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ADVANCE HEBREW

Ezekiel 16: Knowing


A Christocentric reading

Christopher Gerdes
11/8/2012





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Ezekiel 16: Knowing YHWH
Marriage is nearly a universal; it transcends all cultures, and is known in every corner of the
globe. And it is found in permeating all of scripture from the garden of Eden to the
eschatological marriage feast of the Lamb. In Eden, YHWH presents Eve (woman) to Adam with
the declaration; Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife,
and they shall become one flesh (Gen. 2:24). Jesus points to this very declaration when He is
asked regarding marriage, and St. Paul also bases his thinking of marriage on this text. Marriage
also is found to be perhaps the most prevalent image of the relationship between God and Israel
(Hos 1-3, Jer 2-4:2, Ezek 16, 23), and between Jesus and the Church (Eph 5, Rev 19). Yet there
is a great disconnect between how modern commentators read the marriage imagery and how St.
Paul presents the marriage imagery in Ephesians 5. There St. Paul emphasizes Christs self-
sacrificial love for His bride, a self-sacrificial love which drives him to suffer the ultimate
rejection at the hands of the Jews, the Romans, His Disciples, and ultimately from His God and
Father. Yet through this self-sacrificial love His bride the Church is sanctified, and cleansed by
the washing of water with the word, so that she might be perfected, completely without spot or
wrinkle. Then Christ and the Church might finally become one flesh in the marriage feast of the
Lamb (Eph 5:25ff. & Rev 19:6ff.).
However, when it comes to the marriage metaphor in the prophets these incredibly important
New Testament texts are not even considered. Instead the marital imagery of the prophets has in
recent decades come to be one of the primary loci for feminist critique of the bible. Weems
comments: Despite the tendency of modern audiences to see marriage as a poetic device to
fantasize about romance, courtship, and intimacy, for the prophets, marriage was a trope for
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contemplating Gods power and Israels punishment.
1
In the New Testament the condescension
of Christ the one who has a profound deep seated compassion for his people.
This deep seeded passion is the motivation for the feeding of the five thousand (Mt 14:14; Mk
6:34), the feeding of the four thousand (Mt 15:36; Mk 8:2). It is this same deep seated
compassion which motivates Jesus to heal the two blind men (Mt. 20:34), to cleanse the leper
(Mk 1:41), and to raise the widows son (Lk 7:13). is also used in three parables.
It is used of the Father in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Mt 18:27). It is used of the
Samaritan in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:33) and it is used of the Father in the
parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:20). The only time that is not used of Jesus or
the Father is in Mark 9:22 where the father of the demon possessed by begs Jesus to have
on him and his son.
But perhaps Matthew is alluding to the Divine laments of Jeremiah and Ezekiel when he notes
,
. ,
(Mt 9:36-37). Both Ezekiel and Jeremiah have similar very stern warnings against the
shepherds and leaders who neglected the people, instead only looked after their own self interest.
The intimacy of the one flesh union is the foci of the marriage mystery. Conversely modern
commentators see in Ezekiel a God who is utterly transcendent, free, and other.
2
Block perhaps
is the closest to connecting the God of Ezekiel to the God of the New Testament but for him also
the chief characteristic of Ezekiels God is his sovereignty. He states;
Ezekiel will offer no doctrinal speeches, no descriptions of Yahwehs nature. It is
in the narrative of history that his character is proclaimed. This refrain calls on the

1
Renita J. Weems. Battered Love: Marriage, Sex, and Violence in the Hebrew Prophets. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995, 5.
2
Walter Brueggemann. Hopeful Imagination: Prophetic Voices in Exile. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986, 53
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hearer of Ezekiels oracles to stand back and watch Yahweh act, whether it be in
judgment or salvation, and then to draw the obvious theological conclusions. Just
as the deliverance of his people from Egypt centuries earlier had been intended to
impress the Israelites, the Egyptians, and the world with the presence and
character of Yahweh, so too will his acts of judgment on a rebellious people.
3

