1 The whoredoms of Aholah and Aholibah. 22 Aholibah is to be plagued by her lovers. 36 The prophet reproves the adulteries of them both, 45 and shows their judgments.+
Eze 23:1 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying:
Eze 23:2 “Son of man, there were two women, The daughters of one mother.
Eze 23:3 They committed harlotry in Egypt, They committed harlotry in their youth; Their breasts were there embraced, Their virgin bosom was there pressed.
Eze 23:4 Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister; They were Mine, And they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
Eze 23:5 “Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine; And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians,
Eze 23:6 Who were clothed in purple, Captains and rulers, All of them desirable young men, Horsemen riding on horses.
Eze 23:7 Thus she committed her harlotry with them, All of them choice men of Assyria; And with all for whom she lusted, With all their idols, she defiled herself.
Eze 23:8 She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt, For in her youth they had lain with her, Pressed her virgin bosom, And poured out their immorality upon her.
Eze 23:9 “Therefore I have delivered her Into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of the Assyrians, For whom she lusted.
Eze 23:10 They uncovered her nakedness, Took away her sons and daughters, And slew her with the sword; She became a byword among women, For they had executed judgment on her.
Eze 23:11 “Now although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister’s harlotry.
Eze 23:12 “She lusted for the neighboring Assyrians, Captains and rulers, Clothed most gorgeously, Horsemen riding on horses, All of them desirable young men.
Eze 23:13 Then I saw that she was defiled; Both took the same way.
Eze 23:14 But she increased her harlotry; She looked at men portrayed on the wall, Images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,
Eze 23:15 Girded with belts around their waists, Flowing turbans on their heads, All of them looking like captains, In the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, The land of their nativity.
Eze 23:16 As soon as her eyes saw them, She lusted for them And sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
Eze 23:17 “Then the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love, And they defiled her with their immorality; So she was defiled by them, and alienated herself from them.
Eze 23:18 She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness. Then I alienated Myself from her, As I had alienated Myself from her sister.
Eze 23:19 “Yet she multiplied her harlotry In calling to remembrance the days of her youth, When she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
Eze 23:20 For she lusted for her paramours, Whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys, And whose issue is like the issue of horses.
Eze 23:21 Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth, When the Egyptians pressed your bosom Because of your youthful breasts.
Eze 23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you, From whom you have alienated yourself, And I will bring them against you from every side:
Eze 23:23 The Babylonians, All the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, All the Assyrians with them, All of them desirable young men, Governors and rulers, Captains and men of renown, All of them riding on horses.
Eze 23:24 And they shall come against you With chariots, wagons, and war-horses, With a horde of people. They shall array against you Buckler, shield, and helmet all around. ‘I will delegate judgment to them, And they shall judge you according to their judgments.
Eze 23:25 I will set My jealousy against you, And they shall deal furiously with you; They shall remove your nose and your ears, And your remnant shall fall by the sword; They shall take your sons and your daughters, And your remnant shall be devoured by fire.
Eze 23:26 They shall also strip you of your clothes And take away your beautiful jewelry.
Eze 23:27 ‘Thus I will make you cease your lewdness and your harlotry Brought from the land of Egypt, So that you will not lift your eyes to them, Nor remember Egypt anymore.’
Eze 23:28 “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hand of those you hate, into the hand of those from whom you alienated yourself.
Eze 23:29 They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry.
Eze 23:30 I will do these things to you because you have gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols.
Eze 23:31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.’
Eze 23:32 “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘You shall drink of your sister’s cup, The deep and wide one; You shall be laughed to scorn And held in derision; It contains much.
Eze 23:33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, The cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria.
Eze 23:34 You shall drink and drain it, You shall break its shards, And tear at your own breasts; For I have spoken,’ Says the Lord GOD.
Eze 23:35 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, Therefore you shall bear the penalty Of your lewdness and your harlotry.’ ”
Eze 23:36 The LORD also said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.
Eze 23:37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them.
Eze 23:38 Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths.
Eze 23:39 For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeed thus they have done in the midst of My house.
Eze 23:40 “Furthermore you sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and there they came. And you washed yourself for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments.
Eze 23:41 You sat on a stately couch, with a table prepared before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil.
Eze 23:42 The sound of a carefree multitude was with her, and Sabeans were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.
