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You have played the prostitute also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played the prostitute with them, and yet you weren’t satisfied. You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren’t satisfied with this.
“ ‘ “How weak is your heart,” says the Lord Yahweh, “since you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute;
Ezekiel 16:28-30 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“ ‘ “It has happened after all your wickedness. Woe, woe to you!” says the Lord Yahweh, “that you have built for yourselves a vaulted place, and have made yourselves a lofty place in every street. You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution. You have also committed sexual immorality with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh; and have multiplied your prostitution, to provoke me to anger. See therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your portion, and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way. You have played the prostitute also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played the prostitute with them, and yet you weren’t satisfied. You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren’t satisfied with this.
“ ‘ “How weak is your heart,” says the Lord Yahweh, “since you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute; in that you build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty place in every street, and have not been as a prostitute, in that you scorn pay.
You have played the prostitute also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played the prostitute with them, and yet you weren’t satisfied.
You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren’t satisfied with this.
“ ‘ “How weak is your heart,” says the Lord Yahweh, “since you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute;
Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.
Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.
How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;
Thou hast played the harlot also with the Assyrians, without having enough; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet thou wast not satisfied.
Thou hast moreover multiplied thy harlotry with the land of traffic, even with Chaldea; and yet thou didst not have enough herewith.
How weak is thy heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of a wanton harlot;
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv28–30 I interpret this verse also of the covenant by…
I interpret this verse also of the covenant by which the Jews had entangled themselves, when they willingly joined themselves to the Assyrians; for this was a sure sign of distrust, when they so desired foreign aid, as if they had been deprived of God’s protection. And it would be absurd to explain this verse of idolatries, since the prophets were not accustomed to speak in this way, that the people committed fornication with the Assyrians, because they imitated their superstitions and perverse worship. As, therefore, we formerly saw that the Jews had defiled themselves with idols, and prostituted themselves to impious ceremonies, forgetful of God’s law; so now the Prophet accuses them of a different kind of pollution, since they eagerly sought for aid from all quarters, as if God had not sufficient strength for their protection. For otherwise there was no religious reason for their not making peace with the Assyrians; but when they saw themselves oppressed by the kings of Israel and Syria, then they thought of sending for the Assyrians; and this was like thrusting God from his place. (2 Kings 16:7-9.) For God was willing to defend the land with extended wings, and to cherish the Jews as a hen does her brood, as Moses says, (Deuteronomy 32:11.) Now, in thinking themselves exposed to any danger, they really throw off the help of God. It is not surprising, then, that the Prophet says, that they had polluted themselves with the Assyrians, because they were not satisfied. He pursues the simile on which we have dwelt sufficiently; for he blames the Jews for their insatiable lust, just as when a woman is not content with a single follower, and attracting a crowd obtrudes herself without modesty or delicacy, and sells herself to wickedness. Such was the licentiousness of the Jews, that they united many acts of pollution together. They had already departed from the true faith in making a treaty with the Egyptians, and they added another imagination, that it was useful to have the Assyrians in alliance with them: hence that unbridled lust which the Prophet metaphorically rebukes. 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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v30 Or, that will bear rule.
Or, that will bear rule.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv28–30 Eze 16:28 Thou hast played the whore also with…
Eze 16:28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.
Ver. 28. Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians.] By making sinful leagues, and gadding so much about to change thy way. {Jer 2:36}
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And yet couldest not be satisfied.] It is as easy to quench the fire of Etna as the thoughts set on fire by lust.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv28–30 Thou hast courted their friendship and alliance, and to…
Thou hast courted their friendship and alliance, and to obtain it hast entertained their religion, manners, and impieties, been all idolatress with them, and committed adulteries with them, though they were far from thee. When thou didst wickedly with thy neighbours, it might admit some little colour of excuse, but it is inexcusable to run to remotest nations.
Because thou wast unsatiable; without satisfying thyself (and so the Hebrew may be read); but our interpreters refer it to the boundless lusts of this lewd adulteress, and not to the issue and event of her practices; and in the endless lustings of a wicked heart idolaters and adulterers do agree.
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Yea, thou hast played the harlot; it is repeated to shame her, and make her blush and repent.
