Ezekiel 23:40

Eze 23:40 And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger [was] sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,

Ver. 40. Ye have sent for men.] Ye have trusted to foreign forces and carnal combinations.

For whom thou didst wash thyself.] Omnino te comparas ut Thais impudentissima, ad pelliciendos et inescandos amatores; thou hast acted the whore to the life to inveigle thy paramours.

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.

The figure is that of a woman decked in all her beauty, sitting on a couch (not bed) at a banquet prepared for those whom she has invited. This further offence is not one of idolatry, but that of courting alliances with other powers which were not less readily made than broken.

Eze 23:40

That ye have sent - Better, “they (i. e., Israel and Judah) sent.”

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

Eze 23:40-42. And furthermore, ye have sent for men to come from far, &c. — Here the same thing which was spoken of in the former part of the chapter, is mentioned again in other words, namely, their courting the alliances of foreign nations, by complying with their idolatries: and this is set forth under the representation of the several arts which harlots used to recommend themselves to new lovers: compare Isa 57:7; Isa 57:9. For whom thou didst wash thyself — A custom generally practised by women in those countries, before they entertained their lovers. Paintedst thy eyes — It seems to have been their fashion in those days to draw strokes about their eyes, or to colour their eye-brows with black lead. And sattest upon a stately bed — Here the custom of sitting or lying upon beds, at the feasts made in honour of idols, or false gods, seems to be particularly spoken of, as may be inferred from the following words: whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil — That is, whereupon thou hast offered up to idols that incense and oil which ought to have been offered up to me. It was usual, after a sacrifice to idols, for a table well spread to be placed before a couch, and a feast to be partaken of. The lectisternia of the Romans were borrowed from this eastern idolatrous rite, Livy, 5. 13. Houbigant thinks, that by the table here spoken of is meant the altar which Ahaz erected, after the similitude of that which he had seen at Damascus. And a voice of a multitude, &c. — The noise of festivity, and of people assembled together in jollity, was heard all around. It seems their loose mirth, at their meetings in honour of some of their idols, is here particularly meant. And with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans, &c. — The prophet proceeds in comparing the idolatries of the Jews to the practices of lewd women, who prostitute themselves to all comers, even those of the meanest condition. Such were the Sabeans that came from the wilderness, that is, from Arabia, called the desert, where dwelt the posterity of Seba, mentioned Gen 10:7. Which put bracelets upon their hands, &c. — That is, upon the hands and heads of these two lewd women, Aholah and Aholibah. Bracelets and crowns were ornaments proper for brides, and were likewise presented by lovers to their mistresses: and therefore this may signify the compliance of the Jewish people with the grossest idolatries. Or the meaning may be, that Aholah and Aholibah, the inhabitants of Samaria and Jerusalem, put bracelets upon the hands, and beautiful crowns upon the heads, of such worthless idolaters as the Sabeans of the wilderness were; that is, courted their friendship and alliance with gifts.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They sent into other countries to have such as should teach the service of their idols.

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

messenger was sent--namely, by Judah (Eze 23:16; Isa 57:9).

paintedst . . . eyes-- (Kg2 9:30, Margin; Jer 4:30). Black paint was spread on the eyelids of beauties to make the white of the eye more attractive by the contrast, so Judah left no seductive art untried.

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 40. Thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments.] This is exactly the way in which a loose female in Bengal adorns herself to receive guests. She first bathes, then rubs black paint around her eyes, and then covers her body with ornaments.-WARD'S Customs.

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

(40) Paintedst thine eyes.—The figure is that of a lewd woman preparing herself for her paramour, and awaiting his arrival. Painting the eyes, or rather the lids and lashes, was an ancient custom, still preserved in the East. (Comp. 2Ki_9:30.)

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

40. that ye have sent] Perhaps: and furthermore they sent. The change of person occurs later. The word “they sent” is wanting in LXX.

wash thyself] i.e. bathe thyself.

paintedst thy eyes] This refers to the practice of colouring the edges of the eyelids with a dark powder (stibium), which made the eye itself appear large and brilliant, 2Ki_9:30; Jer_4:30. The word kahal is Arab., and the root of Alcohol; the Heb. is pûch (Isa_54:11); Job’s daughter bore the name Keren-hap-puch, horn of paint.

