
Text -- Ezekiel 16:3 (NET)




Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics



collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
The whole race of the Jews.

Wesley: Eze 16:3 - -- Abraham, before God called him, (as his father and kindred) worshipped strange gods beyond the river, Jos 24:14.
Abraham, before God called him, (as his father and kindred) worshipped strange gods beyond the river, Jos 24:14.

This comprehended all the rest of the cursed nations.
JFB: Eze 16:3 - -- Thy origin and birth; literally, "thy diggings" (compare Isa 51:1) "and thy bringings forth."
Thy origin and birth; literally, "thy diggings" (compare Isa 51:1) "and thy bringings forth."

JFB: Eze 16:3 - -- In which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sojourned before going to Egypt, and from which thou didst derive far more of thy innate characteristics than from ...
In which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sojourned before going to Egypt, and from which thou didst derive far more of thy innate characteristics than from the virtues of those thy progenitors (Eze 21:30).

JFB: Eze 16:3 - -- These, being the most powerful tribes, stand for the whole of the Canaanite nations (compare Jos 1:4; Amo 2:9), which were so abominably corrupt as to...
These, being the most powerful tribes, stand for the whole of the Canaanite nations (compare Jos 1:4; Amo 2:9), which were so abominably corrupt as to have been doomed to utter extermination by God (Lev 18:24-25, Lev 18:28; Deu 18:12). Translate rather, "the Amorite . . . the Canaanite," that is, these two tribes personified; their wicked characteristics, respectively, were concentrated in the parentage of Israel (Gen 15:16). "The Hittite" is made their "mother"; alluding to Esau's wives, daughters of Heth, whose ways vexed Rebekah (Gen 26:34-35; Gen 27:46), but pleased the degenerate descendants of Jacob, so that these are called, in respect of morals, children of the Hittite (compare Eze 16:45).
Clarke: Eze 16:3 - -- Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan - It would dishonor Abraham to say that you sprung from him: ye are rather Canaanites than Israe...
Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan - It would dishonor Abraham to say that you sprung from him: ye are rather Canaanites than Israelites. The Canaanites were accursed; so are ye

Clarke: Eze 16:3 - -- Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite - These tribes were the most famous, and probably the most corrupt, of all the Canaanites. So Is...
Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite - These tribes were the most famous, and probably the most corrupt, of all the Canaanites. So Isaiah calls the princes of Judah rulers of Sodom, Isa 1:10; and John the Baptist calls the Pharisees a generation or brood of vipers, Mat 3:7. There is a fine specimen of this kind of catachresis in Dido’ s invective against Aeneas: -
Nec tibi Diva parens, generis ne
Dardanus auctor, Perflde
sed duris genuit te cautibus horren
Caucasus, Hyrcanaeque admorunt ubera tigres
Aen. lib. 4:365
"False as thou art, and more than false, forsworn
Not sprung from noble blood, nor goddess born
But hewn from hardened entrails of a rock, -
And rough Hyrcanian tigers gave thee suck.
Dryden
This is strong: but the invective of the prophet exceeds it far. It is the essence of degradation to its subject; and shows the Jews to be as base and contemptible as they were abominable and disgusting.
Calvin -> Eze 16:3
Calvin: Eze 16:3 - -- A question arises here — When God had adopted Abraham two hundred years previously, why was not that covenant taken into account? for he here seems...
A question arises here — When God had adopted Abraham two hundred years previously, why was not that covenant taken into account? for he here seems not to magnify his own faithfulness and the constancy of his promise when he rejects the Jews as sprung from the Canaanites or Amorites; but this only shows what they were in themselves: for although he never departed from his purpose, and his election was never in vain, yet we must hold, as far as the people were concerned, that they are looked upon as profane Gentiles. For we know how they corrupted themselves in Egypt. Since, then, they were so degenerate and so utterly unlike their fathers, it is not surprising if God says that they were sprung from Canaanites and Amorites. For by Hosea he says, that they were all born of a harlot, and that the place of their birth was a house of ill fame. (Hos 2:4.) This must be understood metaphorically: since here God does not; chide the women who had been false to their husbands, and had borne an adulterous offspring; but he simply means that the Jews were unworthy of being called or reputed Abraham’s seed. Why so? for although God remained firm in his covenant, yet if we consider the character of the Jews, they had entirely cut themselves off by their faithlessness. Since, then, they did not differ from the profane Gentiles, they are deservedly rejected with reproach, and are called an offspring of Canaan, as in other places. Now therefore, we understand the intention of the Prophet, or rather of the Holy Spirit. For if God had only said that he would pity that race when reduced to extreme misery, it would not have been subjected to such severe and heavy reproof, as we shall see. Hence God not only relates his kindness towards them, but at the same time shows from what state he had taken the Jews when he first aided them, and what, was their condition when he deigned to draw them out of such great misery. Moreover, since he was at hand to take them up, their redemption was founded on covenant, and so they were led forth, because God had promised Abraham four centuries ago that he would be the liberator of the people. That they should not be ignorant of the favor by which God had bound himself to Abraham, the Prophet meets them, and pronounces them a seed of Canaan, having nothing in common with Abraham, because, as far as they were concerned, according to common usage, God’s promise was extinct, and their adoption dead and buried. Since they had acted so perfidiously, they could no longer boast themselves to be Abraham’s children. Hence he says, thy habitations, that is, the place of their origin. Jerome translates it “root;” but the word “nativity” suits better, or native soil, or condition of birth in the land of Canaan: and thy father an Amorite and thy mother a Hittite There were other tribes of Canaan, but two or three kinds are put here for the whole. Now it follows —
Defender -> Eze 16:3
Defender: Eze 16:3 - -- Both Amorites and Hittites were prominent in Canaan when Abraham arrived there from Ur of the Chaldees. Neither Abraham, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, nor L...
Both Amorites and Hittites were prominent in Canaan when Abraham arrived there from Ur of the Chaldees. Neither Abraham, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, nor Leah had any Amorite or Hittite blood in their personal heritage, but these pagan influences had infiltrated Jerusalem long before David captured it, and such influences had infected the children of Israel as soon as they returned there from Egypt under Joshua."
TSK -> Eze 16:3
TSK: Eze 16:3 - -- Thy birth : Heb. Thy cutting out, or habitation, Eze 16:45, Eze 21:30; Gen 11:25, Gen 11:29; Jos 24:14; Neh 9:7; Isa 1:10, Isa 51:1, Isa 51:2; Mat 3:7...

