Ezekiel 16:9

Eze 16:9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

Ver. 9. Then washed I thee with water.] I cleansed thee from all thy pollutions by the merit and Spirit of my dear Son. See 1Co 6:11.

And I anointed thee with oil.] Newly married wives were usually washed, anointed, and richly arrayed. The dead also were washed, as Dorcas; and embalmed, as Jacob; and Pro 31:8, they are called bene chaloph, which signifieth "change of raiment." Death strips us all, but happy are they whom Christ hath spread his skirt over. See 2Co 5:2-4.

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.

16:9-10 The Lord did for Jerusalem what her parents had never done: he washed, anointed, and clothed her, thus reversing the circumstances of her birth. • The Lord provided Jerusalem with adornments fit for a queen, including materials elsewhere associated with the Tabernacle (see Exod 25:3-5; 26:1-14). This reminded the people of Jerusalem that she was chosen as the home of God’s sanctuary and the king’s palace.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I washed away thy sins.

I sanctified thee with mine holy Spirit.

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

washed I thee--as brides used to pass through a preparatory purification (Est 2:12). So Israel, before the giving of the law at Sinai (Exo 19:14); "Moses sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes." So believers (Co1 6:11).

oil--emblem of the Levitical priesthood, the type of Messiah (Psa 45:7).

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

Here God more clearly explains what had been formerly touched upon, namely, that he then married the people, as a young man marries his bride. But he here states that he endowed her; for they would not have been sufficiently adopted by God unless they had been adorned with superior presents; since if they had been left in that miserable slavery by which they were oppressed, God’s favor would have been very obscure. Now, therefore, God means, that by his law he had entered into a new covenant with his people, so that he did not leave them naked and bare, but clothed with remarkable gifts. First of all, he says, I washed thee with water. Although he had just said that the people were like a beautiful damsel, and had praised their beauty, yet the filth of which the prophet had spoken yet remained: it ought, therefore, to be cleansed from those stains: I have cleansed thee with water, says he, and washed off thy bloods, namely, the corrupt blood which the damsel whom Ezekiel mentions had retained from her birth. Lastly, Ezekiel says that God performed those offices which the nurse discharges for the child. Afterwards he adds —

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.

(9-14) These verses describe the purifications and preparations for marriage to one of high rank (comp. Est_2:9; Est_2:12). The reality corresponding to the figure is, of course, the Divine care over Israel at Sinai, in the wilderness, and in the conquest of Canaan.

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

9. Purifications before marriage. Whether “blood” be used somewhat generally to indicate the uncleanness of her infancy still cleaving to her, or in a more specific sense, may be uncertain (Eze_16:7). Rth_3:3; Est_2:12.

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.

I clothed thee also, with broidered work,.... Or, "with needle work" (q); with garments of divers colours, like Joseph's coat; perhaps it may refer to the rich raiment borrowed of the Egyptians, when they came out from thence. So the Targum,

"and I clothed you with various garments, the desirable things of your enemies;''

and which, with their other clothes, waxed not old all the while they were in the wilderness; see Exo 12:35; this may be expressive, either of the various graces of the Spirit of God, with which the saints are clothed and adorned; and, when exercised by them, are said to be put on as a garment, Col 3:12; or rather of the righteousness of Christ, called "raiment of needle work", Psa 45:14;