Couldst not be satisfied; or, wast not satisfied. Assyrian gods proved, as other idols, a snare and a lie to the Jews, 2Ki 16:9,10; Jer 2:18,36; Ho 7:11,12; 14:3.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv28–30 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land…
Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan,.... Or, "with the land of Canaan" (l); with the inhabitants of it, doing the same evils, committing the same idolatries, as the old inhabitants of Canaan did; and so the Targum,
"and thou hast multiplied thine idols, that thou mightest be joined to the people of Canaan:''
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or, "to the land of Canaan" (m); like to the land of Canaan; according to the abominations of the Canaanites, doing as they did. Jarchi takes the word Canaan to signify a "merchant", as it does in Hos 12:7; and the land of Canaan to be the same with the land of Chaldea, called a land of traffic, and Babylon the city of merchants, Eze 17:4; since it follows,
unto Chaldea: but the sense is, that the Jews were not content with the idolatries in the land of Canaan, but sent even to Chaldea, a remote country, to fetch new idols from thence; see Eze 23:14. The Targum is,
"to walk in the laws of the Chaldeans;''
their religious ones, their rites and ceremonies respecting idolatrous worship:
and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith; but still wanted other idols and modes of worship; not being content with the gods of the Egyptians, nor of the Assyrians, nor of the Canaanites, nor of the Chaldeans.
(l) "cum terra Canaan", Munster, so some in Vatablus, Tigurine version, Noldius, p. 39. No. 288. (m) "ad terram Canaan", so some in Vatablus. Approved by Kimchi and Ben Melech.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v30 How weak - Unstable, like water. An imperious woman…
How weak - Unstable, like water. An imperious woman - A woman, that knows no superior, nor will be neither guided nor governed.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v30 Eze 16:30-34. How weak is thy heart — Not…
Eze 16:30-34. How weak is thy heart — Not only unstable as to good resolutions, but even restless and unsettled in evil practices, still hankering after some new kind of idolatry, and resolved to indulge a wandering appetite, Eze 16:28-29. The work of an imperious, whorish woman — A woman that acknowledges no superior, and will neither be guided nor governed. In that thou buildest thine eminent place — See Eze 16:16; Eze 16:22. And hast not been as a harlot, in that thou scornest hire — Thou art the more inexcusable in that thou hast practised these idolatries without being compelled to it by want and necessity, and thou also hast never gained by them. The metaphor of a lewd woman is still carried on; and as one who is lewd for the sake of a maintenance, is more excusable than those who are lewd to gratify their passions, so God here tells the Jewish people, by the prophet, that they had not even the plea, which common harlots had, of practising their sin out of necessity; for that they had never made any advantage of their idolatries, but were subservient to those idolatrous nations, and lavished their riches on them, without reaping any benefit from them. They give gifts to all whores — That is, to the most of them: it is usual for loose men to do so. But thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers — By this is signified the large presents they frequently sent to the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans, to purchase their friendship. The Jews are often upbraided for making leagues with idolaters, and courting their favours by presents, and by complying with their idolatries. And the contrary is in thee — The intelligent reader, says Bishop Warburton, perceives that the meaning of the metaphor is, “You Jews are contrary to all other nations; you are fond of borrowing their rites; while none of them care to borrow yours, or to take any of them into their national worship.” See Div. Leg., vol. 3.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv28–29 Compare the marginal reference. Idolatry, spiritual adultery, invariably accompanied…
Compare the marginal reference. Idolatry, spiritual adultery, invariably accompanied these unholy alliances, and brought with it disaster and ruin.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v28 Assyrians, adoring the sun, Baal, &c. (Calmet)
Assyrians, adoring the sun, Baal, &c. (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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv28–30 unsatiable--Not satisfied with whoredoms with neighbors, thou hast gone…
unsatiable--Not satisfied with whoredoms with neighbors, thou hast gone off to the distant Assyrians, that is, hast sought a league with them, and with it adopted their idolatries.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv28, 30 28, 29. Hast played… hast… multiplied — Literally, didst…
28, 29. Hast played… hast… multiplied — Literally, didst play, didst multiply. Not content with having adopted the worst features of Canaanitish and Egyptian idolatry (Eze_16:20; Eze_16:26), she turns for novelties of wickedness to the Assyrians and Chaldeans. “Thou hast provoked me in all these ways, adding one sin upon another, because thy whoredoms were too few for thee.” — Mosheh Ben Shesheth.
