Ezekiel 16:35

"Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness uncovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers; and because of all the idols of thy abominations, and for the blood of thy children, that thou didst give unto them; therefore behold, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them against thee on every side, and will uncover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness. And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood; and I will bring upon thee the blood of wrath and jealousy."

ISRAEL'S PUNISHMENT AS AN ADULTERESS

These eighteen verses (Ezekiel 16:35-51) speak of the awful punishment of the Chosen People and of its absolute justice in God's sight.

The punishment of unfaithful wives in antiquity was as sadistically cruel as anything ever known. It is described in Nahum 3:4-7. (We refer the reader to my commentary on Nahum in the Minor Prophets Series, Vol. 3, p. 48.) In this paragraph, God condemned Israel to suffer such a shameful and terrible punishment. Why? They had cast into jeopardy the salvation of all mankind!

"Thy filthiness was poured out ..." (Ezekiel 16:36). The marginal reading for "filthiness" is "brass," standing "for wealth or money."[28] However Greenberg stated that the word is actually, "The cognate of the Akkadian "nahsati", meaning `morbid genital outflow' of a woman, a reference to female genital distillation produced by sexual arousal."[29] He translated this place, "Your juice was poured out." We feel certain that the marginal reference is preferable.