Ezekiel 16:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

I will cleanse you from your impurities; with my holy sprinklings, I have purified you from the defilement of Egypt.

And you have become Mine. I administered cleansing through water, removing your blood, and I anointed you with oil. I extended My protective wings to cover your disgrace, swore an oath, and established a covenant with you. Thus, you who were once an outsider, marked by impurity, have now become Mine. This took place when I confirmed our covenant through an oath. In the manner of the prophets, you have been united with Me in a marital bond, and I have purified you with the waters of salvific baptism. For it is written that unless one is reborn of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5). Additionally, we read that He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11).

He detailed His blessings meticulously, stating first that He purified you with the water of instruction and established rites of cleansing and sprinkling for you. Next, He poured out oil upon you, and following this, He outlined the unique traits of the priesthood, as the priests were consecrated with sacred oil and adorned in linen and scarlet. He also alluded to the material and spiritual abundance that the people possessed, a reflection of God’s providence towards them. And I will place upon you the trihapton, which is the arrangement of hair that wives wear on their heads. Thus, through this symbolic representation, God conveyed the magnificence He aspired to impart to them, suggesting, as I believe, the tabernacle woven from hair (Ex. 26: 7), where the sin offerings and fulfilment sacrifices were presented (Ex. 29: 34), and where divine revelations occurred from the altar of purification, when God conversed with the bishop.