And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.
Ver. 15. And I will smite the winter house with the summer house] Heb. upon the summer house, I will lay them both on one heap; they shall one dash against the other. To have change of houses or of rooms in one house fit for the several seasons is not unlawful, so we set them not up by wrong dealing, nor set our hearts upon them (Haec sunt quae nos invitos faciunt mori); for so we are apt to do (as Charles V, emperor, told the Duke of Venice, who had showed him his stately palace), and this brings a curse.
And the houses of ivory] i.e. decked and enamelled, checkered and entrailed with ivory (eboratus), as some sense it. Ahab had made him an ivory house, Heb. a house of tooth, i.e. of elephant's tooth: so did other kings (likely) after him. The Porphyrogeniti in Constantinople were born in a room made of porphyry, a precious stone, &c. All must down together.