and shod thee with badgers' skin; the same the covering of the tabernacle was made of, Exo 26:14; and though the word here used may not design the creature we so call, yet may intend one whose skin was fit for shoe leather, and was very beautiful, and perhaps durable; reference may be had to the shoes of the Israelites in the wilderness, which waxed not old, Deu 29:5. Some think only the hyacinth or purple colour is here meant; and so the Septuagint version renders the word; agreeably to which Bochart (r) gives this version of the words, "I shod thee with the purple"; that is, with shoes of a purple colour; and it is very probable that of this colour were the shoes wore by the Jewish women of the first rank; since, as the same writer has not only shown from Procopius that great personages in other nations used to wear such, as the Persian and Roman emperors; who, in their own countries only, might wear them; but this was the custom of neighbouring provinces, particularly the Tyrian women, as Virgil (s) plainly suggests. Bynaeus (t) is of opinion that they were of a red or scarlet colour; and that the words should be rendered, "I shod thee with scarlet"; that is, with scarlet coloured shoes; which he observes have been in great esteem and use among persons of figure and quality; and, be they of what colour they will, they were, no doubt, made of skins of value, fine, soft, and pliable; as the Targum paraphrases it,

"I put precious shoes (or shoes of value) upon your feet:''

and therefore cannot be well thought to be made of badgers' skins, of which it was never known that shoes were made; with those indeed quivers and shields have been covered, and of those the harness of horses and collars of dogs have been made; but not men's shoes, and much less the shoes of delicate women. This may denote the agreeable walk of the saints, having their feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; or a conversation agreeable to the Gospel of Christ; which is very beautiful, and in which they are enabled to continue by the power and grace of God; see Luk 15:22;

and I girded thee about with fine linen; as the high priest was with the linen girdle of the ephod, Exo 28:8. So the Targum,

"and I separated from you the priests, that they might minister before me with linen mitres, and the high priest in garments of divers colours;''

all the saints are made priests to God, and art girt about with the girdle of love, which constrains them to fear and serve the Lord with all readiness and cheerfulness: and with the girdle of truth, which they cause to cleave and keep close unto them; see Eph 6:14;

and I covered thee with silk. The Targum interprets this of the clothing of the high priest; but, if respect is had to that, silk cannot be intended; for, as the Jews themselves say (u), the priests were not clothed for service, in the house of the sanctuary, but with wool and linen; and indeed, though the Jewish commentators in general, as Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi, and others (w), as well as our version, take the word here used to signify silk; yet, as Braunius (x) observes, it does not appear that this was known among the Jews in the times of Ezekiel, nor even before the times of Christ; nor was it known among the Romans before the times of Augustus. The word seems to be derived from an Arabic word (y), which signifies to colour or paint clothes; and may be rendered painted or coloured cloth, or garments; and so the Targum renders it died or coloured garments; and so Aquila translates it by a "flowered garment", either painted or wrought with flowers; and so Jerom, and the Vulgate Latin, by "polymitium", a garment of divers colours; and may signify; as before, the rich apparel of the Jews, and the plenty of good things enjoyed by them; see Luk 16:19; and, in a mystical sense, the beautiful clothing of the church, with the robe of Christ's righteousness, and the graces of the Spirit.

(q) "veste acupicta", Vatablus, Grotius; "acupicto", Montanus, Cocceius, Starckius. (r) Hierozoicon, par. 2. l. 3. c. 31. col. 992. (s) "Virginibus Tyriis mos est gestare pharetram, Purpureoque alte suras vincire cothurno". Aeneid l. 1. (t) De Calceis Hebr. l. 1. c. 5. sect. 16. (u) Misn. Celaim, c. 9. sect. 1. (w) "serico", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Starckius. So Buxtorf, Stockius, &c. (x) De Vestitu Sacerdot. Hebr. l. 1. c. 8. p. 168, 169. (y) "coloravit, pinxitque pannum. Hinc" "coloratus, pinctusque, pannus", Golius, col. 2678, 2679. Castel. col. 996.

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

The usual purifications for marriage.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Oil, used after bathing, or with perfume. (Calmet)

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).

Then, Heb. And: this continueth the allegory, and declareth what more was done to prepare this virgin for advancement by this marriage covenant.

Washed I thee: it was a very ancient custom among those Eastern people, as appears Rth 3:3; Es 2 12, to purify virgins who were to be espoused ere long; and it is likely the prophet alludes to that, Exo 19:10.

