Eze 16:46, 61 | JFB | STEP | 46. elder sister . . . Samaria — older than Sodom, to whom Judah was less nearly related by kindred than she was to Samaria. Sodom is therefore called her younger sister; Samaria, her "elder sister" [GROTIUS ]. Samaria is called the "elder," because in a moral respect more nearly related to Judah [FAIRBAIRN ]. Samaria had made the calves at Dan and Beth-el in imitation of the cherubim. her daughters —the inferior towns subject to Samaria (compare , Margin ). left —The Orientals faced the east in marking the directions of the sky; thus the north was "left," the south "right." Sodom . . . daughters —Ammon and Moab, offshoots from Sodom; also the towns subject to it.

Ezekiel 16:46

46. elder sister . . . Samaria—older than Sodom, to whom Judah was less nearly related by kindred than she was to Samaria. Sodom is therefore called her younger sister; Samaria, her "elder sister" [GROTIUS]. Samaria is called the "elder," because in a moral respect more nearly related to Judah [FAIRBAIRN]. Samaria had made the calves at Dan and Beth-el in imitation of the cherubim.

her daughters—the inferior towns subject to Samaria (compare Nu 21:25, Margin).

left—The Orientals faced the east in marking the directions of the sky; thus the north was "left," the south "right."

Sodom . . . daughters—Ammon and Moab, offshoots from Sodom; also the towns subject to it.

Ezekiel 16:61

61. thou shalt remember—It is God who first remembers her before she remembers Him and her own ways before Him (Eze 16:60; Eze 20:43; 36:31).

ashamed—the fruit of repentance (2Co 7:10, 11). None please God unless those who displease themselves; a foretaste of the Gospel (Lu 18:9-14).

I will give them unto thee for daughters— (Isa 54:1; 60:3, 4; Ga 4:26, &c.). All the heathen nations, not merely Sodom and Samaria, are meant by "thy sisters, elder and younger." In Jerusalem first, individual believers were gathered into the elect Church. From Jerusalem the Gospel went forth to gather in individuals of the Gentiles; and Judah with Jerusalem shall also be the first nation which, as such, shall be converted to Christ; and to her the other nations shall attach themselves as believers in Messiah, Jerusalem's King (Ps 110:2; Isa 2:2, 3). "The king's daughter" in Ps 45:12-14 is Judah; her "companions," as "the daughter of Tyre," are the nations given to her as converts, here called "daughters."

not by thy covenant—This does not set aside the Old Testament in its spirit, but in its mere letter on which the Jews had rested, while they broke it: the latter ("thy covenant") was to give place to God's covenant of grace and promise in Christ who "fulfilled" the law. God means, "not that thou on thy part hast stood to the covenant, but that 'I am the Lord, I change not' (Mal 3:6) from My original love to thee in thy youth" (see Ro 3:3).