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes -> Eze 16:3
Barnes: Eze 16:3 - -- Birth - See the margin; the word represents "origin"under the figure of "cutting out stone from a quarry"(compare Isa 51:1). An Amorite - ...
Birth - See the margin; the word represents "origin"under the figure of "cutting out stone from a quarry"(compare Isa 51:1).
An Amorite - the Amorite, a term denoting the whole people. The Amorites, being a principal branch of the Canaanites, are often taken to represent the whole stock Gen 15:16; 2Ki 21:11.
An Hittite - Compare Gen 26:34. The main idea is that the Israelites by their doings proved themselves to be the very children of the idolatrous nations who once occupied the land of Canaan. Compare Deu 20:17.
Poole -> Eze 16:3
Poole: Eze 16:3 - -- The proud and blinded Jews thought their original more pure than that of the heathen; this was an old tradition among them, now that the prophet is ...
The proud and blinded Jews thought their original more pure than that of the heathen; this was an old tradition among them, now that the prophet is to acquaint them with the truth of their polluted original, which they will storm and fret at, he comes thus prefacing his discourse with a Divine commission.
The Lord God who is omniscient, knows all we are and do, who is so just and true, speaks not any thing but the very truth, who is supreme Judge and determiner of controversies. He tells the prophet what they were, and commands him to tell them.
Unto Jerusalem i.e. the whole race of the Jews, as Eze 16:2 . Or, perhaps, in more special manner the inhabitants and natives of that proud city, who thought it a singular privilege to be born there, which the Jews counted more holy than the rest of the land of Canaan.
Thy birth thine habitation and thy kindred, so our English of the time of 2 Elizabeth. Thy root whence thou didst spring, the rock whence thou wast cut, the place where thou grewest up, the company and commerce thou didst use, all were of the land of Canaan, and thou hast a fulness of their vicious nature, manners, and practices, both in civil and religious things, as vile and obnoxious to my curse as Canaan itself.
Thy father: if the prophet refer to Abraham, it must be understood of his state and religion before God called him, when he, as his father and kindred, worshipped strange gods beyond the river, Jos 24:14 , with Eze 16:2 . If the prophet refer to those that were in Egypt, the Jews’ ancestors that dwelt there, it is certain that many of them forgot Abraham’ s God, closed with the Egyptian idolatry, and were polluted with idols, Jos 24:2 . If you refer it as a figurative speech, and call them fathers whom we reverence, consult, obey, and imitate, as well we may call such fathers, these were not the best and holiest of men, Mat 3:7 12:34 23:33 . O ye Jews, be it known to you, whatever you think, you have no cause to boast of your nobler or purer descent, your fountain was corrupt and poisonous.
Was might have been, for likeness of manners.
An Amorite either because this comprehended all the rest of the cursed nations; or because the Amorites, as the most powerful and mighty, so were the most wicked among them; it was the Amorites which were filling up their sins, Gen 15:16 .
Thy mother: sometimes the ill nature of a father is corrected in the child by the sweetness of the mother, but you Jews were not so happy, your mother was as bad every whit as your father; both prodigiously vile in their inclination, civil converse, and choice of their religion, and in the practice of it. The daughters of Heth were women of ill fame and worse manners, Gen 27:46 , enough to make a good soul weary of life. Such is your race, O ye Jews.
Haydock -> Eze 16:3
Haydock: Eze 16:3 - -- Cethite, or "Hethite." These two were probably the most abandoned of Chanaan. Daniel (xiii. 56.) give the infamous judges the like appellation; and...
Cethite, or "Hethite." These two were probably the most abandoned of Chanaan. Daniel (xiii. 56.) give the infamous judges the like appellation; and Isaias (i. 10.) calls the Jews princes of Sodom. (Calmet) ---
So Dido says to Eneas: Nec te diva parens, generis nec Dardanus auctor
Perfide sed duris genuit te cautibus, &c. (Virgil, ֶneid iv.) (Haydock)
