What is the meaning of Ezekiel 16:46? Your older sister was Samaria Jerusalem is being told that Samaria—the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 16:24; Isaiah 7:9)—is her “older sister.” • “Older” hints at chronology: Samaria fell to Assyria about 135 years before Jerusalem was taken by Babylon (2 Kings 17:6; 25:1–11). • “Sibling” language exposes family likeness: both cities were covenant people who turned to idolatry (Hosea 8:5–6; Ezekiel 16:51). • The Lord is emphasizing responsibility: if your elder sister’s collapse is recorded in Scripture, you cannot claim ignorance (1 Corinthians 10:11). who lived with her daughters to your north Samaria’s “daughters” are her surrounding towns and villages (Joshua 17:11; Amos 3:6). • The geographical note “to your north” is literal: Samaria is roughly 35 miles north of Jerusalem. • The indictment is moral: northern Israel’s smaller communities followed Samaria into apostasy (2 Kings 17:9–12). • The lesson mirrors Proverbs 13:20—companionship with sin spreads corruption outward. and your younger sister was Sodom God now places Sodom—destroyed centuries earlier (Genesis 19:24–28)—in the “younger” slot. • “Your younger sister” shocks: Jerusalem, the city of David, is grouped with a city notorious for wickedness (Deuteronomy 29:23; Jude 7). • God’s comparison is not rhetorical flair; He means it literally, as the next verses say Jerusalem became “more corrupt than they in all your ways” (Ezekiel 16:47–48). • The pointing finger reminds believers today that past judgment on blatant sin warns against present complacency (Luke 17:28–32). who lived with her daughters to your south Sodom’s “daughters” were the other cities of the plain—Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar (Genesis 14:8; Deuteronomy 29:23). • “South” is geographically exact: Sodom lay in the Valley of Siddim, south of Jerusalem near the Dead Sea (Genesis 13:10–12). • The spatial picture boxes Jerusalem between two judged regions—north and south—underscoring that she should have learned from both (Ezekiel 16:56). • God’s justice is consistent: He spared neither a covenant city like Samaria nor a pagan city like Sodom; Jerusalem is no exception (Romans 2:11). summary Ezekiel 16:46 frames Jerusalem between two infamous sisters, Samaria to the north and Sodom to the south, proving that privilege did not shield her from accountability. Their geographic positions and moral histories stand as living lessons: past judgment warns, sibling likeness convicts, and God’s standard remains unchanged. |
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