40–44. These verses hardly refer to political alliances merely; Eze_23:41 suggests idolatrous worship. As the foreign gods came in, however, through intercourse with the nations which served them they are spoken of as being sent for by messengers (cf. Eze_23:16). The whole is presented under the figure of an harlot receiving men from all quarters. The passage has great resemblance to Isa_57:9 seq.

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 furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far,.... From Egypt, Assyria, and Chaldea, to treat with them, and enter into alliances and confederacies with them, and to join them in their idolatrous practices; these Heathen nations did not send to the Jews, but the Jews to them; they did not court their friendship and alliance, but the Jews courted theirs:

unto whom a messenger was sent; to court their favour, and solicit a confederacy, and to desire that ambassadors might be sent to reside among them:

and, lo, they came; these Heathen courts listened to the proposal, and accordingly sent their plenipotentiaries and ambassadors to them, who came in their masters' name, and with their credentials; and for the reception of whom great preparations were made, as follows:

for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments; just as harlots do to make themselves agreeable to their lovers; who use washes and paint, as Jezebel did, and dress themselves in their best clothes, and adorn themselves in the best manner they can. Harlots had their particular attire, by which they were known, Pro 7:10 and they not only used bagnios or baths, but washes for their face, to make them look beautiful; and particularly painted their eyes, to make them look larger; for large eyes in women, in some nations, were reckoned very handsome, particularly among the Greeks: hence Juno, in Homer (d), is called the ox eyed, as some translate it; or rather the large eyed Juno: and the Grecian women, in order to make their eyes large, made use of a powder mixed with their washes, which shrunk their eyebrows, and caused their eyes to stand out, and look fuller and larger; and such was the paint which Pliny, (e) calls stibium, and says, it was by some named "platyophthalmon", because in the beautiful eyebrows of women it dilated the eyes; and it seems that painting with something of this nature was used by the Jewish women, in imitation of the Heathens, for the same purpose, especially by harlots; hence the phrase of rending the face, or rather the eyes, with paint, Jer 4:30, so the Moorish women now, as Dr. Shaw (f) relates, to add a gracefulness to their complexions, tinge their eye lids with "alkahol", the powder of lead ore; and this is performed by first dipping into this powder a small wooden bodkin, of the thickness of a quill, and then drawing it afterwards through the eyelids, over the ball of the eye; and which is properly a rending the eyes indeed, as the prophet calls it, with powder of "pouk", or lead ore: so, for the gratifying these idolatrous ambassadors, idols were set up, altars built, and sacrifices prepared; and, in order to their public entry, and to show how acceptable they were, palaces were fitted up for them; and the streets through which they passed decorated, and all public marks of esteem and affection given them; to this the Targum seems to have respect, paraphrasing the words thus,

"and, lo, they came to the place thou hadst prepared; thou hast adorned the streets, and appointed palaces.''

(d) Iliad. 1. l. 550. (e) Nat. Hist. l. 33. c. 6. (f) Travels, p. 229. Ed. 2.

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

Paint, with antimony. (Septuagint) See 4 Kings ix. 3.

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).

Sent for men: see Eze 23:16.

From far; from Chaldea.

A messenger was sent; an embassy from the king of Judah, with advice of his princes, no doubt.

They came: see Eze 23:17.

Wash thyself; after the manner of harlots, gottest all fine, clean, and delicate against thy paramours came; so idol temples built, altars beautified, sacrifices prepared, all to commend thyself to their alliance and help.

Paintedst thy eyes; like a decayed harlot, madest up thy defects with paint.

Deckedst thyself with ornaments; puttest on the rich clothing I gave thee, and with thy Husband’s bounty allured adulterers to thy bed; so Eze 16:13,14; thus was God abused and provoked.

