Ezekiel 23:34

Eze 23:34 Thou shalt even drink it and suck [it] out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord GOD.

Ver. 34. And thou shalt break the sherds thereof,] i.e., Of the cup, which thou shalt cast away with utmost indignation: but thou hast thy bane.

And pluck off thine own breast.] For a revenge of thy fornication therewith committed.

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.

break . . . sherds--So greedily shalt thou suck out every drop like one drinking to madness (the effect invariably ascribed to drinking God's cup of wrath, Jer 51:7; Hab 2:16) that thou shalt crunch the very shreds of it; that is, there shall be no evil left which thou shalt not taste.

pluck off thine own breasts--enraged against them as the ministers to thine adultery.

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 34. Thou shalt - pluck off thine own breasts] Thou shalt tear them; a frequent action in extreme sorrow and desolation. Weeping, tearing the bosom, and beating the breasts.

Tunc vero rupique sinus, et pectora planxi.

OVID'S Ep. 5.

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

34. Cf. Psa_75:8; Isa_51:17.

break the sheards] gnaw the sherds. The act of plucking out her own breasts is that of one intoxicated to madness, Jer_25:16. The words are wanting in LXX. Beating the breasts and tearing the cheeks was a sign of excessive grief (Hamasa, p. 373). “The women rent the breast of their dress, went half-naked, tore their faces, and beat their skin till it was lacerated with shoes (Aghani, xiv. 101, 28; xv. 139, 6; Hudh. 139, 3),” Well., Skizzen, iii. p. 160.

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.

Thou shalt even drink it, and suck it out,.... The very dregs of it, that which lies at the bottom, which is the most nauseous and the most pernicious; not through love to it, but through force, shall be obliged to it; see Psa 75:8,

and thou shall break the sherds thereof; and suck them, so that not a drop of the liquor shall be lost; even what has penetrated into the earthen vessel, which this cup is supposed to be; and therefore it shall be broken to pieces, and these pieces sucked, that all may be got out; suggesting that there will be no abatement of the punishment, it shall be endured to the utmost: or it may be an allusion to drunkards, who, having drunk up their liquor, and become drunk, break their glasses, pots, and cups, and to which the next clause agrees:

and pluck off thine own breasts; as men in their drunken fits, being like mad men, tear their own flesh; and so the Targum paraphrases it,

"thou shall tear thy flesh;''

so the Jews, under punishment for sin, and pressed with the guilt of it, through indignation at themselves should tear their flesh, and particularly pluck off their breasts: the allusion is to fornication, to which idolatry is compared, in which those parts are particularly affected; see Eze 23:21, the Syriac version renders this and the former clause thus, "thou shall shave thine hair and cut off thy breasts"; Kimchi thinks by the "breasts" are meant the oral and written laws, which ceased in the time of the captivity; but without any foundation:

for I have spoken it, saith the Lord; and therefore it shall be done.

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

Fragments, as drunkards sometimes bite (Haydock) the cup in their rage. --- Rend. What had been the occasion of thy fall: (Calmet) pectori planxi. (Ovid, ep. 5.)

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).

Thou shalt even drink it; nothing shall divert the punishment.

And suck it out; the dregs shalt thou drink, and multiply thine own sorrows.

Break the sherds; either out of indignation, or to suck out what was imbibed.

Pluck off thine own breasts; which tempted others, and undid thyself, for which cause thou now revengest thyself upon thyself.

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

34. Thou shalt break the sherds — Or, “gnaw the sherds” (R.V.). In her madness and pain the drunken woman lacerates her lips with the broken cup and plucks off (mutilates, or tears, Eze_23:25) her own breasts. See Jer_25:15-18.) This verse is sometimes omitted in the critical versions of the text because of its ambiguity.

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

Thou shalt break the shards thereof. The picture of the desolate adulteress becomes yet more terrible. Like a forlorn and desperate castaway, she does shameful execution on herself; breaks her cup, and completes the work of mutilation in its most terrible form. That is the doom decreed for her, because she had forgotten her true husband and the love of her espousals. Revised Version gives gnaw the shards thereof, painting yet more vividly the despair of the outcast.

Ver. 35 (first half of verse). Forgetting God.

I FORGETTING GOD IMPLIES THAT HE HAS FORMERLY BEEN KNOWN. We cannot forget what we have never known. The lower animal, which is incapable of entertaining a thought of God, cannot forget him. If I forget much, I must have known much.

