Eze 16:8-14 | JFB | STEP | 8. thy time of love —literally, "loves" (compare ). Thou wast of marriageable age, but none was willing to marry thee, naked as thou wast. I then regarded thee with a look of grace when the full time of thy deliverance was come ( ). It is not she that makes the advance to God, but God to her; she has nothing to entitle her to such notice, yet He regards her not with mere benevolence, but with love, such as one cherishes to the person of his wife ( ). spread my skirt over thee —the mode of espousals ( ). I betrothed thee ( ). The cloak is often used as a bed coverlet in the East. God explains what He means, "I entered into . . . covenant with thee," that is, at Sinai. So Israel became "the wife of God's covenant" ( ). thou . . . mine

Ezekiel 16:8-14

8. thy time of love—literally, "loves" (compare So 2:10-13). Thou wast of marriageable age, but none was willing to marry thee, naked as thou wast. I then regarded thee with a look of grace when the full time of thy deliverance was come (Ge 15:13, 14; Ac 7:6, 7). It is not she that makes the advance to God, but God to her; she has nothing to entitle her to such notice, yet He regards her not with mere benevolence, but with love, such as one cherishes to the person of his wife (So 1:3-6; Jer 31:3; Mal 1:2).

spread my skirt over thee—the mode of espousals (Ru 3:9). I betrothed thee (De 4:37; 10:15; Ho 11:1). The cloak is often used as a bed coverlet in the East. God explains what He means, "I entered into . . . covenant with thee," that is, at Sinai. So Israel became "the wife of God's covenant" (Isa 54:5; Jer 3:14; Ho 2:19, 20; Mal 2:14).

thou . . . mine— (Ex 19:5; Jer 2:2).

9. washed I thee—as brides used to pass through a preparatory purification (Es 2:12). So Israel, before the giving of the law at Sinai (Ex 19:14); "Moses sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes." So believers (1Co 6:11).

oil—emblem of the Levitical priesthood, the type of Messiah (Ps 45:7).

10. Ps 45:13, 14, similarly describes the Church (Israel, the appointed mother of Christendom) adorned as a bride (so Isa 61:10). It is Messiah who provides the wedding garment (Re 3:18; 19:8).

badgers' skin—tahash; others translate, "seal skins." They formed the over-covering of the tabernacle, which was, as it were, the nuptial tent of God and Israel (Ex 26:14), and the material of the shoes worn by the Hebrews on festival days. (See on Ex 25:5).

fine linen—used by the priests (Le 6:10); emblem of purity.

11. The marriage gifts to Rebekah (Ge 24:22, 47).

12. jewel on thy forehead—rather, "a ring in thy nose" (Isa 3:21).

a crown—at once the badge of a bride, and of her being made a queen, as being consort of the King; the very name Israel meaning "a prince of God." So they are called "a kingdom of priests" (Ex 19:6; compare Re 1:6). Though the external blessings bestowed on Israel were great, yet not these, but the internal and spiritual, form the main reference in the kingly marriage to which Israel was advanced.

13. flour . . . honey . . . oil—These three mixed form the sweetest cakes; not dry bread and leeks as in Egypt. From raiment He passes to food (De 32:13, 14).

exceeding beautiful— Ps 48:2, the city; also, Ps 29:2, the temple.

prosper into a kingdom—exercising empire over surrounding nations.

14. thy renown . . . among . . . heathen—The theocracy reached its highest point under Solomon, when distant potentates heard of his "fame" (1Ki 10:1, &c.), for example, the queen of Sheba, Hiram, &c. (La 2:15).

my comeliness—It was not thine own, but imparted by Me.