Zimmerli has a similar view, thought correctly seeing the prophetic purpose to be the
revelation of YHWH, the New Testament revelation of Jesus finds no place in the
prophets.
Yahweh and his action is also in substance the great central theme of the
prophetic preaching. The frequent use of the recognition formula of the proof-
saying shows that this preaching of the prophet has to do above all with Yahwehs
great self-revelation. In view of the strong emphasis on the knowledge of
Yahweh, it is striking that in Ezekiel a theology in the sense of a description of
the attributes of Yahweh is almost completely lacking.
4

It would seem that we have in the prophets, according to modern commentators, an utterly
transcendent and sovereign God, who has little to no conceptual relationship to the Incarnation.
It is perhaps remarkable that in spite of clear focus of Ezekiel located in the purpose statement,
that you/they will know that I am YHWH which is used ad nauseam, YHWH is conspicuously
absent from commentary of Ezekiel 16. Except notably Block and Schwartz who see in the text
of Ezekiel 16 two entirely different Gods. Schwartz sees in Ezekiel; a raging god of zealous
justice who acts out of self-interest and a consuming concern for his reputation.
5
Conversely for
Block Ezekiel 16 presents Yahweh as a gracious savior who lavishes his favors on this helpless
infant/young woman. But she who tramples underfoot his grace may expect to experience his
wrath.
6

Schwartz concludes his essay:

3
Daniel I. Block. The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 1-24. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997, 39.
4
Walther Zimmerli. Ezekiel 1. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, 52.
5
Baruch J. Schwartz. "Ezekiel's Dim View of Israel's Restoration." In The Book of Ezekiel: Theological and Anthropological
Perspectives, edited by Margaret S. Odell, & John T. Strong, 43-68. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2000, 65.
6
Block 469.
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Even Scholars who admit the theocentric character of Israels restoration in
Ezekiels teaching generally leap to save him from theological error by presenting
his doctrine as one of grace: the unilateral, undeserved, and sudden intervention of
God who acts for the benefit of unredeemable humans out of the fullness of his
love. But in Ezekiels view the restoration of Israel is completely devoid of love,
because as he understands it the relationship between God and Israel has nothing
to do with love. It was not founded upon love; the enraged husband in the parable
of chapter 16 lavished his attentions on a filthy, abandoned baby of lowly origins,
providing for her every need despite her explicit unworthiness in order to obtain
her unending gratitude and unquestioning sexual fidelity, but love is never
mentioned. Similarly in the historical review of chapter 20, YHWHs relationship
with the Israelite people is said to have begun in Egypt, with a promise made in
expectation of the fulfillment of his demand that they serve him alone, nothing
more.
7

Yet we find in the Gospels the opposite, Jesus is the God who suffers, who goes quietly to the
slaughter, He is the God who dies! He is the God who lays down his life for his people. Here we
might note that this picture of a suffering God is found already in Isaiah a couple of centuries
before Ezekiel was exiled. It may also go without notice that the Church has traditionally found a
very close link between the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, and Jesus Christ. If Jesus truly is the
incarnate Word of YHWH then the Word of YHWH which comes to Ezekiel and is known
through the prophet must not be fundamentally different than Jesus Christ of the Gospels!
Accordingly we see in Ezekiel 16 a God who is most intimately connected to the people, a God
who takes Jerusalem to be his Bride. This same God will gather his people as a shepherd gathers
his lost sheep (34). Even from the very beginning the Lord sends Ezekiel to be a watchman for
Israel to speak the very words of the Lord to them in spite of their refusal to hear. Thus the
primary image of God in Ezekiel is that of a patient, long suffering, and loving Father, who
laments over his people who have forsaken and forgotten Him. Perhaps I could just mention
quickly the close connection in form with the parable of the prodigal son. There two the
rebellious son despises and forsakes the father, demanding his portion. Going away the son

