)

copied their behavior and practices

Here the words "behavior" and "practices" mean basically the same thing. AT: "copied the things that they did" (See: Doublet)

As I live

"As surely as I am alive." Yahweh uses this expression to show that what he says next is certainly true. This is a way of making a solemn promise. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 5:11. AT: "I solemnly swear" (See: Idiom)

translationWords

walk

Lord Yahweh

declare

Sodom

evil

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

If only you had gone in their ways Heb. וְלֹא, if only you had gone in their ways and not committed abominations more than they. Likewise (II Kings 5:17): “Now if only (וָלֹֹא) your servant to be given.” Likewise (I Sam. 20:14): “And please, if (וְלֹא) I am still alive,” concerning Jonathan, et plut a in French, would that..., if only!

so very little Would your abominations have been before Me, had you not committed abominations more than they, but you dealt more corruptly than they. This is also Jonathan’s rendering. Others interpret וְלא בָּדֳרְכֵהֶן הָלֳכְתְּ as its apparent meaning, “and you did not go in their ways,” [and thus follows the reason:] So very little were their abominations in your eyes that you dealt more corruptly than they, pochet in Old French, a little.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.