Eze 23:43 Then I said concerning her who had grown old in adulteries, ‘Will they commit harlotry with her now, and she with them?’
Eze 23:44 Yet they went in to her, as men go in to a woman who plays the harlot; thus they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women.
Eze 23:45 But righteous men will judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.
Eze 23:46 “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Bring up an assembly against them, give them up to trouble and plunder.
Eze 23:47 The assembly shall stone them with stones and execute them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire.
Eze 23:48 Thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, that all women may be taught not to practice your lewdness.
Eze 23:49 They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall pay for your idolatrous sins. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ”
Eze 23:1 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying:
1. The word of the Lord. Chapter 23 presents an extended allegory whose primary purpose is to set forth the sinfulness of Judah. The allegory is like that of ch. 16, though with some difference. Political alliances with foreign nations are the chief point of illustration here.
Eze 23:2 “Son of man, there were two women, The daughters of one mother.
2. One mother. The two cities, Samaria and Jerusalem, had one common mother, the Hebrew people. They had a common ancestry.
Eze 23:3 They committed harlotry in Egypt, They committed harlotry in their youth; Their breasts were there embraced, Their virgin bosom was there pressed.
3. In their youth. For the purpose of the parable they are represented as having had a separate existence even during the period of the sojourn in Egypt. It was in their “youth” that they had become alienated from God. At this time Israel was still considered unmarried.
Eze 23:4 Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister; They were Mine, And they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah. Jehovah took place when the covenant was made at Sinai (Ex. 19).
4. Aholah. Heb. ’Oholah, meaning “tent.” A slight alteration of the Hebrew gives the meaning “her tent,” which, if correct, would call attention to the fact that Samaria set up her own worship instead of permitting the people to resort to the Temple (1 Kings 12:26–33). If ’Oholah means simply “tent” there may be an allusion to tents of prostitution such as probably adorned high places.
Aholibah. Heb. ’Oholibah, being either an emphatic form of the noun meaning, as does ’Oholah, “tent,” or, with a slight change in the Hebrew, “my tent [is] in her.” The latter meaning would call attention to the fact that the sanctuary of the Lord was in Judah. On the significance of the meaning of “tent” see foregoing comments under “Aholah.”
They were mine. Both professed allegiance to the true God.
Eze 23:5 “Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine; And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians,
5. The Assyrians. On Samaria seeking foreign alliances see Hosea 7:11, 12.
Eze 23:6 Who were clothed in purple, Captains and rulers, All of them desirable young men, Horsemen riding on horses.
6. Horsemen. The Assyrians were famous for their cavalry.
Eze 23:7 Thus she committed her harlotry with them, All of them choice men of Assyria; And with all for whom she lusted, With all their idols, she defiled herself.
Eze 23:8 She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt, For in her youth they had lain with her, Pressed her virgin bosom, And poured out their immorality upon her.
Eze 23:9 “Therefore I have delivered her Into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of the Assyrians, For whom she lusted.
9. Delivered her. See 2 Kings 17:5, 6. The history of Samaria is briefly passed over, because that nation is no longer existent, and is used as a basis of comparison for a more detailed portrayal of Judah’s folly.
Eze 23:10 They uncovered her nakedness, Took away her sons and daughters, And slew her with the sword; She became a byword among women, For they had executed judgment on her.
Eze 23:11 “Now although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister’s harlotry.
11. She was more corrupt. In addition to her alliance with Assyria and Egypt, Judah sought the aid of the Babylonians (v. 16).
Eze 23:12 “She lusted for the neighboring Assyrians, Captains and rulers, Clothed most gorgeously, Horsemen riding on horses, All of them desirable young men.
12. The Assyrians. Examples that may be cited are the overtures of Ahaz to Tiglath-pileser for his assistance against the Syrians and Israelites (2 Kings 16:7–9), and Hezekiah’s attempt to buy off Sennacherib while at the same time trusting in Egypt (2 Kings 18:14, 21).
Eze 23:13 Then I saw that she was defiled; Both took the same way.
13. Both one way. Both sisters followed the same course.
Eze 23:14 But she increased her harlotry; She looked at men portrayed on the wall, Images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,
14. Men pourtrayed upon the wall. Such portraitures in beautiful colors were characteristic of the Assyrians, and the Babylonians also decorated walls with figures in color.
