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Ezekiel 23

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The Allegory of Aholah and Aholibah 1–4

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The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying,
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Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: ​
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and they played the harlot in Egypt; they played the harlot in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity. ​
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And the names of them were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bare sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah. ​

Aholah (Samaria) and Her Adultery with Assyria 5–10

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And Oholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors, ​
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who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. ​
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And she bestowed her whoredoms upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whomsoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.
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Neither hath she left her whoredoms since the days of Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity; and they poured out their whoredom upon her.
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Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
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These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they slew with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments upon her. ​

Aholibah (Jerusalem) Follows Her Sister’s Sin 11–21

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And her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her whoredoms which were more than the whoredoms of her sister. ​
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She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. ​
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And I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way.
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And she increased her whoredoms; for she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, ​
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girded with girdles upon their loins, with flowing turbans upon their heads, all of them princes to look upon, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their nativity.
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And as soon as she saw them she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
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And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them. ​
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So she uncovered her whoredoms, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister.
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Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, remembering the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. ​
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And she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. ​
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Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in the handling of thy bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of thy youth.

The Judgment of Aholibah by Her Lovers 22–35

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Therefore, O Oholibah, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy soul is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side: ​
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the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding upon horses. ​
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And they shall come against thee with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against thee with buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will commit the judgment unto them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.
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And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal with thee in fury; they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. ​
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They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
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Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt; so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more. ​
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For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy soul is alienated;
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and they shall deal with thee in hatred, and shall take away all thy labor, and shall leave thee naked and bare; and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be uncovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
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These things shall be done unto thee, for that thou hast played the harlot after the nations, and because thou art polluted with their idols.
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Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thy hand. ​
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Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup, which is deep and large; thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.
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Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
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Thou shalt even drink it and drain it out, and thou shalt gnaw the sherds thereof, and shalt tear thy breasts; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​
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Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

Summary of Charges and Final Sentence 36–49

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Jehovah said moreover unto me: Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare unto them their abominations. ​
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For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass through the fire unto them to be devoured. ​
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Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. ​
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For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of my house.
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And furthermore ye have sent for men that come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent, and, lo, they came; for whom thou didst wash thyself, paint thine eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments,
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and sit upon a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon thou didst set mine incense and mine oil. ​
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And the voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets upon the hands of them twain, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.
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Then said I of her that was old in adulteries, Now will they play the harlot with her, and she with them.
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And they went in unto her, as they go in unto a harlot: so went they in unto Oholah and unto Oholibah, the lewd women.
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And righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands. ​
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For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed to and fro and robbed.
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And the company shall stone them with stones, and despatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
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Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness. ​
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And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols; and ye shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 23

Verse 2

two women, the daughters of one mother — The two sisters are Samaria and Jerusalem (v.4), the two kingdoms of one people before the division. Jeremiah names the same pair: 'backsliding Israel' and 'her treacherous sister Judah' (Jer 3:7–8). Ezekiel calls Samaria Jerusalem's 'elder sister' in 16:46.

Verse 3

they committed whoredoms in Egypt — The nation's unfaithfulness is dated from Egypt, as in 20:8, 'neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt'. 'Whoredom' (zanah) is Scripture's figure for idolatry, the people being the LORD's bride, whose early devotion Jeremiah recalls as 'the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals' (Jer 2:2).

Verse 4

Aholah… Aholibah — The names are built on ohel, a tent: Aholah is 'her tent', and Aholibah 'my tent is in her'. The first suggests the sanctuary Samaria made for herself, and the second the dwelling the LORD kept in Jerusalem: 'In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion' (Ps 76:2). Both were his: 'thou becamest mine' (16:8).

Verse 5

Aholah played the harlot when she was mine — The 'lovers' are the Assyrians, whom Samaria courted for support: Menahem gave Pul 'a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him' (2 Kgs 15:19), and Hoshea 'became his servant, and gave him presents' (2 Kgs 17:3). Hosea records the same, 'then went Ephraim to the Assyrian' (Hos 5:13).

Verse 6

clothed with blue — Tekeleth, blue, is dyed cloth of rank, listed among Tyre's merchandise as 'blue clothes' (27:24). The Assyrian officers are described by their dress, rank and horses: 'captains and rulers', 'horsemen riding upon horses'. The same description is used of the Babylonians in v.23.

Verse 10

she became famous among women — 'Famous' is literally 'a name' (shem), a notoriety that lasts. The lovers become the instrument of judgment: 'I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted' (v.9). The fall is recorded in 2 Kgs 17:6, 'the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria'.

Verse 11

more corrupt in her inordinate love than she — Jerusalem saw Samaria's end and followed her. Jeremiah says the same: 'her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also' (Jer 3:8). Ezekiel 16:51 puts the comparison in words, 'Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they'.