7
Schwartz 2000, 66.
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spends every bit of the generous gifts of the father in , until he finally resolves to return
as a slave to his fathers house, but the Father full of mercy and abounding in steadfast love
eagerly welcomes the degenerate son back into the family with a great feast for the
resurrection/restoration of the son who was dead but now is alive (Lk 15:11-32).
Likewise Ezekiels primary concern is not sin and judgment against Israel but instead it is to
reveal YHWH. This is made abundantly clear by Ezekiels exceedingly abundant use of what is
called the self-introduction formula
8
especially as we find it in what Hummel and
Zimmerli call proof-sayings .
9
This is clearly a distinctive feature of
Ezekiel which permeates nearly every oracle apart from the Visions relating to the Glory of
YHWH (1-4, 8-10, 40-48).
10
But perhaps the most significant aspect of this formulaic proof-
saying is how it ties the revelation of the Lord in Ezekiel directly to YHWHs self-revelation to
Moses and the Israelites in the midst of the Exodus.
I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians,
and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an
outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people,
and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has
brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the
land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you
for a possession. I am the LORD. (Ex 6:68).

8
Ezekiel uses this phrase 86 times compared to the next closest Leviticus with 52 uses. Ezekiel.
9
There is some variation in who or what will know . Ezekiel 5:13; 6:7,10 ,14, 13; 7:4, 9, 27; 11:10, 12; 12:15, 16,
20; 13:14, 21, 23; 14:8; 15:7; 16:62; 17:21, 24; 20:12, 20, 38, 42, 44; 21:10; 22:16, 22; 24:27; 25:5, 7, 11, 17; 26:6; 28:22, 23, 26;
29:6, 9, 21; 30:8, 19, 25, 26; 32:15; 33:29; 34:27, 30; 35:4, 9, 12, 15; 36:11, 23, 36, 38; 37:6, 13, 14, 28; 38:23; 39:6, 7, 22, 28. It
may also be noted that this phrase occurs in the sending of Moses (Exodus 6:7) the purpose of the plagues (Exodus 7:5, 17; 8:18;
10:2), the destruction of Pharaoh and his army in the Red sea (Exodus 14:4, 18), God sending Manna (Exodus 16:12), the
dwelling of the Lord with His people (Exodus 29:46), in recounting all that the Lord had done for Israel by bringing up out of
Egypt and providing for them in the wilderness (Deut. 29:5 [6ET]the Defeat of Ben Had the Syrian by Ahab (1 Kings 20:26),
Isaiah uses the phrase in connection with the promised deliverance and blessing (Isaiah 45:3; 49:23, 26; 60:16) And finally the
last occurrence is Joel 3:17 which envisions the Eschaton when Jerusalem will be holy, devoid of strangers passing through, and
the mountains drip sweet wine, and the hills flow with milk.
10
Notable exceptions are Chapters 18-19, 27 and 31.
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Jeremiah and Ezekiel seize on this specific language of YHWH as the core tenants of their
prophetic work. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, becomes the central
of Jeremiahs proclamation, and his complaints express his frustration that YHWH is to
slow to move, like Jonah, Jeremiah is frustrated that YHWH is so reluctant to rain down wrath
on the wicked and those who persecute him. In the darkness of his suffering Jeremiah has
difficulty seeing YHWH functioning as his God. On the other hand Ezekiel focuses in on the
later portion of the divine self-revelation; And you/they shall know that I am YHWH your
Lord. During the wilderness wandering YHWH had been quick to visit destruction and wrath
upon those who spurned him, yet things changed drastically once Israel crossed the Jordan into
the land.
Yet it is on Sinai that YHWH reveals who he is. First, when giving the First Commandment he
prefaces it by the statement I am YHWH your God, who brought you up out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of slavery (Ex 20:2). Thus indicating that He had indeed become their
God, and they were his people. Then after the first commandment He adds a further self-
identification saying: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing
steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments (Ex 20:5-6).
However, after giving the Ten Commandments, other laws, and perhaps most importantly the
plans for the Tabernacle, YHWH again reveals himself to Moses in a theophany. It must also be
noted that this second self-revelation follows the account of the Israelites worshiping the golden
calf as YHWH, and is joined to the second giving of the law. Moses asks to see YHWH and
He responds in a divine theophany in which Moses is allowed to see the back of YHWH, as He
declares;
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The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious , slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness , keeping steadfast
love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on
the children and the childrens children, to the third and the fourth generation.
(Ex. 34:6-7).
Many commentators
11
characterize Ezekiels message as one of prophesies of judgment or calls
for repentance. Yet YHWH himself characterized his word as lament, sighing and woe, and
later indicated that Ezekiel was to give to the house of Israel warning from YHWH (3:17-21),
hence the primary characterization of Ezekiel as a watchman (3:16-27; 33:1-9). The watchman
functions as one who looks out for the approach of an enemy, with the express purpose of
alerting the others to a danger which is drawing near so that they might be able to react. As can
be seen in the text of Ezekiel there is ample opportunity for his hearers turn from their
wickedness and return to the relationship with YHWH. So perhaps it must be stressed that many
of the oracles which make up chapters 4-24 are not strictly speaking prophesies of judgment, but
are instead admonitions or pleas for Israel to see their error and return to YHWH.
The recognition formula with da, to know, occurs 54 times in its pure form
and an additional 18 times in expanded form. To these one should add 21:4 and
39:21, which use , to see, perceive, as the verb. Drawing on the exodus
narratives (cf. Exod. 6:6-9; 7:1, 5, 17) this formula transforms Yahwehs oracles
from mere announcements of coming events into announcements of Yahwehs
self-manifestation. They become prophetic proof sayings, according to which the
actions of God are designed to bring the observer to the recognition of Yahwehs
person and his sovereign involvement in human experience.
12

