---
title: "Bullinger"
description: "the LORD . Hebrew.  Jehovah . App-4 .  Son of man. See note on Ezekiel 2:1 .  Jerusalem is the subject of this chapter by  interpretation. Note the Figur"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/ezekiel/16"
---

**the LORD** . Hebrew. *Jehovah* . App-4 .

**Son of man.** See note on [Ezekiel 2:1](../../../kjv/ezekiel/2/1) .
**Jerusalem** is the subject of this chapter by *interpretation.* Note the Figure of speech *Prosbpographia* ( App-6 ). Not the nation as such. By application, the reader may, by grace, refer it to himself.

**the Lord GOD.** Hebrew. *Adonai Jehovah* . See note on [Ezekiel 2:4](../../../kjv/ezekiel/2/4) .
**birth** , &c. = excisions and kinships. Compare [Isaiah 61:1](../../../kjv/isaiah/61/1) . Only other occurrences, [Ezekiel 21:30](../../../kjv/ezekiel/21/30) ; [Ezekiel 29:14](../../../kjv/ezekiel/29/14) .
**thy father** , &c. i.e. thy founder. This refers to the first builders of Jebus; not to Abraham and his seed. Jebus was a Canaanite city. See App-68 . Thus Satan occupied in advance both land and capital as soon as the promise to Abraham was known. See App-23 and App-26 .

**to supple** = to cleanse.
**salted** : i.e., rubbed, or washed with salt. This is the custom in the Land to = day.

**person** = soul. Hebrew. *nephesh.* App-13 .
**in the day.** See App-18 .

**when.** This word is not in the Hebrew text.
**polluted** = trodden under foot. Referring to the city, of course.
**when thou . . . blood** , &c. Note the Figure of speech *Epizeneia* ( App-6 ), for emphasis. Canaanite cities were founded in blood, as proved to-day by human sacrifices discovered on the foundations. See note on s Kings Eze 9:15-17 .

**hast increased** = didst increase. This does not refer to the increase in Egypt, but to the city. All the tenses in this verse should be past tenses.
**fashioned** = developed.

**behold.** Figure of speech *Asterismos.* App-6 .
**thy . . . thee** : i.e. the city. Not the nation at Sinai,
**thy time** , &c. Of this covenant nothing has been recorded. The secret is here first revealed.
**I spread My skirt** , he. The symbolic act to-day, signifying the taking under one's protection. Common in the East for marrying. Compare [Ruth 3:9](../../../kjv/ruth/3/9) .
**saith the Lord God** [is] Adonai Jehovah's oracle.

**badgers' skin** . Similarly so used to present day. Reference to Pentateuch [Exodus 25:5](../../../kjv/exodus/25/5) , [Exodus 26:14](../../../kjv/exodus/26/14) .[Numbers 4:6](../../../kjv/numbers/4/6) . App-92 . Occurs elsewhere, only here no reference to the tabernacle.

**on thy forehead** = in thy nose. Referring to the decorations, &c., of the city after being occupied by David.

**fine flour,** &c. Put by Figure of speech *Synecdoche* (of the Part), App-6 , for all kinds of delicacies,
**exceeding beautiful** . Hebrew. *me od meod.* Figure of speech *Epiz euxis* ( App-6 ), thus well rendered.
**a kingdom.** Hence the expression, "Judah and Jerusalem", the latter being reckoned as a separate kingdom.

**heathen** = nations.

**trust = confide** . Hebrew. *batah* . App-69 .
**playedst the harlot.** All these expressions that follow are to be interpreted of idolatry, and not to sins of the flesh, to which they are likened.
**fornications** : i.e. idolatrous acts.

**the like things.** Supply the Ellipsis better thus: "thereupon: [saying] they (the curses) come not, and it (the threatened judgment) will not be. "

**of men** = of the male: i.e. the *Phallus,* referring to the *Asherah.* See App-42 .
**whoredom** = idolatry.
**them** = i.e. these images.

