Ezekiel 16:8

Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
passed	וָאֶעֱבֹ֨ר va.'e.'e.Vor	H5674	to cross over · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
looked	וָאֶרְאֵ֗ךְ va.'er.'Ekh	H7200	to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
time	עִתֵּךְ֙ 'i.teKh	H6256	time · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
time	עֵ֣ת 'et	H6256	time · noun, common both genders singular construct
love	דֹּדִ֔ים do.Dim	H1730	(figuratively) to love · noun, common masculine plural absolute
spread	וָאֶפְרֹ֤שׂ va.'ef.Ros	H6566	to break apart · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
skirt	כְּנָפִי֙ ke.na.Fi	H3671	an edge or extremity · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
covered	וָאֲכַסֶּ֖ה va.'a.kha.Seh	H3680	properly · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
nakedness	עֶרְוָתֵ֑ךְ 'er.va.Tekh	H6172	nudity · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
sware	וָאֶשָּׁ֣בַֽע va.'e.Sha.va'	H7650	to seven oneself · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
entered	וָאָב֨וֹא va.'a.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
covenant	בִבְרִ֜ית viv.Rit	H1285	a compact (because made by passing between pieces of fl… · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
saith	נְאֻ֛ם ne.'Um	H5002	an oracle · noun, common masculine singular construct
Lord	אֲדֹנָ֥י 'a.do.Nai	H136	the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
GOD	יְהוִ֖ה Yah.weh	H3069	YHWH · proper noun, a title

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Ruth 3:9 And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near k…
Jeremiah 2:2-3 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, w…
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Isaiah 43:4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for t…
Exodus 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed a…
Exodus 19:4-8 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
Deuteronomy 4:31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sw…
Deuteronomy 7:6-8 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people t…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 16:6-14

In there verses we have an account of the great things which God did for the Jewish nation in raising them up by degrees to be very considerable. 1. God saved them from the ruin they were upon the brink of in Egypt (Eze 16:6): "When I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thy own blood, loathed and abandoned, and appointed to die, as sheep for the slaughter, then I said unto thee, Live. I designed thee for life when thou wast doomed to destruction, and resolved to save thee from death." Those shall live to whom God commands life. God looked upon the world of mankind as thus cast off, thus cast out, thus polluted, thus weltering in blood, and his thoughts towards it were thoughts of good,…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 16:8

thy time of love--literally, "loves" (compare Sol 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 (Gen 15:13-14; Act 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 (Sol 1:3-6; Jer 31:3; Mal 1:2). spread my skirt over thee--the mode of espousals (Rut 3:9). I betrothed thee (Deu 4:37; Deu 10:15; Hos 11:1). The cloak is often used as a bed coverlet in the East. God explains what He…

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Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 16:8

Was the time of love - Thou wast marriageable. I spread my skirt over thee - I espoused thee. This was one of their initiatory marriage ceremonies. See Rut 3:9. I - entered into a covenant with thee - Married thee. Espousing preceded marriage.

John Gill on Ezekiel 16:8

Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee,.... Which the Targum refers to the Lord's appearance to Moses in the bush; See Gill on Ezekiel 16:6; behold, thy time was the time of love; which the Targum explains of the time of redemption of the people of Israel out of Egypt, which was an instance of the great love of God unto that people; and which time was fixed by him; and when it was come, at the exact and precise time, the redemption was wrought; see Genesis 15:13; and so there is a set time for the calling and conversion of God's elect, who are therefore said to be called according to purpose; and, when that time comes, all means are made to concur to bring it about: and this is a t…

The Church Fathers

Let us pray that the mercy of God will come on us and wash away the blood from our souls.
— Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 6:9

When we are of a greater age and can therefore sin, angels look for a chance to influence us, and that is as true of the angels of God as it is of the angels of Satan.
— Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 6:8

But from hence infer not thy punishment only, but also the boundless longsuffering of God. How often at least have we put our hands to the same evil deeds, and yet He suffers long! But let us not be sanguine, but fear; since Pharaoh too, had he been taught by the first plague, would not have experienced the later ones; he would not afterwards have been drowned, his host and all together.
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 43:5

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Ammi — My people, a name given by Jehovah to the people of Israel (Hos. 2:1, 23. Comp. 1:9; Ezek. 16:8; Rom. 9:25, 26; 1 Pet. 2:10).
Fornication — In every form of it was sternly condemned by the Mosaic law (Lev. 21:9; 19:29; Deut. 22:20, 21, 23-29; 23:18; Ex. 22:16). (See ADULTERY.) But this word is more frequently used in a symbolical than in…
Solomon, Song of — Called also, after the Vulgate, the “Canticles.” It is the “song of songs” (1:1), as being the finest and most precious of its kind; the noblest song, “das Hohelied,” as Luther calls it. The…
Bride · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Bridegroom · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Ingratitude To God · Illustrated — Illustrated

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Ezekiel 16:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 16:6-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 16:8

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 16:8

John Gill on Ezekiel 16:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ezekiel 16:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 16:6-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 16:8

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 16:8

John Gill on Ezekiel 16:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Ezekiel 16:8

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezekiel 16:6-14

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ezekiel 16:8

Rashi on Ezekiel 16:8