However prophetic proof-sayings mischaracterizes the nature of the phrase since many of the
oracles which it is attached are not prophecies in the sense of predetermined judgments of the
sovereign God independent of the peoples response, but are admonitions or promises. In Ezekiel

11
Carl Friedrich Keil. Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel. Translated by James Martin. Vol. 1. 2 vols. Grand
Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, n.d., Horace D. Hummel. Ezekiel 1-20. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing
House, 2005., Block, Zimmerli, Greenberg, Moshe. Ezekiel 1-20. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, inc, 1983.
12
Block, 39.
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chapter 16 is linked directly to YHWH himself establishing his covenant with
Jerusalem. So that this intimate marital knowledge is tied directly to YHWHs gracious self-
sacrificing care within the bounds of the covenant which He establishes. Zimmerli begins to get
at the point of the text saying:
What undoubtedly permeates all his preaching is above all a knowledge of the
majesty of the God of Israel, who has been so humiliated by the actions of his
people that his harsh judgment for the sake of the holiness of his divine name
becomes unavoidable.
13

Yet it is not the knowledge of an abstract majesty of God which is the fundamental
concern of Ezekiel. He is concerned with Israel having a profoundly personal knowledge
of the very specific YHWH who brought them up out of the Land of Egypt, who led them
through the wilderness, and who gave them Manna to eat, and water from the rock. The
marriage metaphor is intended to drive home the very specific and concrete knowledge
which Ezekiel is driving at. For we must not forget that is used of the knowledge of
the spouse manifest in the intimacy of conjugal relations (Gen 4:1; 1 Kings 1:4). So
is a profoundly relational and experiential knowledge, which has an ontological effect on
the two who become one flesh in this .
We have shown that Ezekiels primary purpose is to make known to the people who YHWH is.
Yet the question still remains. Who is YHWH according to Ezekiel? So now we turn to
developing the knowledge of YHWH according to Ezekiel.

