In the marriage here spoken of, there was this peculiarity, that the husband first redeemed the wife from a condition the [Pg 234] most wretched and miserable, before he united himself to her; and hence became her benefactor, before he became her husband. Compare iii. 2, where the Lord redeems the wife from slavery; and Ezek. xvi. 4, where the people appear as a child exposed, naked, and covered with filth, upon whom the Lord has mercy,--whom He provides with precious clothing and splendid ornaments, and destines for His spouse. During the marriage, the husband continues his liberality towards his wife. But now, the gifts, all of which had been bestowed upon her only with a view to the marriage which was to take place or was already entered upon, are to cease, because the marriage-tie has been broken by her guilt. She now returns to the condition of the deepest misery in which she had been sunk before her union to the Lord.--There is, in this, an allusion to that which, in the case of actual marriage, the husband was bound to give to his wife, viz., clothing and food; compare Is. iv. 1. If God withdraws His gifts, the consequences are infinitely awful, because, altogether unlike the natural husband, He has everything in His possession; if He does not give anything to drink. He then slays by thirst. If we keep in view this aggravation of the punishment, which has its ground only in the person of the husband, it is evident that we have here before us only a reference to the withdrawal of the marriage-gifts which is the consequence of the divorce, and not, as several interpreters--_e.g._, _Manger_--suppose, to a punishment of adultery, alleged by them to have been common at that time, "that the wife was stripped of her clothes, exposed to public mockery, and killed by hunger and thirst." The eternal and universal truth which, in the verse before us, is expressed with a special reference to Israel, is, that all the gifts of God are bestowed upon individuals, as well as upon whole nations, either in order to lead them to the communion of life with Him, or because this communion already exists; just as our Saviour says that to him who has successfully sought for the kingdom of heaven, all other things shall be added, without any labour on his part. If we overlook the truth that the gifts of God have this object--if they be not received and enjoyed as the gifts of God--if the spiritual marriage be refused, or if, having been already entered into, it be broken,--sooner or later the gifts will be withdrawn.--The word "naked" properly includes a whole clause: "I shall strip [Pg 235] her so that she shall become naked." The verb הצּיג, "to place," "to set," has the secondary signification of public exhibition; compare Job xvii. 6. The literal translation ought to be, "I shall expose her as _the day_ of her birth;" and we must assume that there is here the occurrence of one of those numerous cases, in which the comparison is