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Ezekiel23

Ezekiel 23 presents an allegory of two sisters, Aholah (Samaria) and Aholibah (Jerusalem), who represent the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. Both nations engaged in spiritual harlotry by forming alliances with and adopting the idolatry of foreign powers, beginning in Egypt. Aholah was punished by her Assyrian lovers, yet Aholibah surpassed her sister in corruption by doting on Assyrians and then Babylonians. Consequently, the Lord declares that Aholibah will suffer an even more severe judgment at the hands of her former lovers, mirroring and exceeding Aholah's destruction, as a consequence of her profound apostasy and idolatry.

The Allegory of Aholah and Aholibah

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the LORD’s word came again to 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 prostitute in Egypt; they played the prostitute in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity. ​
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Their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah. ​

Aholah (Samaria) and Her Adultery with Assyria

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Oholah played the prostitute 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 on horses. ​
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She bestowed her prostitution on them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.
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Neither has she left her prostitution since leaving Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity; and they poured out their prostitution on her.
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Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, on whom she doted.
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These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they killed with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments on her. ​

Aholibah (Jerusalem) Follows Her Sister’s Sin

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Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her prostitution which were more than the prostitution of her sister. ​
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She doted on the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. ​
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I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way.
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She increased her prostitution; for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Kasdim portrayed with vermilion, ​
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dressed with girdles on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them princes to look on, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Kasdim, the land of their birth.
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As soon as she saw them she doted on them, and sent messengers to them into Kasdimah.
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The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them. ​
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So she uncovered her prostitution, 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 prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had played the prostitute in the land of Egypt. ​
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She doted on their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. ​
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Thus you called to memory the lewdness of your youth, in the handling of your bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of your youth.

The Judgment of Aholibah by Her Lovers

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Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side: ​
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the Babylonians and all the Kasdim, Pekod, Shoa, 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 on horses. ​
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They shall come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet all around; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.
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I will set my jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in fury; they shall take away your nose and your ears; and your residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take your sons and your daughters; and your residue shall be devoured by the fire. ​
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They shall also strip you of your clothes, and take away your beautiful jewels.
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Thus will I make your lewdness to cease from you, and your prostitution from the land of Egypt; so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more. ​
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For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your soul is alienated;
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and they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take away all your labor, and shall leave you naked and bare; and the nakedness of your prostitution shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution.
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These things shall be done to you, because you have played the prostitute after the nations, and because you are polluted with their idols.
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You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore will I give her cup into your hand. ​
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Thus says the Lord GOD: You will drink of your sister’s cup, which is deep and large; you will be ridiculed and held in derision; it contains much.
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You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria.
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You shall even drink it and drain it out, and you shall gnaw the broken pieces of it, and shall tear your breasts; for I have spoken it, says the Lord GOD. ​
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Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back, therefore you also bear your lewdness and your prostitution.

Summary of Charges and Final Sentence

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The LORD said moreover to me: Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare to 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 bore to me, to pass through the fire to them to be devoured. ​
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Moreover this they have done to 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 behold, thus have they done in the midst of my house.
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Furthermore you have sent for men who come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and behold, they came; for whom you did wash yourself, paint your eyes, and decorate yourself with ornaments,
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and sit on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you set my incense and my oil. ​
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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 on their hands, and beautiful crowns on their heads.
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Then I said of her who was old in adulteries, Now they will play the prostitute with her, and she with them.
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They went in to her, as they go in to a prostitute: so went they in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women.
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Righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands. ​
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For thus says the Lord GOD: I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth and robbed.
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The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall kill 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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They shall recompense your lewdness on you, and you shall bear the sins of your idols; and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD. ​

Study Notes for Ezekiel 23

Verse 2

The 'two women' represent the two kingdoms of Israel (Samaria) and Judah (Jerusalem), emphasizing their common ancestry and shared history of covenant infidelity.

Verse 3

“Whoredoms in Egypt” refers to the spiritual and political compromises made by the Israelites during their formative period before the Exodus, particularly their reliance on Egyptian gods and alliances.