13
Zimmerli, 57.
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There is a clue in the sending of Ezekiel, in the repeated use of to rebel and to
rebel, transgress along with their derivatives in the second and third chapters.
14
Ezekiel is sent
to speak the words of YHWH regardless of whether or not Israel hears or refuses to hear (2:7).
These words of YHWH are written on a scroll which YHWH gives to Ezekiel to eat, words of
lamentation and mourning and woe (2:10). In this way Ezekiel characterizes His message from
the Lord as a lament, and a warning.
15
Hummel takes these three words to be
the title of the book written on the scroll on the basis of the preceding verb being singular. In this
way he avoids the problem pointed out by some commentators that the above words do not
correspond to the contents of Ezekiels prophecy.
16
As Hummel points out the textual difficulties
are best dealt with by interpreting as the title of the scroll,
17
thus indicating its
content, and if these are the Words of YHWH indicated in verse 4 and 10, then they are also the
content of Ezekiels preaching. Ezekiel is sent to speak not his own words but is to speak the
words of YHWH, this is the weight of the Piel with the preposition attached to
what is to be spoken verbatim.
18

This also seems to be the point of Ezekiels muteness, in that since YHWH only allows Ezekiel
to speak His words preventing him from speaking any other word by his muteness (3:26-27). So
Ezekiels muteness functions as a guarantee that the words which come out of Ezekiels mouth

14
Note especially And he said to me, Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have
rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day.
4
The descendants also are
impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD.
5
And whether
they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.
(Ezek 2:3-5)
15
Cf. Kiel, 51; and Hummel, 82
16
Hummel 2005, 82
17
Hummel 2005, 82. Perhaps the strongest textual evidence indicating that this is to be taken as a title is that is in the
masculine plural in form even though it is a feminine noun. Though there are a few possible explanations this is the most
convincing especially considering the title of Psalms also takes on the masculine plural form even though it too is also a
feminine noun.
18
Hummel 2005, 93
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are in fact none other than the words of YHWH. Yet stubborn Israel will not hear because they
refuse to hear the voice of their husband, they have hearts of stone (3:4-9).
Ezekiel 16 a test case
Let us now turn to the parable to see what if anything Ezekiels recounting of Torah has to say
about the person of YHWH. Is YHWH the raging god of Schwartz or do we here encounter the
God of the Exodus?
Ezekiel 16 is a particularly graphic oracle in a prophet who is known for shock and awe. It is the
first of three Oracles which are clearly a retelling of Israels history the other two being Chapter
20 and 23. The parable begins with Jerusalem completely despised and forsaken by her parents,
she is out upon the open field, left for dead, not even receiving the basic care of being
washed and wrapped in swaddling clothes (4-5). Her very life was loathsome
19
to her
Canaanite parents. Ezekiel repeats this origins narrative again in vs. 45 where loathing becomes a
character trait of Jerusalems mother as well as her sisters. Here the point seems to be that from
the very beginning Jerusalem was as good as dead completely devoid of life, or rather her life
was hemorrhaging from her uncut umbilical cord.
Utterly forsaken she lay hemorrhaging in an ever growing puddle of blood, completely devoid of
any pity, or compassion, with no one to do these things to her (to wash her, or to rub her with salt
or to wrap her is swaddling clothes) nor to show mercy to her the LXX has
which Origen seizes upon saying.

