Ezekiel 23

Berean Standard Bible (BSB) · English

1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother, 3 and they played in Egypt, prostituting themselves from their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin bosoms caressed. 4 The older was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah. They became Mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their identities, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. 5 Oholah prostituted herself while she was still Mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—warriors 6 clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all desirable young men, horsemen mounted on steeds. 7 She offered sexual favors to all the elite of Assyria. She defiled herself with all the idols of those for whom she lusted. 8 She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their lust upon her. 9 Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, the Assyrians for whom she lusted. 10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and put her to the sword. Thus she became a byword among women, and they executed judgment against her. 11 Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister. 12 She too lusted after the Assyrians—governors and commanders, warriors dressed in splendor, horsemen riding on steeds, all desirable young men. 13 And I saw that she too had defiled herself; both of them had taken the same path. 14 But Oholibah carried her prostitution even further. She saw the men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans, engraved in vermilion, 15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like officers of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. 16 At the sight of them, she lusted for them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. But after she had been defiled by them, she turned away in disgust. 18 When Oholibah openly prostituted herself and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister. 19 Yet she multiplied her promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth, when she had prostituted herself in the land of Egypt 20 and lusted after their lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions. 21 So you revisited the indecency of your youth, when the Egyptians caressed your bosom and pressed your young breasts. 22 Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will incite your lovers against you, those from whom you turned away in disgust. And I will bring them against you from every side— 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them—all desirable young men, governors and commanders, officers and men of renown, mounted on horses. 24 They will come against you with a host of peoples, with weapons, chariots, and wagons. They will array themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet. I will delegate judgment to them, and they will punish you according to their own standards. 25 And I will set My jealous rage against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your remnant will be consumed by fire. 26 They will strip off your clothes and take your fine jewelry. 27 So I will put an end to your indecency and prostitution, which began in the land of Egypt, and you will not lift your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’ 28 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hands of those you hate, from whom you turned away in disgust. 29 They will treat you with hatred, take all for which you have worked, and leave you naked and bare, so that the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your indecency and promiscuity 30 have brought these things upon you, because you have prostituted yourself with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31 Because you have followed the path of your sister, I will put her cup into your hand.’ 32 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, a cup deep and wide. It will bring scorn and derision, for it holds so much. 33 You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, with a cup of devastation and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria. 34 You will drink it and drain it; you will dash it to pieces, and tear your breasts. For I have spoken,’ declares the Lord GOD. 35 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and have cast Me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and prostitution.’” 36 Then the LORD said to me: “Son of man, will you pass judgment against Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. 37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, in the fire as food for their idols. 38 They have also done this to Me: On that very same day, they defiled My sanctuary and profaned My Sabbaths. 39 On the very day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it. Yes, they did this inside My house. 40 Furthermore, you sisters sent messengers for men who came from afar; and behold, when they arrived, you bathed for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry. 41 You sat on a couch of luxury with a table spread before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil, 42 accompanied by the sound of a carefree crowd. Drunkards were brought in from the desert along with men from the rabble, who put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns on your head. 43 Then I said of her who had grown old in adulteries: ‘Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is!’ 44 And they slept with her as with a prostitute; they slept with Oholah and Oholibah, those lewd women. 45 But righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of those who commit adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses with blood on their hands. 46 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Bring a mob against them and consign them to terror and plunder. 47 The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses. 48 So I will put an end to indecency in the land, and all the women will be admonished not to imitate your behavior. 49 They will repay you for your indecency, and you will bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’”

Commentary — not Bible text

Ezekiel 23:1

Introduction

The idolatries of Samaria and Jerusalem are represented in this chapter by the bad practices of two common harlots, for which God denounces severe judgments against them, vv. 1-49. See the sixteenth chapter, where the same metaphor is enlarged upon as here, it being the prophets view to exude the utmost detestation of the crime against which he inveighs.

Ezekiel 23:2-4

Verse 2

Son of man, there were two women - All the Hebrews were derived from one source, Abraham and Sarah; and, till the schism under Rehoboam, formed but one people: but as these ten tribes and a half separated from Judah and Benjamin, they became two distinct people under different kings; called the kingdom of Judah, and the kingdom of Israel. They are called here, because of their consanguinity, two sisters. The elder, Samaria, (for there was the seat of government for the kingdom of Israel), was called אהלה aholah, "a tent." The younger, Judah, was called אהליבה aholibah, "my tent is in her," because the temple of God was in Jerusalem, the seat of the government of the kingdom of Judah.

Ezekiel 23:5

Verse 5

And Aholah played the harlot - Without entering into detail here, or following the figures, they both became idolatrous, and received the impure rites of the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans, of which connection the prophet speaks here as he did in chap. 16, which see.

