Exposition of Ezekiel 14-19, Commentary on Ezechiel · Chapter 16 · Verse 30
Verſ. 30. How weake is thine heart, ſaith the Lord God, ſeeing thou doeſt all theſe things, the worke of an imperious whoriſh woman.
THis ver. is another effect of this Womans wickedneſſe, and that is weakneſſe of heart; ſet out
1. By way of admiration; How weake, &c.
2. By way of Compariſon, viz. of an imperious whoriſh Woman, ſhe doth thoſe things which enfeeble her heart, enervate her ſpirits, and thou doeſt the like, thy heart muſt therefore be weake.
Weake.
Hebrew foreign The word amal ſignifies a thing hath no vertue, power, efficacie in it. Jer. 15.9. She that hath borne ſeaven languiſheth, ſhe hath given up the ghoſt; its the ſame word ſhe was ſo without ſtrength that her ſoule was ready to leave her; it notes not any weakneſſe, but extreame weakneſſe, and therefore ſometime its put for a thing witherd or dryed up, Iſa. 24.7. The vine languiſheth, it was witherd and dryed up; ſo Joel 1.1….12. Na…. 1.4. Lam. 2.8. Pr…dus ſaith, the word ſignifieth, exciſum, diſſipatum, perditum, corruptum, perverſum, and makes the ſenſe thus; How perverſe, deprav'd, and corrupt is thy heart, when thou doeſt ſuch things as declare that thou haſt not onelyonly baniſhed the feare of God from thy heart, but alſo all modeſty from thy face. Jerom, what ſhall I doe to thy heart?
Vulg: In quo mundabo cor tuum, they derive the word from foreign to circumciſe, and ſo to cleanſe, intimating her heart was ſo fowle, that it was uncleanſeable, it was cor putridum. Calv. Quam molle & diſſolutum. Caſtal: O te perditae mentis. French Comment. Ton caeur eſt' il ainſi laſche. Others render it, Languidum. Vatabl: O impotens cor tuum. She was inſtable, deſired ſociety with the gods of other Nations; ſhe could not contein, but uſe all means to accompliſh her wicked deſires.
Imperious.
Hebrew foreign dominatrix, a woman that hath a domineering ſpirit; from foreign to dominere and exerciſe Lordlineſſe over others, to uſurpe authoritie.
Septu: foreign, of one that is at libertie, that hath no husband, but runs up and downe according to her own luſt and will; Dominium ſui habentis, ſaith Lav: Dominantis, Cal: Procax idem quod petax.French, d'vne paillarde robuſte. Vulg: is Procax, ſaucie, wanton, impudent, which in the Greek is foreign, when the maske of modeſtie and bridle of continency are laid aſide, and a bold forwardneſſe to filthineſſe is manifeſted, when a woman doth not onelyonly expect and wait for her lovers, but deſires, invites, and conſtraines them to ſatisfie her luſts, and will have no nay; ſuch a ſhameleſſe, ſaucie imperious whore was ſhe in the 7. of the Prov. who ver. 21. cauſed the young man to yeeld; ſo here Jeruſalem was like a Queene of whores, daring and doing any thing.
The worke.
What is that worke; 1. To ſlight and leave her husband, or parents, friends, if ſhe have no husband; ſo did this woman. Jer. 2.13. Ezek. 6.9.
2. To ſeeke out, invite, follow, fetch in others, and to communicate her ſelfe to them; ſo did this woman, Ezek. 23.16, 17. ſhe ſent to the Chaldeans and Babylonians, and they came to her into the bed of love.
3. To waſt her husbands eſtate; ſo here, thou haſt taken my gold and ſilver, made images, ſet mine oyle, &c.
4. To neglect, deale harſhly with the children of her huſband; ſo here, Thou haſt taken the ſonnes and daughters thou didſt bare unto mee, and haſt ſacrificed them unto idolls.
5. To excuſe, cleare, and juſtifie her ſelfe; Prov. 30.20. The adulterous woman eateth, wipeth her mouth and ſaith, I have done no evill; ſo this Jewiſh woman, Jer. 2.33. How canſt thou ſay, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? Ver. 29. Wherefore will you plead with mee? yee all have tranſgreſſed againſt mee.