**meat** . Put by Figure of speech *Synecdoche* (of the Part), App-6 , for all kinds of food.
**for a sweet savour.** Reference to Pentateuch. A legal phrase, found only in Ezekiel outside the Pentateuch. But in Ezekiel four times: via [Ezekiel 6:13](../../../kjv/ezekiel/6/13) ; [Ezekiel 16:19](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/19) ; [Ezekiel 20:28](../../../kjv/ezekiel/20/28) , [Ezekiel 20:41](../../../kjv/ezekiel/20/41) . See notes on [Genesis 8:21](../../../kjv/genesis/8/21) .[Leviticus 1:9](../../../kjv/leviticus/1/9) . App-92 .
**thus it was** = [so] it became.

**sacrificed,** &c. As offerings to idols. Compare [Ezekiel 16:36](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/36) ; [Ezekiel 20:26](../../../kjv/ezekiel/20/26) , [Ezekiel 20:31](../../../kjv/ezekiel/20/31) ; [Ezekiel 23:39](../../../kjv/ezekiel/23/39) . [2 Kings 16:3](../../../kjv/2-kings/16/3) .[Psalms 106:37](../../../kjv/psalms/106/37) , [Psalms 106:38](../../../kjv/psalms/106/38) . [Isaiah 57:5](../../../kjv/isaiah/57/5) .[Jeremiah 7:31](../../../kjv/jeremiah/7/31) ; [Jeremiah 32:35](../../../kjv/jeremiah/32/35) , &c.
**whoredoms** = idolatries. See notes on [Ezekiel 16:15](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/15) .

**slain My children** . See note on [Ezekiel 16:20](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/20) , above. Reference to Pentateuch ([Leviticus 18:21](../../../kjv/leviticus/18/21) ). App-92 .
**children** = sons.

**abominations** . Put by *Figure of speech Metonymy* (of Adjunct), App-6 , for that which Jehovah abominated,
**polluted** = wallowing, or weltering.

**wickedness.** Hebrew. *ra'a'* . App-44 .
**woe, woe** . Note the Figures of speech *Cataplace* and *Epiaeuxie* ( App-6 ), for emphasis.

**eminent places** = brothel house. Put by Figure of speech *Metonymy* (of Subject), App-6 , for the idol's temple.

**I have stretched out My hand,** &c. Reference to Petit. ([Exodus 7:19](../../../kjv/exodus/7/19) , &c.) App-92 .
**over** = against.
**ordinary food** = allowance. Referring to food as measured out to captives or slaves.
**will** = desire. Hebrew. *nephesh.* App-13 .

**great of flesh** = lustful. Referring to their idolatries.

**unto Chaldea** = Assyrian idolatry as well as Egyptian ([Ezekiel 16:26](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/26) ). See the Structure, above.

**imperious** = headstrong, or without shame.
**woman** = wife. Compare [Ezekiel 16:32](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/32) .

**hire** . See note on "reward", [Ezekiel 16:34](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/34) .

**But as** = [Thou halt been].

**give gifts** = give fees.
**gifts** = presents.
**hirest** = bribest.

**reward** = hire. Used especially for the hire of fornication. Hebrew. *ethnan* . Reference to Pentateuch ([Deuteronomy 23:18](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/23/18) ). App-92 . Used outside the Pentateuch only in [Ezekiel 16:31](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/31) (hire), [Ezekiel 16:33](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/33) , [Ezekiel 16:41](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/41) .[Isaiah 23:17](../../../kjv/isaiah/23/17) (hire), [Isaiah 23:18](../../../kjv/isaiah/23/18) (hire). [Hosea 9:1](../../../kjv/hosea/9/1) (reward). [Micah 1:7](../../../kjv/micah/1/7) (hire).

**harlot** = idolatress.

**filthiness** . Hebrew = brass. Put by Figure of speech *Metonymy* (of Adjunct), App-6 ,
**for money's worth** : i.e. the money of the brothel. See [Ezekiel 16:31](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/31) .
**idols** = manufactured gods.
**and by** = even as.

