“ ‘ “Then washed I you with water. Yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘ “Then washed I you with water. Yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.
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Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
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Then washed I thee with water; yea, I cleansed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 16:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ruth 3:3 Therefore wash yourself, anoint yourself, get dressed, and go down to the threshing floor; but don’t make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
- Psalms 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.
- 1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him.
- 1 John 5:8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and the three agree as one.
- 1 Corinthians 6:11 Some of you were such, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.
- Psalms 51:7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- Isaiah 4:4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from within it, by the spirit of justice and by the spirit of burning.
- Ezekiel 16:4 As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut. You weren’t washed in water to cleanse you. You weren’t salted at all, nor wrapped in blankets at all.
- Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols.
- John 13:8-10 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”
- 1 Corinthians 10:2 and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
- 2 Corinthians 1:21 Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,
- Hebrews 9:10-14 being only (with meats and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation. But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
- 1 John 2:20 You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
- Revelation 1:5-6 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood— and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here God more clearly explains what had been formerly…
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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain I washed away thy sins.
I washed away thy sins.
I sanctified thee with mine holy Spirit.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 16:9 Then washed I thee with water; yea,…
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.
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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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Then, Heb. And: this continueth the allegory, and declareth…
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.
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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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain I clothed thee also, with broidered work,.... Or, "with…
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;''
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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.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Washed - It was a very ancient custom among…
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.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The usual purifications for marriage.
The usual purifications for marriage.
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 Oil, used after bathing, or with perfume. (Calmet)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain washed I thee--as brides used to pass through a…
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.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9, 10. Then washed I thee… I clothed thee…
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.
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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 Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. Purifications before marriage. Whether “blood” be used somewhat…
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9-14) These verses describe the purifications and preparations for…
(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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The "washing" and "anointing" were part of the customary…
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.
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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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
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)
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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.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 16:9-10 The Lord did for Jerusalem what her parents…
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.