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

Ye have sent for men to come from far, etc. The words obviously refer to the embassies which had been sent from time to time by both Samaria and Jerusalem to Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. The imagery of the earlier stage of the harlot"s progress is resumed, and we have a picture almost the counterpart of that in Pro_7:10-21. She takes her bath, paints her eyelashes with kohol, the black pigment still used in the East, as Jezebel had done. (2Ki_9:30) She decks herself with jewels, and sits on a divan (a sofa-conch, rather than bed), and prepares a table for a banquet. And on that table are the incense and the oil, symbols alike of wealth and worship, which Jehovah claims as his, and which she offers to her lovers. (comp. Eze_16:13, Eze_16:19; Hos_2:5, Hos_2:8)

Vers. 40 and 42The foreign and the common.

In Ver. 40 Israel is seen to be seeking distant foreign connections, like a faithless wife who goes far afield for companions in sin. In Ver. 42 the charm of the distant and the foreign is swallowed up in the vulgarity of sin, which is the same in essence all the world over.

I THE CHARM OF THE FOREIGN. The Jews were especially warned against foreign alliances, as they meant distrust in God, and as they led to the introduction of corrupting heathen influences. Nevertheless, the foolish people gave way to the fatal fascination of foreigners.

1. There is a charm in novelty. We are tempted to accept alien ideas just because they strike us with a certain freshness. Thus all sorts of earthly notions and practices have been imported into God"s Israel, the Christian Church, by have peculiarly wide and varied relations with the world, and Christianity claims all the earth as its domain. But the fatal charm is that of following the example of the various practices of mankind instead of impressing a Christian influence on the race. This was Israel"s mistake. Called to carry out a mission to the world, she succumbed to the spirit of the world. There is great danger lest the Church should follow her example in this respect. Indeed, this has happened already to a deplorable extent. A pseudo-liberalism claims to be following the zeit-geist, and so to be adapting Christianity to the world. This means unfaithfulness to Christ. St. Paul would be all things to all men, but only that he might win all men to Christ, never so as to surrender Christ to please the world. That is the part of a Judas.

II THE DISILLUSION OF THE COMMON. Israel and Judah cast wistful glances on the foreigner. But when they had accomplished their purpose and were indulging in revelry with a multitude of people who had adorned them with the barbaric magnificence of golden bracelets and crowns, what did it all amount to but the shame of a low, drunken debauch? Novelty in sin does not elevate the evil thing, which is essentially the same, however it may be clothed and decorated. The so-called refinement of vice is but a veneer on the surface which leaves the rottenness beneath untouched. Cosmopolitanism does not save from moral corruption. The whole world is essentially one in its sin. There is a horrible vulgarity about all wickedness. If we would be saved from this we must in a sense become a "separate people." We may and we should still sympathize with all our fellow-men, send the gospel to every nation and ourselves learn such lessons as a wide view of mankind may teach us. Yet for all the higher efforts of life the inspiration must be found in the retired and secret chamber of prayer.

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

Wash thyself - After the manner of harlots.

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

General Information:

Yahweh again refers to the cities of Jerusalem and Samaria as if they were two prostitutes. (See: Metaphor)

You sent out for men who came from far away, to whom messengers had been sent

These two phrases have the same meaning. This means that they sent messengers to men far away requesting for them to come to them. AT: "You sent messengers to men who came to you from far away" (See: Parallelism)

behold

"look" or "listen" or "pay attention to what I am about to tell you"

you bathed, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry

These are things done by a woman to make her appear more beautiful to a man.

you bathed ... you sat

Here the word "you" switches to singular and refers to only one sister, but the situation is probably the same for both sisters. If one sister must be specified in your language, refer to Oholibah here. (See: Forms of You)

my incense and my oil

These are items used in worship to Yahweh.

translationWords

incense

oil

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 furthermore, that they would send [Heb. וְאַף כִּי.] And surely, worst of all is that they would send to bring to them [invite] some of the princes of the nations, their lovers, and these see the profanation with which they profane My sanctuary.

to whom an emissary is sent, etc. from Oholah and Oholibah to come to them.

and behold they came to the place where you bathed, daubed, etc. [Heb. לַאֲשֶׁר,] to which. Jonathan renders: לַאֲתַר, to the place, au lieu in Modern French. To the place that you designated for them, saying, “In such and such a place, we will come out to meet you, beautified by the bathing and the daubing.”

daubed [Heb. כָּחַלְתָּ,] a kind of dye named כָּחוֹל, with which they color their eyes, ecler in Old French, to brighten.

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.