In the land of Canaan unto Chaldea — Literally, unto the merchants’ land, even unto Chaldea. (Compare Eze_17:4.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv28–30 28. Infidelity with Assyria.
28. Infidelity with Assyria.
The historical tense “didst play” is better. Already Amo_5:26 appears to mention the names of Assyrian gods, for the passage can hardly refer to any time but his own. Jer_2:18; Jer_2:36.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv28–30 (28) With the Assyrians.—The Assyrians and Egyptians were for…
(28) With the Assyrians.—The Assyrians and Egyptians were for many centuries in deadly hostility against each other, and it would seem that Israel could hardly have formed alliances with and adopted the idolatries of both. Nevertheless they had done so, and in addition to their Egyptian idolatries, had gone to the extent, in the time of Ahaz, of displacing the altar in the court of the Temple, and putting in its stead an altar of the gods of Assyria (2 Kings 16.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv28–30 With the Assyrians. Here also the words include political…
With the Assyrians. Here also the words include political alliances like that of Ahaz with Tiglath-Pileser, (2Ki_16:7) as well as the adoption of idolatrous worship. The latter probably followed under Ahaz as a consequence of the former, and afterwards spread through the influence of the Assyrian colonists each nation with its own deities in Samaria. (2Ki_17:24) The culture of the queen of heaven, (Jer_44:17) i.e. of the Assyrian Ishtar, may have had this origin. Yet couldest not be satisfied. One is reminded once more of Juvenal ("Sat.," 6:130).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v30 How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God,…
Eze_16:30
How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these things.
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The weak place
Three great errors of the day will stand corrected if due attention be paid to our text.
I. That a mans life may be irregular and yet the mans heart be good. Here is a man who has little or no sense of practical honesty. He thinks the very least of getting into debt without the slightest probability of ever being able to discharge his liabilities. He lives in a superior house, lives in luxury, his family dress well, give entertainments, etc. But they never trouble about paying anybody; they will fail and begin over again, that they may do the same trick. Now, people will say of such an one: Yes, he is sadly wanting in prudence, in discretion, in management; but really, he is as generous, good-hearted a fellow as ever lived. But, in fact, he is nothing of the sort. Content to feed on the fruits of others industry, he is essentially false and cruel. Another of these good-hearted fellows is the man who wont work. People say of him, What a pity! He has a fine disposition, he ought to have been born a gentleman. The fact is, he has made a blackguard of himself, whatever he was born; he has not a fine disposition, but, a base disposition; he lacks all that independence, self-reliance, courage which are the very essence of noble character. Another of these deceivers is the specious fellow, wanting in social purity and honour. People will speak regretfully of the escapades, the gallantries, the scandals, of what are termed the gay Lotharios; but these scoundrels are chided as if their infidelities and libertinism were simply on the surface, and, despite their licence, they are reckoned as honest, kind men of the world. Not so. Such men are profoundly selfish, cowardly, bloodguilty. Or take many intemperate men. People say: Fine fellow; only, his own enemy. But that will not do. Breaking the heart of his friends, killing his wife, reducing his family to shame and wretchedness, he is altogether destitute of the qualities of honourable men. Evil conduct may assume the aspect of innocence, gaiety, greatness, but analyse it and it shall be seen to be mean, base, low, cowardly, ignoble. How weak, corrupt, vile is thine heart, seeing thou doest all these things.
