Ezekiel 16:9 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Then, Heb. And: this continueth the allegory, and declareth what more was done to prepare this virgin for advancement by this marriage covenant. Washed I thee: it was a very ancient custom among those Eastern people, as appears Ruth 3:3 Es 2 12, to purify virgins who were to be espoused ere long; and it is likely the prophet alludes to that, Exodus 19:10. I throughly washed away: the same thing, by a very usual figure, repeated to confirm and illustrate what is spoken; the word in Hebrew notes an abundant washing, a rinsing of what was washed to make it cleaner; it includes a bathing, as Leviticus 15:10. Thy blood; thy original and birth pollution, which rendered thee displeasing to the eye, and unfit for the familiar and loving entertainment of a husband. I anointed thee; not to royal sovereign dignity, this is expressed by another word in the Hebrew; but anointed as they that were to be married, as Ruth 3:3 Esther 2:12; or as those who were to come into the presence of great and noble personages, as Daniel 10:3; or as such who would look with cheerfuller countenances, and change their sad and mournful deportment, as 2 Samuel 12:20: it is not improbable it may allude to the bounty of God toward the Jews in a land flowing with oil. Spiritually these refer to our cleansing by the blood of Christ, and by his sanctifying Spirit.