Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.
Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance. "Remembrance" - i:e., memorials of thy idolatry: the objects which thou holdest in remembrance, They hung up household tutelary gods "behind the doors:" the very place where God had directed them to write His laws - "on the posts and gates" of their houses (Deuteronomy 6:9; Deuteronomy 11:20), in remembrance of Him. A curse, too, was pronounced on putting up an image "in a secret place" (Deuteronomy 27:15).
For thou hast discovered (thyself to another) than me image from an adulteress For thou hast discovered (thyself to another) than me - image from an adulteress.
Thou hast enlarged thy bed - so as to receive the more paramours.
And made thee (a covenant) with them - with idols, in open violation of thy "covenant" with God (Exodus 19:5; Exodus 23:32). Or, 'hast made assignations with them within thyself' (Horsley). But the Vulgate and Chaldaic favour the English version. Karat (H3772) is literally to hew (cf. margin) or cut: hence, from the cutting up of victims in ratifying a covenant, it means to make a covenant; like the Latin phrase, to strike a league [percutere foedus, ferire pactum]: so Genesis 15:10; Genesis 15:17; Jeremiah 34:18. However, the Hebrew, meehem (H1992), means, 'from among' or, 'of them;' not as the English version, 'with them:' therefore translate, 'Thou joinest (some) of them (the idols) to thyself by covenant.' So Gesenius, after Jerome. Otherwise the margin accords with the Hebrew and the sense, 'Thou hast hewed it (thy bed) for thyself larger than theirs' - i:e., thou hast exceeded even the pagan in idolatry, making thy idol altar larger (so the Hebrew min) than theirs.' Compare next clause.
Thy bed ... thou lovedst their bed. The Jews' sin was two-fold: they resorted to places of idolatry ("their bed"), and they received idols into the temple of God, and sacrificed to them on the altar of God ("thy bed").
Where thou sawest it - rather, ever since that thou sawest it (Horsley). The Hebrew ( yad (H3027)) for where means literally a hand, then (Isaiah 56:5, note) room (margin); a place: therefore, translate, 'thou hast provided a place for it' (for "their bed") - namely, by admitting idolatrous altars in thy land. Or 'thou choosest a (convenient) place for thyself' in their bed (Maurer). So the Chaldaic and Syriac.