4 "As for your birth , on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut , nor were you washed with water for cleansing ; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths . 5 "No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field , for you were abhorred on the day you were born .
6 "When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood , I said to you while you were in your blood , 'Live !' Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood , 'Live !'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 16:4-6
Commentary on Ezekiel 16:1-58
(Read Ezekiel 16:1-58)
In this chapter God's dealings with the Jewish nation, and their conduct towards him, are described, and their punishment through the surrounding nations, even those they most trusted in. This is done under the parable of an exposed infant rescued from death, educated, espoused, and richly provided for, but afterwards guilty of the most abandoned conduct, and punished for it; yet at last received into favour, and ashamed of her base conduct. We are not to judge of these expressions by modern ideas, but by those of the times and places in which they were used, where many of them would not sound as they do to us. The design was to raise hatred to idolatry, and such a parable was well suited for that purpose.