I throughly washed away: the same thing, by a very usual figure, repeated to confirm and illustrate what is spoken; the word in Hebrew notes an abundant washing, a rinsing of what was washed to make it cleaner; it includes a bathing, as Lev 15:10.

Thy blood; thy original and birth pollution, which rendered thee displeasing to the eye, and unfit for the familiar and loving entertainment of a husband.

I anointed thee; not to royal sovereign dignity, this is expressed by another word in the Hebrew; but anointed as they that were to be married, as Rth 3:3; Est 2:12; or as those who were to come into the presence of great and noble personages, as Dan 10:3; or as such who would look with cheerfuller countenances, and change their sad and mournful deportment, as 2Sa 12:20; it is not improbable it may allude to the bounty of God toward the Jews in a land flowing with oil. Spiritually these refer to our cleansing by the blood of Christ, and by his sanctifying Spirit.

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

9, 10. Then washed I thee… I clothed thee also — This young maiden in her Egyptian bondage is “naked and bare,” groaning in her affliction, bruised, and beaten with many stripes, even unto blood (Exo_5:14; Exo_5:21) when Jehovah takes her to himself as bride. The expression used here may also be intended to carry the impression that the first time she had ever been washed was during the purifications preparatory to the wedding. (See Lev_15:19; Lev_15:24.)

Broidered work,… badgers’ skin — Rather, variegated work [so Eze_16:13; Eze_16:18; Exo_26:36]… seal skin [Exo_25:5]… byssus (Exo_28:39; Exo_39:27). It is not absolutely certain whether the byssus was of linen or cotton.

I covered thee with silk — Silk when first adopted in Europe was of such value that the Emperor Aurelian denied his wife a silk shawl because a pound of silk cost a pound weight of gold. The early fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Chrysostom, etc., have much to say against the extravagance of the women in their congregations who wore silk. Whether this word — which is only used again in Eze_16:13 — means silk in the modern sense or not, it evidently means the costliest dress possible at that time.

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

The "washing" and "anointing" were part of the customary preparations for the marriage union (Rth_3:3; Est_2:12 RAPC Jdt 10:3) The mention of blood receives its explanation, not in the facts of ver. 6, but in the ceremonial rules of Lev_15:19-24

Vers. 9-13. The glory of redemption.

Under the similitude of a wretched child cast off by its mother and picked up by a passer by, Israel is shown to have been found by God in a miserable condition and cared for and blessed by him. Tins idea may be carried further as a symbol of the redemption of the Church by Christ.

I THE FIRST CONDITION IS ONE OF POLLUTION AND NEGLECT. Israel was in a miserable condition in Egypt when God had pity on his people. But the spiritual state of souls in sin is more wretched and forlorn.

1. It is a condition of pollution. Sinners lie in the defilement of their own sinfulness, and their wretched plight is the direct consequence of their own moral corruption.

2. It is a condition of neglect. Until God interfered, Israel in Egypt was friendless. No kindred Semitic tribe cared or dared to rescue the nation of slaves. No being came to save the world before God made bare his arm.

II THE FIRST STEP TO RECOVERY SPRINGS FROM THE PITY OF GOD. The good Samaritan is a type of our great Father. There is no beauty in sinful man to attract the attention of God. It is not our claim, but his pity, that moves God to save the world. The love of Christ, not the worth of man, brought our redemption. Pity commiseration for the wretched lies at the root of the gospel. God is love, and therefore he comes to themiserable in supreme compassion.

III THE REDEMPTION BEGINS IN CLEANSING. Sin must be washed away before the soul can be received into the privileges of the family of God. Even this early process is preceded by God"s adoption of the wretched castaway, and the cleansing is done by God himself. It is as when a miserable child of the street has been taken by a charitable person into his own home. The child cannot make itself clean. But the first act of the kind rescuer is to wash it. Christ cleanses from sin with his own blood.

