Eze 16:3-6 | JFB | STEP | 3. birth ... nativity-- thy origin and birth; literally, "thy diggings" (compare ) "and thy bringings forth." of ... Canaan-- in which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sojourned before going to Egypt, and from which thou didst derive far more of thy innate characteristics than from the virtues of those thy progenitors ( ). an Amorite ... an Hittite-- These, being the most powerful tribes, stand for the whole of the Canaanite nations (compare ; ), which were so abominably corrupt as to have been doomed to utter extermination by God ( , ; ). Translate rather, "the Amorite ... the Canaanite," that is, these two tribes personified; their wicked characteristics, respectively, were concentrated in the parentage of Israel ( ). "The Hittite" is made their "mother"; alluding to Esau's wives, daughters of Heth, whose ways vexed Rebekah ( , ; ), but pleased the degenerate descendants of Jacob, so that these are called, in respect of morals, children of the Hittite (compare ).

‏ Ezekiel 16:3-6

3. birth ... nativity--thy origin and birth; literally, "thy diggings" (compare Is 51:1) "and thy bringings forth."

of ... Canaan--in which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sojourned before going to Egypt, and from which thou didst derive far more of thy innate characteristics than from the virtues of those thy progenitors (Eze 21:30).

an Amorite ... an Hittite--These, being the most powerful tribes, stand for the whole of the Canaanite nations (compare Jos 1:4; Am 2:9), which were so abominably corrupt as to have been doomed to utter extermination by God (Le 18:24, 25, 28; De 18:12). Translate rather, "the Amorite ... the Canaanite," that is, these two tribes personified; their wicked characteristics, respectively, were concentrated in the parentage of Israel (Ge 15:16). "The Hittite" is made their "mother"; alluding to Esau's wives, daughters of Heth, whose ways vexed Rebekah (Ge 26:34, 35; 27:46), but pleased the degenerate descendants of Jacob, so that these are called, in respect of morals, children of the Hittite (compare Eze 16:45).

4. Israel's helplessness in her first struggling into national existence, under the image of an infant (Ho 2:3) cast forth without receiving the commonest acts of parental regard. Its very life was a miracle (Ex 1:15-22).

navel ... not cut--Without proper attention to the navel cord, the infant just born is liable to die.

neither ... washed in water to supple thee--that is, to make the skin soft. Rather, "for purification"; from an Arabic root [Maurer]. Gesenius translates as the Margin, "that thou mightest (be presented to thy parents to) be looked upon," as is customary on the birth of a child.

salted--Anciently they rubbed infants with salt to make the skin firm.

5. cast ... in ... open field--The exposure of infants was common in ancient times.

to the loathing of thy person--referring to the unsightly aspect of the exposed infant. Fairbairn translates, "With contempt (or disdainful indifference) of thy life."

6. when I passed by--as if a traveller.

polluted in ... blood--but Piscator, "ready to be trodden on."

I said--In contrast to Israel's helplessness stands God's omnipotent word of grace which bids the outcast little one "live."

in thy blood--Though thou wast foul with blood, I said, "Live" [Grotius]. "Live in thy blood," that is, Live, but live a life exposed to many deaths, as was the case in the beginnings of Israel's national existence, in order to magnify the grace of God [Calvin]. The former view is preferable. Spiritually, till the sinner is made sensible of his abject helplessness, he will not appreciate the provisions of God's grace.