**gather** = gather out.

**as** = with the judgments meted out to: i.e. by death ([Leviticus 20:20](../../../kjv/leviticus/20/20) . [2 John 1:8](../../../kjv/2-john/1/8); [2 John 1:8](../../../kjv/2-john/1/8)[2 John 1:8](../../../kjv/2-john/1/8) :5 ). Compare [Genesis 38:24](../../../kjv/genesis/38/24) .

**a company** = a military host.

**women** : i. e idolaters, or idolatrous cities.

**fretted Me** = chafed at Me: i.e. at my laws. Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read "enraged Me". thou shalt not, &c.: i.e. I will not allow this greatest evil by suffering it to go unpunished, and thus conniving at it (referring to [Leviticus 19:29](../../../kjv/leviticus/19/29) . App-92 .

**proverb** = derisive proverb. Figure of speech *Paroemia.* App-6 .

**thine elder:** or, thy greater.
**daughters.** Put by Figure of speech *Prosopopoeia* ( App-6 ), for villages or neighbouring towns.
**younger** : or, lesser.

**as if that were . . . thing** . The *Ellipsis* is wrongly supplied. See further note
**a very little** = a very little time, or quickly. See note on "almost" ([Proverbs 5:14](../../../kjv/proverbs/5/14) ).

**as thou hast done.** Sodom does not mean Jerusalem here, but it refers to the Sodom of [Genesis 19](../../../kjv/genesis/19) . Sodom had not Jerusalem's privileges: hence her transgression was less. Compare [Ezekiel 16:46](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/46) , and [Matthew 11:20-24](../../../kjv/matthew/11/20-24) .

**was** = came to be.
**abundance of** = luxurious: i.e. security of ease. Compare [Deuteronomy 11:21](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/11/21) .

**as I saw good.** Some codices read "when I saw it", with margin "as thou sawest". Better to omit "good". Compare [Genesis 18:21](../../../kjv/genesis/18/21) .
**as** = according to what.

**sins** . Hebrew. *chata'.* App-44 .
**they** : i.e. Samaria and Sodom,

**are** = will prove.
**more righteous.** See note on [Ezekiel 16:49](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/49) .
**sisters.** Samaria and Sodom.

**When I** : or, When therefore I.
**bring again their captivity** = restorethem; referring not to any return of captives, but to a restoration of prosperity. See notes on [Deuteronomy 30:3](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/30/3) , [Job 42:10](../../../kjv/job/42/10) . [Psalms 126:1](../../../kjv/psalms/126/1) .
**Sodom** . If the waters of the Dead Sea are to be healed, there is no reason why there should not be a restoration as here stated. Compare [Ezekiel 47:8](../../../kjv/ezekiel/47/8) . [Zechariah 14:8](../../../kjv/zechariah/14/8) .
**will I bring again** . Aramaean, Septuagint, and Vulgate read these words in the text.

**discovered** = unveiled.
**as at the time of thy** . Septuagint and Vulgate read "as now [thou] art". Compare [Ezekiel 23:43](../../../kjv/ezekiel/23/43) .
**Syria** . Hebrew. *aram.* Some codices, with two early printed editions, read " *adam* " = men (Daleth = D), being road for Resh = R).

**the** ***LORD.*** Hebrew. *Jehovah* . App-4 . Some codices, with three early printed editions, read " *Adonai* ". App-4 .

**oath . . . covenant.** Reference to Pentateuch ([Deuteronomy 29:12](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/29/12) , [Deuteronomy 29:14](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/29/14) ). These words are thus found together here, and in [Ezekiel 17:13](../../../kjv/ezekiel/17/13) , [Ezekiel 17:16](../../../kjv/ezekiel/17/16) , [Ezekiel 17:18](../../../kjv/ezekiel/17/18) , [Ezekiel 17:19](../../../kjv/ezekiel/17/19) ; but nowhere else in Scripture.

**everlasting covenant** . See notes on [Genesis 9:16](../../../kjv/genesis/9/16) and lsa. [Ezekiel 44:7](../../../kjv/ezekiel/44/7) .

**am pacified toward thee** = have accepted a propitiatory covering for thee.

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