Ezekiel 16:27Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Yet when the people turned away from God, it is declared, "Your new months, and sabbaths, and great days, I will not suffer: fasting, and idleness, and your feasts, my soul hateth" (Isaiah 1:14). This is similarly noted concerning the people (Deut. 7). When the one who was formerly recognized as God's people strayed, God told Moses, "Thy people are lawless, they which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt" (Ex. 32:7). The action referred to as the Lord's outstretched hand is also depicted as lifting up or visiting. When the Lord refrains from disciplining the sinner, He withdraws His hand. Yet, upon sinning and becoming ill due to the divine law, a visitation occurs, as the psalmist expresses, "If his sons forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments, I will visit their iniquity with the rod" (Psalm 88:31-33). Furthermore, it is stated by the prophet, "If any man sins against Me, if he sins against My law, I will stretch out My hand against him, and will wipe out the statement of bread" (Ezekiel 14:13), and so forth. This raises the question of the distinction between stretching out the hand and sending it forth. The devil tells the Lord, "Send forth Thy hand, and touch all that he hath: but if not in Thy face shall he bless" (Job 2:5). It appears that the hand is sent to test those it approaches, while it is extended to discipline those deserving correction. The concepts of the hand’s extension and sending forth are expressed similarly, as Isaiah passionately proclaims, "I have stretched forth my hand all the day long unto them that disbelieve" (Isaiah 65:2). It is also said of the righteous man that he raises his hands, as the Scriptures declare, "I lift up my hand, the evening sacrifice" (Psalm 140:2). Following the Jewish people's rejection of God's laws, one might wonder how they can continue to observe the law. After the temple's destruction, they are unable to make sacrifices, nor can they lawfully execute stoning for adultery or other offenses, nor can they release the land in the year of jubilee, among other practices. However, it is given to the souls of those in Palestine who oppose Him, as they have been betrayed to foreigners, referred to in the LXX without distinction as such, which can be understood as the cities or communities of Palestine. Similarly, our Jerusalem—if we disregard all divine ordinances and the Lord’s hand is turned against us—will be delivered to the daughters of the foreigners rather than to the sons. We are not first subjected to the most severe punishments but to lesser ones, corresponding to the severity of our sins so that, through minor penalties, we may be spared from greater tribulations. "Philistine," or Palestinians, also implies those who fall from grace or are broken. This signifies that we shall be handed over to opposing powers, who have drunk from the cup of Babylon, fallen, and whose actions are wicked. Thus, the punishment and shame of unfortunate Jerusalem will be such that even the opposing powers will be embarrassed by our grave transgressions. Instead of the term “criminal,” as understood by us through Symmachus, Theodotion rendered the Hebrew word zemma. Following the Jewish priesthood's rejection, the responsibility for adhering to the law also transitioned to us alongside the priesthood, as the Scripture states, "Set, O Lord, a lawgiver over them" (Psalm 9:21). In another place, it is said, "Make me lawgiver, O Lord, in Thy way" (Psalm 26:11).