6. To be exceſſive in feaſting and filthineſſe, Prov. 7.18. Come let us take our fill of love. 2 Pet. 2.13, 14. They feaſt and have eyes full of adulterie; ſo here, ver. 15. thou powredſt out thy fornications on every one that paſſed by. Ver. 29. She multiplyed her fornications in Canaan and Chaldea.
Obſer. 1.
That ſin, eſpecially whoredome and idolatry doe effeminate and enfeeble the hearts of people; Hoſ. 4.11. Whoredome is one of the things takes away the heart, that is, the reaſon, underſtanding, judgement, ſo that a man becomes inſtable, weake and fooliſh. Corporall whoredome ſubjects men to the wilde and inſatiable luſts of the fleſh, ſpirituall to an idoll, which is the worke of mans hands; and what folly is this? Such ſins weaken mens credit, conſciences, hearts, and ſpirits; adultery is the deſtruction of the ſoule, it wounds, Prov. 7.26. She hath caſt downe many wounded; and the more wounds the more weakneſſe. Dalilah weakened Sampſons hands and heart, and wounded him deeply. Gen. 49.4. Reuben unſtable as water, he went up to his fathers bed. Prov. 10.29. The way of the Lord is ſtrength.
Obſer. 2.
Adulterers and idolaters are imperious; the Jewiſh State was guiltie of thoſe ſins, and is compared here to an imperious whoriſh woman. All luſts are maſterly and domineering, James 4.1. Whence come warres and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your luſts that warre in your members? The word for Iuſts is foreign pleaſures, they are pleaſing things, and muſt be pleaſed, they muſt have the heads, hearts and hands of men to doe them ſervice, elſe they will make warre in you, if they cannot win conſent, they will force it, they are imperious things; Ver. 12. There is one Law-giver, who is able to ſave and to deſtroy, who art thou that judgeſt another? Here he ſhewes the imperiouſneſſe of mens luſts when they are rigid and cenſorious; they fit in judgement upon others, they thruſt themſelves into the throne of God, they take his prerogative upon them, and will be Judges of the Law, ſave and deſtroy at their pleaſure. Pſal. 12.4. With our tongue will wee prevaile, our lips are our owne, who is Lord over us? Their luſts were ſo imperious, they lorded it in their hearts and tongues. Exod. 15.9. What ſaid Pharaoh? I will purſue, I will overtake, I will divide the ſpoile, my luſt ſhall be ſatiſfied upon them, I will draw my ſword, mine hand ſhall deſtroy them. Pharaoh was a great King, yet his luſts were above him. 2 Pet. 2.14. Having eyes full of adulterie, and that cannot ceaſe from ſin; their fleſhly luſts commanded their hearts and eyes, and carried them with greedineſſe to uncleanneſſe. So for idolaters, Jer. 44.16, 17. As for the word which thou haſt ſpoken unto us in the Name of the Lord, wee will not hearken unto thee, but wee will certainly doe whatſoever thing goeth out of our own mouth, to burne incenſe to the Queene of Heaven, and to powre out drinke offerings unto her, as wee have done, wee and our fathers, our Kings and our Princes in the Cities of Judah, and in the ſtreets of Jeruſalem.
Obſer. 3.
Imperiouſneſſe argues weakneſſe; how weake is thy heart, ſeeing thou doeſt the worke of an imperious whoriſh wom…n Th… more weake the more imperious, and the more imperious the more evidence of weakneſſe. Pro. 29.8. Scornefull …, foreign men of deriſion and ſcorne, Septuag: foreign, men without law, that are imperious and make their wills and luſts their lawes, they bring a Citie into a ſnare, or ſet it on fire, which ſhews their weakneſſe; but wiſe men turne away wrath, which ſhews their ſtrength. When men are haſtie, violent and imperious, they exalt folly, Prov. 14.29. and proclaim their weakneſſe. The Apoſtle ſaith, that women are the weaker veſſells, 1 Pet. 3.7. and being weake they are prone to be imperious; which Paul obſerving gave out that rule, 1 Tim. 2.12. I ſuffer not a woman to teach, nor to uſurpe authoritie over the man. Many thinke that greatneſſe and ſtrength of ſpirit conſiſts in imperiouſneſſe and ſtoutneſſe, but its otherwiſe, they are the weakeſt are moſt imperious.