Ezekiel 23:14

Eze 23:14 And [that] she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,

Ver. 14. For when she saw men portrayed upon the wall.] So unbridled was her lust that she fell to doting upon those quos tantum per umbram et imaginem aspexerat, whose pictures only she had beheld. In some Popish churches there are to be seen wanton pictures, such as do rather kindle lust than quicken devotion. An eyewitness {a} hath told us in print that in some places they will assemble various of the fairest courtezans, when they would draw a picture of the Virgin Mary, to draw the most modest beauty of a virgin out of the flagrancy of harlots.

{a} Spec. Eur.

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.

This declareth that no words are able sufficiently to express the rage of idolaters, and therefore the holy Ghost here compareth them to those which in their raging love and filthy lusts dote upon the images and paintings of them after whom they lust.

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

vermilion--the peculiar color of the Chaldeans, as purple was of the Assyrians. In striking agreement with this verse is the fact that the Assyrian sculptures lately discovered have painted and colored bas-reliefs in red, blue, and black. The Jews (for instance Jehoiakim, Jer 22:14) copied these (compare Eze 8:10).

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

Verse 14. Men pourtrayed upon the wall] See on Eze 8:10.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(14) Men portrayed upon the wall.—Such portraitures, with evidence that they were once executed in brilliant colours, are characteristic both of Egypt and Assyria, where stone for sculpture abounded. From the close connection in race and customs between the Assyrians and Babylonians, it cannot be doubted that the same portraitures were also common upon the more perishable brick of the latter, of whom the prophet is now speaking. The monuments fully concur in representing the warriors of Assyria and Babylonia as delighting in extreme gorgeousness of apparel, but it is difficult to render into English with accuracy each particular of their dress. The exiles, whom Ezekiel immediately addressed, were familiar with these pictures, and his way of speaking of them was important in checking any disposition to fall into idolatries by means of them.

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

14. and that she increased] Rather: And she added to her whoredoms, with full stop at Eze_23:13. It was certainly the custom in Babylonia to draw figures of men and the like upon the walls; it is not probable, however, that such figures of Chaldean warriors had actually been seen in Jerusalem. The prophet combines the Babylonian custom with the reports of Chaldean military splendour current in Judah. Even when Babylon was still a vassal state of Assyria Hezekiah entered into intrigues with it, Isaiah 39. In later times it was the rivalry between Babylon and Egypt that drew Judah into the whirl of imperial politics, and left her from the time of the battle of Carchemish and the defeat of Egypt subject to Babylon (b.c. 604).

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.

And that she increased her whoredoms,.... Added to the number of her idols, increased her idols, and even was guilty of more than her sister:

for when she saw men portrayed on the wall; of the temple, as idols were, Eze 8:10 or upon the wall of a private house, where they were worshipped as household gods:

the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion: the images of their heroes, who after death were deified; and these, being drawn upon the wall with vermilion, which, being mixed with ceruse, made a flesh colour, were worshipped; as Bel, Nebo, Merodach, which are names of their idols, Isa 46:1 or these were graven on the walls, or etched out upon them with minium or red lead; or rather were "painted" (r), as some render the word, with minium, vermilion, or cinnabar, which are the same; See Gill on Jer 22:14, and it may be observed, that it was usual with the Heathens to paint the images and statues of their gods with these. Thus Virgil (s) represents Pan, the god of Arcadia, coloured red with minium or vermilion; and Pausanius (t) speaks of the statue of Bacchus being besmeared with cinnabar: and Pliny (u) says the face of the image of Jupiter used to be anointed with minium or vermilion on festival days; and observes, that the nobles of Ethiopia used to colour themselves all over with it; this being the colour of the images of their gods, which they reckoned more august, majestic, and sacred. Hence the Romans, in their triumphs, used to paint themselves with vermilion; particularly it is said of Augustus Caesar, that he did this to make himself the more conspicuous and respectable, after the example of the Assyrians and Medes (w): and the triumphers chose to be rubbed all over with a red colour, that they might, according to Isidore (x), resemble the divine fire.