--- But we nowhere find such a vehement and continued reprimand. The prophet seems to quit his proper character to make (Calmet) the abominations of the people known and detested, chap. iii. 8. (Haydock)
Gill -> Eze 16:3
Gill: Eze 16:3 - -- And say, thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem,.... To the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as the Targum:
thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of ...
And say, thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem,.... To the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as the Targum:
thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; here the Jewish ancestors for a time dwelt and sojourned, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and so the Targum, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, interpret the first word, "thy habitation" or "sojourning" f: but whereas it follows, "and thy nativity", this does not solve the difficulty; which may be said to be of the land of Canaan, because their ancestors were born here; for though Abraham was a Chaldean he was called out of Chaldea into the land of Canaan, where Isaac was born; and so was Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes; besides, the Israelites were the successors of the Canaanites in their land, and so seemed to descend from them; and it is not unusual for such to be reckoned the children of those whom they succeed; to which may be added, that they were like to the Canaanites in their manners, particularly in their idolatries; and so their children, as such, are said to be the offspring and descendants of those whose examples they follow, or whom they imitate; see the history of Susannah in the Apocrypha:
"So he put him aside, and commanded to bring the other, and said unto him, O thou seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda, beauty hath deceived thee, and lust hath perverted thine heart.'' (Susannah 1:56)
thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite; Abraham and Sarah, who were, properly speaking, the one the father, the other the mother, of the Jewish nation, were Chaldeans; and neither Amorites nor Hittites; yet, because they dwelt among them; are so called; and especially since before their conversion they were idolaters, as those were; besides, the Jews who descended from Judah, and from whom they have their name, very probably sprung from ancestors who might be Amorites and Hittites: since Judah married the daughter of a Canaanite, and such an one seems to be Tamar, he took for his son Er, and by whom he himself had two sons, Pharez and Zarah, from the former of which the kings of Judah lineally descended, Gen 37:2; besides, the Jews were the successors of these people, and possessed their land, and imitated them in their wicked practices, Amo 2:10; and these two, the Amorite and Hittite, of all the seven nations, are mentioned, because they were the worst, and the most wicked, Gen 15:16. The Jews g say Terah the father of Abraham, and his ancestors, came from Canaan.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Eze 16:1-63
TSK Synopsis: Eze 16:1-63 - --1 Under the similitude of a wretched infant is shewn the natural state of Jerusalem.6 God's extraordinary love towards her.15 Her monstrous whoredom.3...
MHCC -> Eze 16:1-58
MHCC: Eze 16:1-58 - --In this chapter God's dealings with the Jewish nation, and their conduct towards him, are described, and their punishment through the surrounding nati...
Matthew Henry -> Eze 16:1-5
Matthew Henry: Eze 16:1-5 - -- Ezekiel is now among the captives in Babylon; but, as Jeremiah at Jerusalem wrote for the use of the captives though they had Ezekiel upon the spot ...
Keil-Delitzsch -> Eze 16:1-5
Keil-Delitzsch: Eze 16:1-5 - --
Israel, by nature unclean, miserable, and near to destruction (Eze 16:3-5), is adopted by the Lord and clothed in splendour (Eze 16:6-14). Eze 16:1 ...
Constable: Eze 4:1--24:27 - --II. Oracles of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for sin chs. 4-24
This section of the book contains prophecies th...

Constable: Eze 12:1--19:14 - --C. Yahweh's reply to the invalid hopes of the Israelites chs. 12-19
"The exiles had not grasped the seri...

Constable: Eze 16:1-63 - --7. Jerusalem's history as a prostitute ch. 16
This chapter is the longest prophetic message in t...