Eze 23:15 Girded with belts around their waists, Flowing turbans on their heads, All of them looking like captains, In the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, The land of their nativity.
Eze 23:16 As soon as her eyes saw them, She lusted for them And sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
16. Sent messengers. Perhaps Manasseh, while a captive in Babylon (2 Chron. 33:11), had seen in that city a possible rival to Assyria. The embassy of Merodach-baladan to Hezekiah (Isa. 39) suggests that Babylon was looking to Judah for support against Assyria (see on 2 Kings 20:12). The precise occasion when Judah sent the messengers here referred to is not known.
Eze 23:17 “Then the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love, And they defiled her with their immorality; So she was defiled by them, and alienated herself from them.
17. Her mind was alienated. Judah became satiated with her Babylonian alliance and sought the aid of Egypt. Verses 17–19 describe this vacillating policy (see 2 Kings 24; 25).
Eze 23:18 She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness. Then I alienated Myself from her, As I had alienated Myself from her sister.
18. My mind was alienated. The Lord became weary of Judah and turned from her with revulsion.
20. Paramours. Heb. pilagshim, the word commonly used of concubines (Gen. 22:24; 2 Sam. 3:7). Here it refers to the Egyptian princes whose favor Judah sought.
Asses. These animals are here introduced to show the intensity of lust (see Jer. 2:24; 5:8; Hosea 8:9).
Eze 23:21 Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth, When the Egyptians pressed your bosom Because of your youthful breasts.
Eze 23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you, From whom you have alienated yourself, And I will bring them against you from every side:
Eze 23:23 The Babylonians, All the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, All the Assyrians with them, All of them desirable young men, Governors and rulers, Captains and men of renown, All of them riding on horses.
23. Pekod. The name of an Aramaean tribe living east of the Tigris near the mouth of the river (see Jer. 50:21).
Shoa, and Koa. Believed to be the Sutû and Qutû, tribes living east of the Tigris.
Eze 23:24 And they shall come against you With chariots, wagons, and war-horses, With a horde of people. They shall array against you Buckler, shield, and helmet all around. ‘I will delegate judgment to them, And they shall judge you according to their judgments.
24. Chariots. Heb. hoṣen, the meaning of which is unknown. The LXX reads“from the north,” which makes good sense.
Wheels. Compare ch. 26:10.
Eze 23:25 I will set My jealousy against you, And they shall deal furiously with you; They shall remove your nose and your ears, And your remnant shall fall by the sword; They shall take your sons and your daughters, And your remnant shall be devoured by fire.
25. Take away thy nose. Mutilation of prisoners was practiced by both the Assyrians and the Babylonians. According to Diodorus Siculus (i. 78), the Egyptians punished an adulterous woman by cutting off her nose.
Eze 23:26 They shall also strip you of your clothes And take away your beautiful jewelry.
Eze 23:27 ‘Thus I will make you cease your lewdness and your harlotry Brought from the land of Egypt, So that you will not lift your eyes to them, Nor remember Egypt anymore.’
Eze 23:28 “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hand of those you hate, into the hand of those from whom you alienated yourself.
28. Whom thou hatest. See v. 17. Verses 28–31 describe the punishment of Jerusalem under the figure of the punishment of a harlot.
Eze 23:29 They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry.
Eze 23:30 I will do these things to you because you have gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols.
Eze 23:31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.’
Eze 23:32 “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘You shall drink of your sister’s cup, The deep and wide one; You shall be laughed to scorn And held in derision; It contains much.
32. Thou shalt drink. That is, of the cup of wrath (see Isa. 51:17; Jer. 25:15).
Eze 23:33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, The cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria.
Eze 23:34 You shall drink and drain it, You shall break its shards, And tear at your own breasts; For I have spoken,’ Says the Lord GOD.
34. Break the sherds. A forceful figure expressing graphically the desperation to which the Jews would be reduced in their day of suffering.
Eze 23:35 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, Therefore you shall bear the penalty Of your lewdness and your harlotry.’ ”
Eze 23:36 The LORD also said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.
36. Wilt thou judge? Compare chs. 20:4; 22:2. A new section begins here. The prophet summarizes the sins of Aholah and Aholibah, but from a different viewpoint from that in vs. 1–22. He names three conspicuous elements: (1) Molech worship (v. 37), (2) profanation of the Temple (v. 38), and (3) Sabbathbreaking (v. 38).
