Thomas Aquinas

Here he calls them back by the example of the ten tribes; and concerning this he does three things. First, he sets forth the example with respect to the fault of idolatry: "she went away by herself" — following her own impulses, not my precepts; and of disobedience: "and I said." 4 Kings 17: "they made for themselves statues and groves on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and they burned incense there upon altars after the manner of the nations." And as to the punishment, which became known to them: "and the treacherous sister saw" — because they arose from the same fathers. "I would have given her a bill": it preserves the likeness of the harlot, in whom foulness is found. But on the contrary, Isaiah 50: "what is this bill of divorce?" And it must be said that God does not send anyone away, so far as it pertains to himself; but man, sinning, sends him away: hence in the same place: "you were sold for your iniquities, and for your crimes I sent away your mother." Second, he sets forth the contempt: "and her treacherous sister Judah did not fear." "With the stone" — that is, with the stone idol. 4 Kings 17: "but neither did Judah himself keep the commandments of the Lord his God; but he erred, and walked in the errors of Israel which he had wrought." Third, he aggravates the guilt: "and the Lord said to me: she has justified" — comparatively, because the ten tribes had not seen the punishment of the others, nor were they corrected. Ezekiel 16: "you have justified your sisters in all your abominations which you have wrought."