19
The noun is a hapax legomena though verbal forms meaning loath, abhor, despise occur repeatedly in the curses of Leviticus
26, as well as 2 Sam. 1:21, Job 21:10, and Jer. 14:19.
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Let me offer a human example; then, if the Holy Spirit grants it, I will move on
the Jesus Christ and to God the Father. When I speak to a man and plead with him
for some matter, that he should have pity on me, if he is a man without pity, he
does not suffer anything from the things I say. But if he is a man of gentle spirit,
and not hardened and rigid in his heart, he hears me and has pity upon me. And
his feelings are softened by my requests. Understand something of this kind with
regard to the Savior. He came down to earth out of compassion for the human
race. Having experienced our sufferings even before he suffered on the cross, he
condescended to assume our flesh. For if he had not suffered, he would not have
come to live on the level of human life. First, he suffered; then he came down and
was seen [cf. 1 Tim 3:16]. What is this suffering that he suffered for us? It is the
suffering of love. The Father, too, himself, the God of the universe, patient and
abounding in mercy [Ps 103:8] and compassionate, does he not in some way
suffer? Or do you not know that when he directs human affairs he suffers human
suffering? For the Lord your God bore your ways, as a man bears his son [Deut
1:31]. Therefore God bears our ways, just as the Son of God bears our sufferings.
The Father himself is not without suffering. When he is prayed to, he has pity and
compassion; he suffers something of love and comes into those in whom he
cannot be, in view of the greatness of his nature, and on account of us he endures
human sufferings.
20

Vs 6: But I came upon you: is repeated again in vs. 8. The here would seem to
be the adversative setting the contrast between her abandonment, by her parents, at birth and
YHWHs approach. Hummel points out that with the preposition can take meanings
such as happen to pass by (Judg. 9:25); come upon (Num. 5:14); and cross over to, come
to someone deliberately (2 Sam 24:20; 2 Ki 4:9).
21
The repeat of this same phrase in verse 8
along with Ezekiels clear usage of the Exodus as the backdrop for all of his prophesies would
seem to indicate that YHWH deliberately came to the rescue of this forsaken infant in order that
she might live, thus the doubling of the statement . There is some debate
over how this should be translated. According to Hummel the Masoretic accents punctuate this
as I said to you, In your blood live! but most translators and commentators abandon the

20
Origen. Origen: Homilies 1-14 on Ezekiel. Translated by Thomas P. Scheck. New York: The Newman Press, 2010, 92-93.
21
Hummel 2005, 426
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Masoretic accents and punctuate it as I said to you [while you were] in your blood, Live!
22

Many commentators follow the LXX and Syriac and delete it as dittography, however Greenberg
suggests its duplication is for emphasis, which seems very likely, though the Targums
expansion is also quite interesting, and begins to get at what may mean: I said to you,
By the blood of the circumcision I will have pity on you; and I said to you, By the blood of the
Passover lambs will I redeem you.
23

Vs. 7 literally a myriad as the sprout of the field I
gave to you and you multiplied and became great. It would seem that Ezekiel is reporting a
fulfillment of the blessing given in the Garden and after the flood,


(Gen 1:28, cf. Gen. 1:22; 9:1, 7 and Ezek 36:1). The girl
grew and matured and literally you came in/with jewelry/adornment of
jewelries/adornments, the construct phrase functions as a superlative akin to Song of Songs
i.e. the best song. Later (vs. 10-14) Ezekiel will list these adornments in language which clearly
draws upon the provisions for the Tabernacle and the priestly vestments of Exodus 25-30, 36-40,
as well as the adornment of Rebekah (Gen 24:22, 30, 47). Yet the allusion to the Garden seems
to be intensified by as Adam and Eve were In this state
the girl is not to be ashamed, yet there is a profound contrast later when she spreads her
nakedness and her fornication throughout the land and indeed is shameless in her pursuit of her
lovers.