(r) "depictas sinopide", Pagninus; "pictas minio", Piscator. (s) "Pan deus Arcadiae venit, quem vidimus ipsi Sanguineis ebuli baccis, minioque rubentern." Bucolic. Eclog. 10. (t) Achaica, sive l. 7. p. 452. & Arcadica, sive l. 8. p. 520. (u) Nat. Hist. l. 33. c. 7. (w) Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 6. c. 6. p. 332. (x) Originum, l. 18. c. 2.

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

After Israel’s captivity Judah intrigued first with Assyria, then with Babylon, courting their monarchs, imitating their customs, and learning their idolatries.

Pourtrayed upon the wall - The monuments of Nineveh show how the walls of its palaces were adorned with figures precisely answering to this description. There is evidence that these sculptures were highly colored with vermilion, or rather, red ochre.

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

Colours. She was enamoured at the account or picture of these people, without ever having seen them.

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).

Increased her whoredoms; added to the number of her idolatries.

When she saw men portrayed upon the wall: wherever it was the Jews saw, there it was they doted on their persons and habits: it is probable enough they might see them in the idol temples, or in the house of the king of Judah, or of the great men, who promoted the friendships and leagues with these nations.

The images; the counterfeits of strangers, and such as were far off, as the Chaldeans were.

With vermilion; which, as it is a very glossy and shining colour, so, duly mixed with ceruse, doth lively express the colour of man’s flesh.

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

14. And that — Rather, And yet. Eze_23:13 should close with a period. This verse opens to view Judah’s affiliations with Babylon. Jerusalem early saw that Babylon was to become a great power and courted its favor even while it was yet a vassal of Assyria (Isaiah 39).

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

The sin of Judah went a stop further than that of Samaria. She courted the alliance of the Chaldeans. Probably the sojourn of Manasseh at Babylon (2Ch_33:11) led him to see in that city a possible rival to Assyria. The embassy of Merodach-Baladan to Hezekiah (Isa 39) implies, on the other hand, that Babylon was looking to Judah for support against Assyria. The prophet represents this political coquetting, so to speak, as another act of whoredom. Aholibah saw the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion (probably "red ochre:" colors seem to have been used largely both in Assyrian and Babylonian sculpture as in Egyptian, and Judah seems to have copied them, (Jer_22:14) and fell in love with them. As the passions of a Messalina might be roused by sensuous pictures of masculine beauty, so Judah was led on by what her envoys reported of the magnificence of the palaces, the strength of the armies, of the Chaldeans. The journey of Jonah to Nineveh, and those implied in Hos_7:11, as well as the prophecy of Nahum, all indicate a more or less intimate knowledge of the Mesopotamian monarchies. The mission of Merodach-Baladan would be naturally followed by a return embassy from Judah. A later instance under Zedekiah meets us in Jer_29:3.

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

General Information:

Yahweh continues his metaphor in which he speaks of the cities of Jerusalem and Samaria as if they were two prostitutes. This metaphor continues through Ezekiel 23:34. (See: Metaphor)

turbans

hats made out of long cloth and wrapped around the top of a man's head

had the appearance of officers of chariot troops, the likeness of sons

The abstract nouns "likeness" and "appearance" can be translated with verbal phrases. AT: "appeared the way officers of chariot troops do, and they looked like sons" (See: Abstract Nouns)

chariot troops

soldiers who drive chariots and who run ahead of and beside them

sons of Babylonia

"Babylonians"

translationWords

Chaldea

chariot

Babylon

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 she increased her harlotries to lust for images that she had not seen [in actuality], only their likeness,

engraved on the wall with types of drawings, whereas her sister did not do anything like this.

images of Chaldeans The likeness of Chaldean men, who were unusual in their attire.

with types of drawings [Heb. בַּשָׁשַׁר,] types of drawings.

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.