Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 16:44-59
The prophet here further shows Jerusalem her abominations, by comparing her with those places that had gone before her, and showing that she was worse than any of them, and therefore should, like them, be utterly and irreparably ruined. We are all apt to judge of ourselves by comparison, and to imagine that we are sufficiently good if we are but as good as such and such, who are thought passable; or that we are not dangerously bad if we are no worse than such and such, who, though bad, are not of the worst. Now God by the prophet shows Jerusalem,
I. That she was as bad as her mother, that is, as the accursed devoted Canaanites that were the possessors of this land before her. Those that use…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 16:50
haughty--puffed up with prosperity.
abomination before me--"sinners before the Lord" (Gen 13:13); said of those whose sin is so heinous as to cry out to God for immediate judgments; presumptuous sins, daring God to the face (Gen 18:20; Gen 19:5).
I took them away-- (Gen 19:24).
as I saw good--rather, "according to what I saw"; referring to Gen 18:21, where God says, "I will go down, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto Me."
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 16:49
This was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom - If we are to take this place literally, Sodom was guilty of other crimes besides that for which she appears to have been especially punished; in addition to her unnatural crime, She is charged with pride, luxury, idleness, and uncharitableness; and these were sufficient to sink any city to the bottomless pit.
John Gill on Ezekiel 16:50
And they were haughty,.... Sodom and her daughters, the inhabitants of that place, and the cities adjacent; they lifted up themselves above God and man; they were above regarding the poor and needy; and were elated and swelled with their plenty and prosperity, and behaved very insolently, both to fellow citizens and strangers; see Genesis 19:4;
and committed abomination before me; perhaps referring to that sin, which has its name from them; a sin abominable to God, and scandalous to human nature; and which they committed openly and publicly, neither fearing God, nor regarding men; and are said to be sinners before the Lord, Genesis 13:13;
therefore I took them away as I saw good; both as t…
