Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 36:17

"Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity." — Ezekiel 36:17 (ASV)

They defiled it.— In Ezekiel 36:17-20 the sin of Israel in the past is set forth as the reason for their present condition. “The land” is always regarded in Scripture as particularly consecrated to God, and defiled by the sin of the people. (Numbers 35:34.) The comparison is with a woman who has been set apart for uncleanness (Leviticus 15:19), who until her purification was not allowed to come into the sanctuary.