22
Hummel 2005, 427
23
Cathcart, Kevin, Michael Maher, and Martin McNamara, . The Targum of Ezekiel: Translated, with a Critical Introduction,
Apparatus, and Notes. Translated by Samson H. Levey. Wlimington, Delaware: Michael Glazier, Inc, 1987.
Page 13 of 19

Vs. 8-14: For the sake of brevity, I will only speak briefly to the marriage, and adornment of
verses 8-14 as these are generally presented as YHWHs abundant gifts by which He cares for
His beloved bride, and hence quite obviously presenting YHWH as a loving husband who
provides his bride with every good thing. Ezekiel offers a very succinct summary of this portion:
literally a name went out for
you in the nations/gentiles by means of your beauty, for it was wholly completed/perfect in the
majesty which I placed upon you. means whole, complete, or total in reference to a burn
offering
24
and to the Ephod of the priestly vestments,
25
or as in our case in reference to
beauty it can take on the sense of perfect.
26

Vs. 15-34: Ezekiel next turns his attention to developing the contrast, YHWH had taken in the
loathed babe and gave her life, caused her to flourish, to grow, and made her His own beloved
bride, providing for her every need. But Jerusalem forgets all that and has eyes only for her own
beauty . occurs in Ezekiel only here and in 33:13 where it is also a misguided
trust or confidence. is an infrequent noun used only 19 times in all of scripture but ten times
in Ezekiel and of these ten uses 9 are in three chapters (3 times each), namely 16 regarding
Jerusalem, 27 and 28 both of Tyre, whose was also perfected and became a source of pride,
and blind confidence.
27
Several of these other uses by Ezekiel are in the context of Divine
laments, which emphasize the contrast between the perfection of their beauty and their utter
desolation at the hand of the Lord, a striking similarity to our text. In which Jerusalems

24
1 Sam 7:9; Ps 51:21.
25
Ex 28:31; 39:22.
26
Cf. Ezekiel 27:3; 28:12; Lam 2:15.
27
Cf. Ezekiel 6:14, 15, 25; 27:3, 4, 11; 28:7, 12, 17. Other uses are Is 3:24; 33:17; Ezek 31:8; Zech 9:17; Ps 45:12; 50:2; Prov
6:5; 31:30; Lam 2:15; Esth 1:11.
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becomes the object of confidence and trust, which leads her to re-appropriate the gifts of YHWH
her husband, in service of her own perverse desires. In this she is just like Tyre who also relies
on her beauty. St. Paul may have Ezekiel in mind when he says:
18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
19
For
what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to
them.
20
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that
have been made. So they are without excuse.
21
For although they knew God, they
did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their
thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22
Claiming to be wise, they
became fools,
23
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images
resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the
dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
25
because they exchanged the
truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the
Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
All that she had received from YHWH she takes and uses to increase her depravity, she makes
shrines of all her adornments, the tabernacle and the temple she transforms into a shrine for her
prostitution. The gold and jewels she changes into icons of men with which to fornicate. She
gives her food, clothing, and even children which YHWH had graciously given to her she offers
to her icons of men. And in all this she had (vs.
22). She had forsaken YHWH who had brought her up from the Land of Egypt, who had become
her God so that she might be His people. She had not remembered her Husband who
, 26 , 27
, ,
(Ephesians 5:25-27).
Jerusalems abominations reach a crescendo in 30-34 where she is depicted as even worse that a
prostitute because she literally scorned the prostitutes wages.
Page 15 of 19

Vs. 34: She has perverted herself to the point of being the absolute negation of who
she was to be as the bride of YHWH, and as such she negates the self-revelation of YHWH.
Verses 36-41: The stark contrast between 3-14 and 15-35 culminates in the Lord giving her over
to her lusts, to her pouring out of her genitals and her uncovering of her nakedness. The narrative
seems to return to the imagery of the beginning of the parable, she is again naked and bloodied,
all of the adornments which YHWH had adorned her with have been stripped away and she will
again literally and they will cause you to rest naked and bare. This is the
third time Ezekiel uses the phrase (vs. 7, 22; cf. 23:29). Each time there is a sense of
returning to the beginning when YHWH made her increase and multiply when she thrived as a
plant in the field under the gracious hand of YHWH. Perhaps there is even an allusion to Genesis
2:25 when Adam and Eve were . However in the nakedness of the Garden
and the nakedness of Ezekiel 16:7 there is no shame. Yet when the eyes of Adam and Eve are
opened to evil then there is need of a covering for nakedness and the shame which is often
associated with it. In the garden YHWH provided the covering by . Ezekiel
however has YHWH covering Jerusalem by spreading his wing upon her
literally and I covered your nakedness. In light of the clothing motif and St. Pauls
appropriation of the motif into his Baptismal Theology as well as his ecclesiology this covering
of nakedness takes on a baptismal character especially considering the washing, salting,
anointing, and adorning, which all became part of the baptismal rite. Yet all of this is stripped
away by those whom she had loved, and had lusted after to uncover her nakedness to them.
Page 16 of 19

