John Gill

I made you thrive like a plant of the field. You grew up and matured and became very beautiful.

“I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field,.... Or, "made thee millions" (m); like the spires of grass in the field.”

I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head.

“And I put a jewel on thy forehead,.... The same with the nose jewel, which was hung upon the forehead, and reached down to the nose and mouth; and, however disagreeable it may seem to us, was reckoned very ornamental in the eastern countries, Isa…”

And you set before them as a pleasing aroma the food I had given you—the fine flour, oil, and honey that I had fed you.

“My meat also which I gave thee,.... Or "my bread" (i); a general name for all eatables. The Targum renders it, "my good things.''”

So you extended your promiscuity to Chaldea, the land of merchants—but even with this you were not satisfied!

“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…”

Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!

“Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord. The sentence about to be pronounced; adjudging to be slain with the sword, to be stoned and burned; the crime for which is to be read in the name of harlot, justly given to an apostate…”

Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will level your mounds and tear down your lofty shrines.

“And I also will give thee into their hand,.... Into the hand of their lovers and enemies that should be gathered against them, the Assyrians and Chaldeans, with others that joined them, as in Eze 16:37; and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and…”

They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.

“They shall also bring up a company against thee,.... An army, so the Targum; the Chaldean army: and they shall stone thee with stones: cast out of their engines and slings, by which they battered the walls, as well as killed the inhabitants; and so…”

You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD.

“Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations,.... Openly and publicly; their abominable iniquities were written as it were upon their foreheads, and were to be seen of all men; their sin was to be read in their punishment, which is meant by bearing their…”

So I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD,

“And I will establish my covenant with thee,.... See Gill on Eze 16:60; and which is repeated for the comfort of the Lord's people, being ashamed upon the remembrance of their evil ways; and to show the certainty of it, as well as because it…”

He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land,

“And hath taken of the king's seed,.... One of the royal family, signified by the seed of the land, Eze 17:”

He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Seeing that he gave his hand in pledge yet did all these things, he will not escape!’

“Seeing he despised the oath, by breaking the covenant,.... This is repeated again, to show the heinousness of the sin Zedekiah had been guilty of, and what was the cause of his ruin: when, lo, he had given his hand; to the king of Babylon…”

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

“And the word of the Lord came unto me again, saying. The word of prophecy from the Lord, as the Targum; and its being mentioned is coming from the Lord is to give it weight and authority.”

though the father has done none of them: Indeed, the son eats at the mountain and defiles his neighbor’s wife.

“And that doeth not any of those duties,.... Before mentioned, which his father did, but the reverse of them; and so the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "and in the way of his righteous father does not walk"; does not tread in his steps…”

He does not eat at the mountain or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.

“That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour's wife.”

He does not oppress another, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

“Neither hath oppressed any,.... See Gill on Eze 18:7. hath not withholden the pledge; or, hath not pledged the pledge (h). The meaning is, not that he had not given one, but had not taken one.”

Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord GOD. Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?

“Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God,.... Perish by sword, famine, or pestilence, or go into captivity; this, though the Lord's will and work, yet is his strange work; mercy is his delight.”

For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death, declares the Lord GOD. So repent and live!

“For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth,.... Which is not to be interpreted simply and absolutely, and with respect to all persons afflicted and punished by him; for he does take delight in the exercise of "judgment" and "righteousness", and…”

and say: ‘What was your mother? A lioness among the lions! She lay down among the young lions; she reared her cubs.

“And say, what is thy mother?.... That is, say so to the then reigning prince, Zedekiah, what is thy mother like? to what is she to be compared?”

Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.

“And now she is planted in the wilderness,.... In the land of Babylon, which though a very fruitful country, yet, because of the hardships and miseries which the Jews were exposed unto in it, was a wilderness to them: in a dry and thirsty ground…”

But I withheld My hand and acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I…

“Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand,.... When it was stretched out against them, as in the above instance, and did not utterly consume them.”

However, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands.

“I lifted up mine hand also to them in the wilderness,.... Swore unto them, as in Eze 20:5; that I would scatter them among the Heathen, and disperse them through the countries; after they came to be settled in the land of Canaan, they sinning…”

And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

“And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people,.... Into Babylon, and into captivity there, which they thought to avoid by fleeing to other countries.”

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

“Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. Or the word of prophecy, as the Targum. Here begins a new prophecy, and most properly a new chapter should here begin; for the next chapter is of the same argument with this, and an…”

“Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against it, and prophesy against the forest of the Negev.

“Son of man, set thy force toward the south,.... The land of Judea, which lay south of Babylon, where the prophet now was, as Babylon lay north of that, Jer 1:14 to set his face was to speak freely and boldly, with courage and constancy…”

Then all people will see that I, the LORD, have kindled it; it will not be quenched.”

“And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it,.... Not only the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea should see the hand of the Lord in their destruction; but even all the neighbouring nations, the case was so clear and plain, the matter…”