IV THE REDEMPTION IS CROWNED WITH SPLENDOUR. The poor wastling is not treated as a workhouse child or put to low drudgery. She is clothed in purest apparel and decked with rarest ornaments. So the prodigal is to wear the best robe and to have a ring on his hand. God does not save grudgingly or by halves. He does not content himself with plucking the brand from the burning. He gives royally of his best to the miserable sinners whom he has redeemed. The gospel promises glory as well as grace.

V THE RESCUE AND REDEMPTION ESTABLISH A NEW RELATION WITH GOD. According to the richly illustrative picture of Ezekiel, when the poor abandoned infant is grown up, her rescuer makes her his bride. God is often regarded as the Husband of his people. But here the picture is not of God marrying any human soul, but of his marrying the most abandoned. This illustrates his marvellous condescension. At the same time, it shows the supreme duty of fidelity to God on the part of the Church that has been rescued from so dire a fate and then raised to so great an honors.

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

Washed - It was a very ancient custom among the eastern people, to purify virgins who were to be espoused. And I anointed - They were anointed that were to be married, as Ruth iii, 3.

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 a young woman. The city represents the people who live there. (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)

embroidered clothes

"beautiful clothes." To embroider is to sew a design into a piece of cloth.

I adorned you with jewelry

"I put jewelry on you"

translationWords

anoint

oil

sandal

crown

head

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

and I anointed you Heb. וָאֲסֻכֵך, a word expressing anointing. Now the entire episode is only a parable, and Jonathan explained it all, leaving nothing to add to the Targum, and he explained it in this manner:

[3] Your dwelling place and your birthplace, etc. Your dwelling place and your birthplace are from the land of the Canaanites; there I revealed Myself to your father Abraham [in the covenant] between the parts, and I let him know that you are going down to Egypt. With an arm raised on high, I redeemed you, and through the merit of your fathers, I drove out the Amorites and destroyed the Hittites.

[4] And as for your birth, on the day you were born, etc. And also, when your forefathers went down to Egypt, sojourners in a land that was not theirs, they subjugated them and oppressed them. The assembly of Israel was like a newborn infant abandoned in the open field, whose navel was not cut, and who was not rinsed with water to be cleansed, and not salted with salt or swaddled with swaddling clothes.

[5] No eye pitied you, etc. The eye of the wicked Pharaoh did not pity you to do you any favor, to lighten your bondage, [or] to have pity on you, and he decreed upon you a decree of annihilation, to cast your males into the river to destroy you at the time you were in Egypt.

[6] And I passed by you, etc. And the remembrance of the covenant of your forefathers came before Me. I revealed Myself to redeem you because it was known to Me that you were being oppressed in your bondage, and I said to you, “With the blood of the circumcision I shall spare you,” and I said, “With the blood of the Passover, I shall redeem you.”

[7] Myriads, like the plants of the field I have made you Myriads, as the plants of the field, I have made you, and you have increased and become strong, and you have become families and tribes, and with the good deeds of your forefathers, the time of the redemption of your assembly arrived because you were subjugated and oppressed.

Myriads, like the plants of the field I made you as it is said (Exod. 1:7): “And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased.”

but you were naked and bare of the commandments.

[8] And I passed by you, etc And I revealed Myself to Moses in the thorn bush because it was revealed to Me that the time of your redemption had arrived. I shielded you with My word, and I removed your sins, and I swore by My word to redeem you as I swore to your forefathers, said the Lord God, that you should be a people serving before Me.

and I spread My skirt The skirt of My garment.

and I swore to you (Exod. 6: 6): “Therefore (לָכֵן), say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord! I shall take you out, etc.” “Therefore” means only an [introduction to an] oath, as it is said (I Sam. 3:14): “therefore, I have sworn to the house of Eli...”

and came into a covenant with you (Exod. 24:8): “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you.”

[9] and I washed you with water And I redeemed you from the bondage of the Egyptians, and I removed the strength of their lordship from you, and I led you to freedom.

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.