Verse 4

Aholah means 'Her Tent' (referring to Samaria's self-established, illicit places of worship); Aholibah means 'My Tent is in Her' (referring to Jerusalem, where God’s Temple was, indicating a greater level of hypocrisy).

Verse 5

Aholah’s 'whoredom' is the political and religious alliance the Northern Kingdom of Israel made with Assyria, adopting their gods and relying on their military might instead of trusting Yahweh.

Verse 6

The lavish description of the Assyrian soldiers highlights the irresistible attraction and perceived superiority of foreign military and culture that drew Samaria away from God.

Verse 10

This verse recounts the historical destruction of Samaria by the Assyrians in 722 BC, demonstrating that the very 'lovers' she sought became the instrument of her divine judgment.

Verse 11

Despite witnessing the horrific destruction of Samaria, Jerusalem failed to heed the warning, showing that her spiritual rebellion was even more intentional and deep-seated.

Verse 12

Jerusalem initially sought the same alliances with Assyria that proved fatal to Samaria, illustrating a failure of both spiritual and political wisdom.

Verse 14

Jerusalem’s whoredom escalated as she became enamored with the Chaldeans (Babylonians), seeking new political alliances and adopting their idolatrous practices.

Verse 17

After the alliance with Babylon proved difficult or disappointing, Jerusalem’s 'mind was alienated,' leading her to seek new, even more desperate, political maneuvers (likely turning back to Egypt).

Verse 19

The reference back to Egypt shows that Jerusalem, having exhausted Assyria and Babylon, returned to her earliest pattern of spiritual and political reliance on the Egyptian superpower.

Verse 20

This extremely graphic and crude language is designed to shock, emphasizing the utterly repulsive and shameful nature of Jerusalem's spiritual lust and alliances with foreign nations.

Verse 22

God promises to use the very nations Jerusalem sought to manipulate—the Babylonians—as the executioners of His judgment, a classic prophetic irony.

Verse 23

Pekod, Shoa, and Koa were specific tribes or regions incorporated into the vast Neo-Babylonian military coalition that would conquer Judah.

Verse 25

The mutilation (taking nose and ears) was a common punishment for adulterers or rebels in the ancient Near East, symbolizing total public disgrace and stripping away all honor.

Verse 27

The goal of the severe judgment is redemptive: to completely cure Judah of her long-standing sin pattern of relying on Egypt and foreign powers, forcing her to rely only on God.

Verse 31

The 'cup' is a powerful biblical metaphor for the wrath of God (cf. Isa. 51:17; Jer. 25:15). Jerusalem must drink the full measure of judgment that Samaria already experienced.

Verse 34

The imagery of breaking the sherds and plucking off the breasts emphasizes the extremity of the anguish, shame, and irreversible ruin that accompanies the divine punishment.

Verse 36

Ezekiel is commanded to act as a prosecutor, laying out the specific charges against both kingdoms, demonstrating that the judgment is based on legal, covenantal grounds.

Verse 37

The charges combine political adultery ('whoredom'), moral atrocity ('blood is in their hands'), and religious syncretism (sacrificing children to pagan gods like Molech).

Verse 38

They not only committed idolatry outside the camp, but they compounded their sin by defiling the sacred spaces (sanctuary) and times (Sabbaths) dedicated exclusively to Yahweh.

Verse 41

The use of 'mine incense and mine oil' means they took materials consecrated for Temple use and employed them in pagan political and cultic rituals, profoundly profaning the covenant.

Verse 45

The 'righteous men' are the invading armies (Babylonians), who, though pagan, are acting as God's instruments to execute the righteous judgment dictated by the covenant law against adultery and bloodshed.

Verse 48

The ultimate purpose of this severe, public punishment is didactic: to warn all nations and future generations about the consequences of spiritual and moral infidelity to God.

Verse 49

The conclusion reiterates the principle of divine justice: the consequences of their idolatry and lewdness will fall directly upon them, affirming God's sovereignty and holiness.

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