1. Men have a natural knowledge of God. Few races, if any, are without a trace of religion. The Andaman islanders and the Fuegians are said to have been discovered in that state. If so, they are just the exception that proves the rule. The science of comparative religion reveals an underlying primitive theism beneath the tangled growth of later mythology. St. Paul appealed to the natural knowledge of God among the heathen. (Rom_1:21)

1. They who have seen the Jewish and Christian revelation have a larger knowledge of God. Israel had known God by his special manifestations in the Law, in his providence and miracles, in the prophets. All Christendom is open to the higher knowledge of God in Christ. Children in Christian homes and Sunday schools have known God, though they may have forsaken him in later days.

2. The people of God have the fullest knowledge of God. True Israelites and Christians know God as he is never known to the outer world. They have the knowledge of experience, spiritual sympathy, and fellowship. (Joh_14:7)

II THERE ARE MANY INDUCEMENTS TO FORGET GOD.

1. He is invisible. The knowledge of God is held only by faith. The decay of faith leads to forgetting God. It requires some spiritual effort to keep our hold on the Unseen.

2. Earthly interests distract our thoughts. These things are seen, present and pressing; they crowd about us and force themselves upon us. They make themselves felt as intensely real. Pleasures of life and cares of life, fascinating delights and absorbing anxieties, all tend. to put out the thought of God.

3. Sinful inclinations rouse an aversion to the thought of God. He is holy; lie disapproves of sin. It is not pleasant to think of God when we are choosing the evil way.

III FORGETTING GOD IS ITSELF A GREAT SIN. We can control our memory by fixing our thoughts upon God. This is not a case of mere brain failure. There is a moral defect behind it. Apart from all active deeds, the very forgetting God is itself wicked on several grounds.

1. God has never forgotten us. He has provided for our daily needs, while we have been ignoring the hand from which the provision came. He is our Father. Gratitude and love should keep the thought of God warm in our heart. To forget God implies gross unthankfulness and a base lack of natural affection.

2. God claims our attention and obedience. He is our Lord. He expects us to listen to his voice, give heed to his commands, and obey his will. But to forget God is to ignore these duties.

IV FORGETTING GOD IS HURTFUL TO MAN. They know not what they miss who forsake their true life and forget their Father in heaven. Seeking liberty, they court death.

1. This is the loss of the best blessings of Heaven. The light of God"s countenance is despised. His guidance, comfort, support, and salvation are neglected. The joy of communion is renounced.

2. This incurs a fatal doom. God cannot let us forget him forever. If we do not remember his love today, we may encounter his wrath tomorrow. (Psa_44:20, Psa_44:21)

V GOD MERCIFULLY INTERFERES TO SAVE US FROM FORGETTING HIM.

1. He reveals himself in his Word. The revelation of nature is daily spread before us. But when that is despised, God adds the more clear voice of prophecy. We have the open Bible to remind us of God.

2. God comes to us in his Son. As men had forgotten him, God came right down among them, looked at them through a human countenance, and spoke in a human voice. Christ comes to save us from forgetting God.

3. God rouses us by his providence. We are forgetting God while all goes smoothly. Then his thunders burst over us. They startle and alarm, but they awaken. Thus God saves us from forgetting him.

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

Thou - Shalt stagger with sorrows, that shall intoxicate, and astonish. Suck it out - The dregs shalt thou drink, and multiply thine own sorrows. Break the sheards - To suck out what remains. And pluck - Revenging thyself upon thyself.

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

and drain [Heb. וּמָצְת,] an expression of sucking to the last drop, et tu suceras in French, and you will suck.

and its shards He compares the cup that gives Israel the drink of retribution to an earthenware vessel, which, once broken, can no longer be repaired. So will it be that once their salvation comes and the cup breaks, He will not return to give them any more to drink. When He speaks of giving drink to the nations, however, He calls it gold, as it is said (Jer. 51:7): “Babylon is a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, it intoxicates all the earth.”

you shall scrape [Heb. תְּגָרֵמִי,] like (Num. 24:8): “and he scrapes (יְגָרֵם) their bones”; (Zeph. 3:3), “they did not leave over the bones (גָרְמוּ) for morning,” ronger in French, to gnaw. He scrapes with his teeth around the bone or the shard to detach from it the meat adhering to it. Menachem (p. 59) connects it to an expression of breaking, and he interprets: “and he breaks their bones,” and “they did not break the bones for morning,” in like manner.

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.