Commentary Critical and Explanatory
Ezekiel 23:15
Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:
Exceeding in dyed attire - rather, 'in ample dyed turbans' literally, 'redundant with dyed turbans' [ cªruwcheey (H5628) Tªbuwliym (H2871)], The Assyrians delighted in ample, flowing, and richly-coloured tunics, scarfs, girdles, and head-dresses or turbans, varying in ornaments according to the rank.
After the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity - between the Black and Caspian seas (note, Isaiah 23:13). Rawlinson has proved that there was a Babylonian earlier kingdom, on the borders of the Persian Gulf, that preceded the Assyrian empire, and long anterior to the later Babylonian empire, which was further north. This accords with Genesis 10:10, "The beginning of his (Nimrod's) kingdom was Babel." Babylon was Hamitic: Assyria Shemitic, The Babylonian vocabulary is found to be Cushite or Ethiopian in the inscriptions in the opened mounds of Chaldea Proper. So Genesis 10:8 records Ham's son, Cush (Ethiopia), begat Nimrod. The inhabitants of Ur, one of the great cities of the Babylonian empire, were called Chaldi - i:e., moon-worshippers, whence the name Chaldees originated: Hur means the moon-goddess. "Princes" [ shaalishiym (H7991)] - literally, threes: a first-rate military class that fought by threes in the chariots-one guiding the horses, the other two fighting. Or military tribunes: or else, nobles third in rank from the king.
To look to - i:e., princes in appearance.