II. That a mans life may be irregular and yet the mans heart be strong. This is the second error to be corrected by our text. There is really weakness in all sin, most pitiful weakness no matter how cunningly it may simulate strength. Take a passionate man. He feels strong, he looks strong, his language is strong; but in truth he is weakness itself. No matter how in his wrath he affects the god, he is the mere sport of the wind. The very word passion signifies the passivity of the man--not that he is the actor, but that he is being acted upon. The calm, patient man is the strong man. Take the ambitious man. He seems strong-natured, strong-willed, but real strength is wanting. A man like Napoleon seems a very incarnation of strength, but the fretfulness displayed by him on the rock of exile betrayed his essential weakness. Take a discontented man. People are ready to think that the complainings of such are signs of a large, powerful genius which frets at narrow conditions; but it is not so. Emerson says: Discontent is the infirmity of the will. And this view is fully borne out by Paul: I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content . . . I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Contentment is a question of strength. Take a selfish man. He is restless, daring, aggressive, assertive, grasping, and may easily be accounted a man of superior force; but one of the greatest preachers of our age has just shown us that the mightiest of all energies is the energy of unselfishness. Take a man of great animal appetites and indulgences. He thinks himself a bold, strong man, and many are disposed to think this type manly; but that is not the view of the prophet: How effeminate is thine heart, seeing thou doest all these things. Carlyle says truly: Crabbedness, pride, obstinacy, affectation are at bottom want of strength. The revelation of divinest strength lies in overcoming wickedness, and he who is overcome by wickedness is in soul dyspeptic, paralysed, crippled, impotent.
III. That a mans life may be irregular and yet the mans heart be neutral. The third error corrected by the text. Without saying, perhaps, that a man who leads a bad life has a noble heart, or a strong one, many are prepared today to say that the mans heart has nothing to do with his conduct whatever. The fault is not in the thoughts, affections, will, at all. The source of mans conduct is boldly affirmed to be his organisation; the man has an inborn character from which he cannot escape, his general constitution determines his personal conduct. And the circumstances of the man complete the ring of necessity in which he moves. Now, in opposition to this, the text declares the heart to be originative, the prime source of mischief. The conduct of Israel in entering into alliances with Egypt and Babylon and Nineveh is not condoned on the ground of Israel occupying a peculiar geographical situation, which rendered such alliances politic and necessary in the view of worldly wisdom; nothing is said of the peculiar geographical position, but the conduct of Israel is referred at once to their lack of true faith, of noble will, of inward loyalty to their covenant-keeping God. So today God does not excuse our bad conduct on the grounds of the nature we inherit, or the events which influence us, but He attributes to the individual a full, solemn responsibility. It is false; we are not waifs and strays, the sport of winds and currents: we are ocean steamers throbbing with a mysterious independent energy; we can set winds and waves at defiance, we know in which direction lies our path, we can turn the helm whithersoever we list, and if we make shipwreck we are not blameless, as an empty bottle driven on this shore or that, but we are found guilty and condemned by God and man as men at the wheel are found disobedient, as captains are found asleep, as pilots are found drunk or presumptuous. The great need then is the renewal of the human heart. Society needs regeneration before it will permit any considerable reconstruction. Seek in the Church to strengthen the conscience, to purify the life--that is our first grand work. And as to the individual, the defects of our life must be cured in the defects of our spirit. (W. L. Watkinson.)
Half-hearted men
A half-and-half man, a half-and-half creed, will never meet with violent opposition or enmity from the world. Even what might be called a three-quarters man will escape without very much harm. It is the out-and-out Christian, and the out-and-out creed that the world hates. Making compromises is an old trade of Satans. It is one at which he shows consummate skill; he is wilting to be large and liberal; he will concede far more than at first sight anyone would suppose; in fact, he will go so far as to say, You may be nine-tenths Christs if only as regards the remaining tenth you will agree to be mine. The man of God must nail his colours to the mast, and not listen even for a moment to any terms upon which those colours are to be struck. (P. B. Power.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v30 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues to speak about Jerusalem and the people of Israel as his unfaithful wife.
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How sick is your heart ... that you would do all these things, deeds of a shameless prostitute?
Yahweh asks the rhetorical question in order to rebuke Jerusalem. It can be translated as a statement. AT: "Your heart must be very sick ... that you would do all these things, deeds of a shameless prostitute!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
How sick is your heart
Here the word "heart" represents the will and emotions. Yahweh speaks of her inability to control her desires as if her heart were sick. AT: "How weak-willed are you" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
at the head of every street
Yahweh speaks of the beginning of a street as if it were its head. See how you translated a similar phrase in Ezekiel 16:25. AT: "at the beginning of every street" (See: Metaphor)
made your vaulted chamber
Possible meanings are that she built a place where 1) she could worship her idols or 2) she could practice her prostitution. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 16:24.
translationWords
heart
Lord Yahweh
declare
works
high place
prostitute
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.