Eze 23:37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them.
Eze 23:38 Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths.
Eze 23:39 For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeed thus they have done in the midst of My house.
39. The same day. So audacious were the Jews in their idolatry that on the day on which they had burned their children to Molech in the Valley of Hinnom, they hypocritically presented themselves as worshipers in the Temple of Jehovah (see Jer. 7:9, 10).
Eze 23:40 “Furthermore you sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and there they came. And you washed yourself for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments.
40. Sent for men. The tense of the Hebrew verb suggests that the action was habitual. They used to send, again and again.
Paintedst thy eyes. The ancients used powdered antimony, black in color, to produce a margin around the eyes so as to make the white of the eyes look more beautiful and seducing (see on 2 Kings 9:30).
Eze 23:41 You sat on a stately couch, with a table prepared before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil.
41. A stately bed. Rather, “a stately couch,” here used for reclining at a feast (see on S. of Sol. 3:7; Mark 2:15).
Eze 23:42 The sound of a carefree multitude was with her, and Sabeans were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.
Eze 23:42 The sound of a carefree multitude was with her, and Sabeans were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.
42. Sabeans. Heb. sawba’im, the meaning of which is uncertain. A slight change yields the reading “drunkards.” The prophet seems to be emphasizing the progressive degradation of the harlot city. The LXX omits this word. Men of the common sort, drunkards from the wilderness, are admitted to her embraces.
Eze 23:43 Then I said concerning her who had grown old in adulteries, ‘Will they commit harlotry with her now, and she with them?’
43. Will they now commit? The Hebrew of this verse is obscure and thus untranslatable. The LXX renders the verse, “Therefore I said, Do they not commit adultery with these? and has she gone awhoring [after] the manner of a harlot?”
Eze 23:44 Yet they went in to her, as men go in to a woman who plays the harlot; thus they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women.
Eze 23:45 But righteous men will judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.
45. Righteous men. The Babylonians may possibly be thus designated by way of contrast, and thus as a stinging rebuke to the unrighteous sisters. On the other hand the expression may be general, signifying men to whom righteous judgment has been committed.
Eze 23:46 “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Bring up an assembly against them, give them up to trouble and plunder.
Eze 23:47 The assembly shall stone them with stones and execute them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire.
47. Yet they went in to her, as men go in to a woman who plays the harlot; thus they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women.
Eze 23:48 Thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, that all women may be taught not to practice your lewdness.
48. All women. That is, all nations, to whom Israel would serve as a warning and deterring example.
Eze 23:49 They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall pay for your idolatrous sins. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ”
A history of the apostacy of God’s people from him, and the aggravation thereof. MHBC 826.1
In this parable, Samaria and Israel bear the name Aholah, “her own tabernacle;” because the places of worship those kingdoms had, were of their own devising. Jerusalem and Judah bear the name of Aholibah, “my tabernacle is in her,” because their temple was the place which God himself had chosen, to put his name there. The language and figures are according to those times. Will not such humbling representations of nature keep open perpetual repentance and sorrow in the soul, hiding pride from our eyes, and taking us from self-righteousness? Will it not also prompt the soul to look to God continually for grace, that by his Holy Spirit we may mortify the deeds of the body, and live in holy conversation and godliness?
This long chapter (as before Ezekiel 16:1-16:62, 20:1-20:44) is a history of the apostasies of God’s people from him and the aggravations of those apostasies under the similitude of corporal whoredom and adultery. Here the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the ten tribes and the two, with their capital cities, Samaria and Jerusalem, are considered distinctly. Here is, I. The apostasy of Israel and Samaria from God (Ezekiel 23:1-23:8) and their ruin for it, Ezekiel 23:9, 23:10. II. The apostasy of Judah and Jerusalem from God (Ezekiel 23:11-23:21) and sentence passed upon them, that they shall in like manner be destroyed for it, Ezekiel 23:22-23:35. III. The joint wickedness of them both together (Ezekiel 23:36-23:44) and the joint ruin of them both, Ezekiel 23:45-23:49. And all that is written for warning against the sins of idolatry, and confidence in an arm of flesh, and sinful leagues and confederacies with wicked people (which are the sins here meant by committing whoredom), is that others may hear and fear, and not sin after the similitude of the transgressions of Israel and Judah.