I will give to you blood of fury and jealousy the LXX has
I will put/establish you in blood of passion/fury and Jealousy.
Verse 41b-42: I will cause you to Sabbath/cease from committing fornication
literally I will cause to rest my fury in/with you. I will
turn aside my jealousy from you. is not the jealousy of envy or covetousness that it has
become in modern English but is the right and proper jealousy of a husband for his wife which is
characterized by a zealous devotion on behalf of the wife which guards and protects the wife.
In the narrative there does seem to be an end, the once beautiful wife of YHWH is stripped,
stoned, and cut in pieces, yet if we might take the notion of Jeremiah YHWH will not make a
full end (cf. Jer 5).
The stated cause and purpose of YHWHs severe impending judgment against Jerusalem is
Because you have not remembered (read ) the days of your youth, but have enraged
me with all these things, therefore, behold, I have returned your deeds upon your
head (16:43). This is the second time, the first in verse 22, that it is said of Jerusalem that she
did not remember the days of her youth, that is she did not remember the gracious care shown to
her by YHWH when he saved her from certain death, caused her to increase and multiply, made
her His people, became her God, washed her, clothed her, adorned her, and perfected her beauty.
Instead of remembering who she was in relation to YHWH and remembering who YHWH is, she
provoked Him to anger and fury by means of her forsaking him to pursue her lovers. Therefore
YHWH put her sins upon her head that she might bare her disgrace (16:52, 54) and her
lewdness and abominations (16:58). The picture which begins to emerge here is
Page 17 of 19

of YHWH graciously bearing the sins of his people until their driving him away and forsaking
him forces him to give their words, lewdness, abominations, and disgrace upon her head so that
she bears her own sin. She had despised YHWH and his promises and so the crushing weight of
her sin is returned to her. Yet even though she had not remembered her youth YHWH will
remember his covenant with her, when he took her to be his people, his bride, and he promised to
her blessing. YHWH will remember her youth when He gave her life, and He caused her to grow
and to increase and multiply, when He caused her beauty to be perfected by his abundant
blessing. YHWH will remember how He had clothed her in priestly vestment, in the robe of
righteousness and in the garment of salvation (Is 61:10). He will remember how He had adorned
her with every good work, with gold and jewels, when He had made her queen. YHWH will
raise up for her an eternal covenant (16:60). Then Jerusalem will remember her ways and she
will be ashamed of how she despised the patient love of her husband, how she spurned him. But
YHWH himself will establish the covenant with her and then she will finally
know when YHWH establishes the [new] covenant with her that he promised through Jeremiah,
that YHWH is indeed;
a God merciful and gracious , slow to anger, and abounding in
steadfast love and faithfulness , keeping steadfast love
for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will
by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children
and the childrens children, to the third and the fourth generation. (Ex. 34:6-7).
On the basis of her intimate knowledge of YHWH as a gracious and merciful God she will be
ashamed and she will not open her mouth anymore because of her disgrace. When YHWH
atones for everything that she has done she will be silenced because He has become the suffering
servant who bears the sin, the shame, the disgrace, the wounds, and sickness of his people.
Page 18 of 19

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Publishing Company, 1997.
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Zimmerli, Walther. Ezekiel 1. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969.
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