Verse 12

the Assyrians her neighbours — Judah too turned to Assyria. Ahaz sent to Tiglathpileser, 'I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me' (2 Kgs 16:7), and then copied an altar he saw at Damascus (2 Kgs 16:10–12). The Assyrian officers are again described by their rank, dress and horses, as in v.6.

Verse 14

men pourtrayed upon the wall — The attraction begins with a picture: 'the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion' (shashar, red pigment, as in Jer 22:14, 'painted with vermilion'). What she saw led to what she did, for in v.16 she 'sent messengers unto them into Chaldea'.

Verse 17

the Babylonians came to her — The alliance with Babylon, once made, did not hold: 'her mind was alienated from them' (yaqa', to be torn loose). Zedekiah, who had sworn to Babylon (17:13), 'rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt' (17:15). Jerusalem turned from one partner to another.

Verse 19

calling to remembrance the days of her youth — Having left Babylon, she turns back to Egypt, her first partner (v.3). The law had closed that road to Israel's kings: 'Ye shall henceforth return no more that way' (Deut 17:16), and Isaiah's warning is, 'Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help' (Isa 31:1).

Verse 20

whose flesh is as the flesh of asses — Pilegesh, usually 'concubine', is rendered 'paramours'. The comparison with asses and horses describes the Egyptians as men of animal appetite, as 16:26 does in calling them 'the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh'. The language shows how degrading the alliance with Egypt was.

Verse 22

I will raise up thy lovers against thee — The partners she courted become her enemies, 'from whom thy mind is alienated' (v.17), and come 'on every side', the language of a siege. Habakkuk records the same raising up: 'I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation' (Hab 1:6), and Jeremiah calls Nebuchadrezzar 'my servant' (Jer 25:9).

Verse 23

Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa — Pekod is named again in Jer 50:21, 'the inhabitants of Pekod', and Shoa and Koa are named nowhere else in Scripture. They stand with the Babylonians, Chaldeans and Assyrians as peoples in one army. Of Judah's last days it is written, 'the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians' and others (2 Kgs 24:2).

Verse 25

I will set my jealousy against thee — Qin'ah is the jealousy of a husband, and the LORD 'whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God' (Ex 34:14). The lovers deal with her 'furiously', and the verse closes with the siege's marks, sword for the remnant and fire for the rest. Babylon 'burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house' (2 Kgs 25:9).

Verse 27

thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt — 'Cease' (shabat) is the verb of 16:41, 'I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot'. The judgment ends the pull toward Egypt: she shall not 'remember Egypt any more'. Zechariah has a matching promise, 'I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered' (Zech 13:2).

Verse 31

her cup into thine hand — Jerusalem gets the cup Samaria drank, as the LORD said, 'I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria' (2 Kgs 21:13). The cup is the LORD's: 'in the hand of the LORD there is a cup' (Ps 75:8), and Jeremiah is told, 'Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand' (Jer 25:15).

Verse 34

break the sherds thereof — 'Suck it out' (mats) is to drain to the last drop, like the 'dregs' of Ps 75:8 and Isa 51:17, 'thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out'. The sherds are the broken pieces of the cup, and the 'breasts' plucked off are those named in vv.3 and 21 as the places of the sin. The verse ends with the LORD's seal, 'for I have spoken it'.

Verse 36

wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? — The question is that of 20:4 and 22:2, put now to both sisters together, with the instruction to 'declare unto them their abominations'. The figure gives way to plain charges in the verses that follow: adultery, blood, idols, the sanctuary and the sabbaths.

Verse 37

to pass for them through the fire, to devour them — The children are the LORD's own, 'their sons, whom they bare unto me', as in v.4. Jeremiah names the rite, 'to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech' (Jer 32:35). 'Adultery' (na'aph) is the married woman's offence, and it is joined here to 'blood is in their hands'.

Verse 38

defiled my sanctuary in the same day — The next verse says how: 'when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it' (v.39). Manasseh had 'built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name' (2 Kgs 21:4). The sabbaths are named as in 20:24.

Verse 41

mine incense and mine oil — The banquet is laid with the LORD's own gifts: 'thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them' (16:18), and 'My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey' (16:19). Isaiah has the same table, 'ye are they that forsake the LORD… that prepare a table for that troop' (Isa 65:11).

Verse 45

the righteous men, they shall judge them — The law set the penalty, 'the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death' (Lev 20:10). The 'righteous men' judge by that standard, as v.24 says of the invaders, 'I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments'. The grounds are the two crimes of v.37: adultery and blood.

Verse 48

that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness — The judgment is also an example to others, as 5:15 says of Jerusalem, 'a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations'. Peter uses the same function for Sodom, 'making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly' (2 Pet 2:6).

Verse 49

ye shall bear the sins of your idols — 'Recompense' is the verb nathan, to give, as in 7:4, 'I will recompense thy ways upon thee'. The people receive the sins of their idols back, and the chapter ends with the recognition formula, 'ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD', the purpose stated throughout the book.