In this chapter there are many of what we would call indelicate expressions, because a parallel is run between idolatry and prostitution, and the circumstances of the latter illustrate the peculiarities of the former. In such cases, perhaps, the matter alone was given to the prophet, and he was left to use his own language, and amplify as he saw good. Ezekiel was among the Jews what Juvenal was among the Romans, - a rough reprover of the most abominable vices. They both spoke of things as they found them; stripped vice naked, and scourged it publicly. The original is still more rough than the translation; and surely there is no need of a comment to explain imagery that is but too generally understood. I have said enough on Ezekiel 16, and to that I must refer the reader. It is true that there are a few things here in the shade that might be illustrated by anatomy; and it would not be difficult to do it: but they are not necessary to salvation, and I shall not take off the covering. They were sufficiently understood by those for whose use they were originally designed.

Ezekiel 23:6-13

Verse 6

Clothed with blue - The purple dye was highly valued among the ancients, and at first was only used by kings, at last it was used among the military, particularly by officers of high rank in the country.

Ezekiel 23:14-19

Verse 14

Men pourtrayed upon the wall - See on Eze 8:10 (note).

Ezekiel 23:20-22

Verse 20

She doted upon their paramours - פלגשיהם pillagsheyhem, their harlots or concubines. Anciently harlot meant in our language either the male or female prostitute.

Whose flesh is as the flesh of asses - See on Eze 16:25 (note).

Ezekiel 23:23-24

Verse 23

Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa - פקוד ושוע וקוע. These names have been thought to designate certain people bordering on the Chaldeans; but no geographer has ever been able to find them out.

In our old translations these names were considered appellatives - rulers, mighty men, and tyrants. Others, following the literal import of the words, have translated, visiting, shouting and retreating. Others have applied them to the habits of the Chaldean soldiers. Pekod signifying the muster or review of armies; Shoa, the magnificence of their uniform and arms; and Koa, the marks or embroidery of the clothes of the captains and generals. Grotius thought that they might be names of contiguous nations: Pekod, the Bactrians; Shoa, a people of Armenia; and Boa, the Medes. I have nothing to add that would satisfy myself, or be edifying to my readers.

Ezekiel 23:25

Verse 25

Shall take away thy nose - A punishment frequent among the Persians and Chaldeans, as ancient authors tell. Adulteries were punished in this way; and to this Martial refers: -

Quis tibi persuasit nares abscindere moecho? "Who has counselled thee to cut off the adulterer's nose?"

Women were thus treated in Egypt. See Calmet.

Ezekiel 23:26-31

Verse 26

They shall also strip thee - See on Eze 16:39 (note).

Ezekiel 23:32-33

Verse 32

Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup - Thou shalt be ruined and desolated as Samaria was.

Ezekiel 23:34-37

Verse 34

Thou shalt - pluck off thine own breasts - Thou shalt tear them; a frequent action in extreme sorrow and desolation. Weeping, tearing the bosom, and beating the breasts.

Tunc vero rupique sinus, et pectora planxi.

Ovid's Ep. 5.

Ezekiel 23:38-39

Verse 38

They have defiled my sanctuary - By placing idols there.

Ezekiel 23:40

Verse 40

Thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments - This is exactly the way in which a loose female in Bengal adorns herself to receive guests. She first bathes, then rubs black paint around her eyes, and then covers her body with ornaments. - Ward's Customs.

Ezekiel 23:41

Verse 41

And satest upon a stately bed - Hast raised a stately altar to thy idols; probably alluding to that which Ahaz ordered to be made, after the similitude of that which he saw at Damascus. The bed here is in allusion to the sofas on which the ancients were accustomed to recline at their meals; or to the couches on which they place Asiatic brides, with incense pots and sweetmeats on a table before them.

Ezekiel 23:42-44

Verse 42

And a voice of a multitude - This seems to be an account of an idolatrous festival, where a riotous multitude was assembled, and fellows of the baser sort, with bracelets on their arms and chapters on their heads, performed the religious rites.

Ezekiel 23:45-46

Verse 45

And the righteous men - אנשים צדיקים anashim tsaddikim. The Chaldeans, thus called because they are appointed by God to execute judgment on these criminals.

Ezekiel 23:47

Verse 47

Shall stone them with stones - As they did adulteresses under the law. See Lev 20:10; Deu 22:22, compared with Joh 8:3.

Ezekiel 23:48

Verse 48

Thus will I cause lewdness to cease - Idolatry; and from that time to the present day the Jews never relapsed into idolatry.

Ezekiel 23:49

Verse 49

Ye shall bear the sins of your idols - The punishment due to your adultery; your apostasy from God, and setting up idolatry in the land.

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