Ver. 1. Again the word of the Lord came unto me.] For the better setting on of what had been said in the foregoing chapter, for cutting the combs of the self-conceited Jews, and convincing them of their wickedness and wretchedness thereby. The chapter consisteth of law and gospel, (Ezekiel 16:60) and is a lively type, animae peccatricis et poenitentis, of an offending and repenting soul.
Ver. 2. Cause Jerusalem to know her abominations.] Which as yet she taketh no knowledge of. Rebuke her therefore sharply, that she may be sound in the faith, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.
Ver. 3. Thy birth.] Heb., Thy cutting out. Compare Isaiah 51:1. And thy nativity.] Vide insignem genealogiam, vide γενεθλοιν pudendum. Mutato heroine de te fabula narratur. Cicero saith the old Britons were as barbarous as the Scythians. Thy father was an Amorite.] An Amorite thou mayest seem to be rather than an Abramite; for thou hast filled the land, as they did, (Ezra 9:11) from end to end with thine uncleanness. And thy mother an Hittite.] Those worst of women. (Genesis 27:46) De Nat. Deor. Duris genuit te cautibus horrens Caucasus. -Virg.
Ver. 4. Thy navel was not cut.] None was so courteous as to do any of these necessary good offices for thee, a poor, forlorn, helpless wretch. No creature is so shiftless as a newly born babe, which, cast out and left to the wide world, must needs perish. Plut., lib. De Amore Prolis.
Ver. 5. None eye pitied thee.] No, not thy mother, in whose heart God had planted natural affection for that purpose. Neither would thy Lucina become thy Levana (two heathen deities), to take thee up from the ground, where thou layest, alas! weltering in thy gore, and more like to a slain than a live child.
Ver. 6. And when I passed by thee.] Not by chance, [as Luke 10:31] but of free choice, and according to mine eternal purpose. And saw thee in thy blood.] In this deplorable condition. Blood is in this verse thrice mentioned, to set forth the greatness of man’s misery in his pure, or rather impure, natural state, and the freeness of God’s grace toward him all along. (Matthew 11:26) I said unto thee, Live,] God speaketh spiritual life to his poor people, (Isaiah 55:3) and often repeateth to them his precious promises, whereby they come to “partake of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Peter 1:4)
Ver. 7. As the bud of the field.] He prosecuteth the allegory of a miserable maiden, with whom the matter beginneth to mend. Iam enim menses patiebatur, ubera creverant et pili circa pubem; so that now she was marriageable. And thou art come to excellent ornaments.] Heb., To ornaments of ornaments, such as virgo nobilis, cum iam est nubilis, habet, young ladies have, when grown up especially. Whereas thou wast naked and bare.] Heb., Nakedness and rejection. God looked upon us and loved us, whenas yet we had not a rag to our backs. Cum tu nuda esses, argue nudissima.
Ver. 8. Behold, thy time was the time of love.] When thou wast both fit for marriage, and desirous of it. For as the man misseth his rib, so the woman would be in her old place again, under the man’s arm or wing. See Ruth 3:1,9. And I spread my skirt over thee.] See Ruth 3:9. [See Trapp on “Ru 3:9”] I covered thy nakedness, and took thee into my care and company as a wife. A marriage rite is imported by this expression. Yea, I sware unto thee, &c.] So much ado God hath with us to make us believe. The apostle mentioneth “the work of faith.” She hath somewhat to do before she can fasten.
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 1 Corinthians 6:11. 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 Proverbs 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 2 Corinthians 5:2-4.
Ver. 10. I clothed thee also with broidered work.] Phrygionica veste variegata. With variety of precious graces, whereby thou didst outshine Solomon in all his bravery; for one grain of faith is of better worth than all the gold of Ophir, and one remnant of hope beyond all the gay clothing in the world. And girded thee about with fine linen.] The Church hath a rich wardrobe for woollens and linens; God’s plenty of both.
Ver. 11. I decked thee also with ornaments.] See Ezekiel 16:7; such as render thee amiable and admirable. Christ himself, who was not moved at all with the offer of all the world’s good, (Matthew 4:9,10) confesseth himself ravished with them. (Song of Solomon 4:9)