TRV
Translation
King James Version
Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
KJV (with Strong's)
Thou shalt be filled H4390 with drunkenness H7943 and sorrow H3015, with the cup H3563 of astonishment H8047 and desolation H8077, with the cup H3563 of thy sister H269 Samaria H8111.
Complete Jewish Bible
filling you with drunkenness and sorrow, a cup of horror and devastation the cup of your sister Shomron.
Berean Standard Bible
You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, with a cup of devastation and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria.
American Standard Version
Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
World English Bible Messianic
You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Thou shalt be filled with drunkennes and sorow, euen with the cup of destruction, and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
Young's Literal Translation
With drunkenness and sorrow thou art filled, A cup of astonishment and desolation, The cup of thy sister Samaria.
Study This Verse
Commentary on Ezekiel 23 verses 22–49
22 ¶ Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;
23 The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.
24 And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.
25 And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
26 They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
27 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.
28 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated:
29 And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
30 I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.
31 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.
32 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.
33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
34 Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
35 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
36 ¶ The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;
37 That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.
38 Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
39 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 mine house.
40 And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,
41 And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.
42 And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.
43 Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?
44 Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.
45 And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
46 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
47 And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
48 Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.
49 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 GOD.
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points
Jerusalem stands indicted by the name of Aholibah, for that she, as a false traitor to her sovereign Lord the God of heaven, not having his fear before her eyes, but moved by the instigation of the devil, had revolted from her allegiance to him, had compassed and imagined to shake off his government, had kept up a correspondence had joined in confederacy with his enemies, and the pretenders to a deity, in contempt of his crown and dignity. To this indictment she has pleaded, Not guilty: I am not polluted; I have not gone after Baalim. But it is found against her by the notorious evidence of the fact, and she stands convicted of it, nor has any thing material to offer why judgment should not be given and execution awarded according to law. In these verses, therefore, we have the sentence.
I. Her old confederates must be her executioners; and those whom she had courted to be her leaders in sin are now to be employed as instruments of her punishment (Eze 23:22): "I will raise up thy lovers against thee, the Chaldeans, whom formerly thou didst so much admire and covet an acquaintance with, but from whom thy mind is since alienated and with whom thou hast perfidiously broken covenant." They are called thy lovers (Eze 23:22) and yet (Eze 23:28) those whom thou hatest. Note, It is common for sinful love soon to turn into hatred; as Amnon's to Tamar. Those of headstrong and unreasonable passions are often very hot against those persons and things that a little before they were as hot for. Fools run into extremes; nay, and wise men may see cause to change their sentiments. And therefore, as we should rejoice and weep as if we rejoiced not and wept not, so we should love and hate as if we loved not and hated not. Ita ama tanquam osurus - Love as one who may have cause to feel aversion.
II. The execution to be done upon her is very terrible.
1.Her enemies shall come against her on every side (Eze 23:22), those of the several nations that constituted the Chaldean army (Eze 23:23), all of them great lords and renowned, whose pomp, and grandeur, and splendid appearance made them look the more amiable when they came as friends to protect and patronise Jerusalem, but the more formidable when they came to chastise its treachery and aimed at no less than its ruin. (1.) They shall come with a great deal of military force (Eze 23:24), with chariots and wagons furnished with all necessary provisions for a camp, with arms and ammunition, bag and baggage, with a vast army, and well armed. (2.) They shall have justice on their side: "I will set judgment before them" (they shall have right with them as well as might; for the king of Babylon had just cause to make war upon the king of Judah, because he had broken his league with him), "and therefore they shall judge thee, not only according to God's judgments, as the instruments of his justice, to punish thee for the indignities done to him, but according to their judgments, according to the law of nations, to punish thee for thy perfidious dealings with them." (3.) They shall prosecute the war with a great deal of fury and resentment. It being a war of revenge, they shall deal with thee hatefully, Eze 23:29. This will make the execution the more severe that their swords will be dipped in poison. Thou hatest them, and they shall deal hatefully with thee; those that hate will be hated and will be hatefully dealt with. (4.) God himself will lead them on, and his anger shall be mingled with theirs (Eze 23:25): I will set my jealousy against thee; that shall kindle this fire, and then they shall deal furiously with thee. If men deal ever so hatefully, ever so furiously, with us, yet, if we have God on our side, we need not fear them; they can do us no real hurt. But if men deal furiously with us, and God set his jealousy against us too, what will become of us?
2.The particulars of the sentence here passed upon this notorious adulteress are, (1.) That all she has shall be seized on. The clothes and the fair jewels, with which she had endeavoured to recommend herself to her lovers, these she shall be stripped of, Eze 23:26. All those things that were the ornaments of their state shall be taken away: "They shall take away all thy labour, all that thou hast gotten by thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare," Eze 23:29. Both city and country shall be impoverished and all the wealth of both swept away. (2.) That her children shall go into captivity. "They shall take thy sons and thy daughters, and make slaves of them (Eze 23:25); for they are children of whoredoms, unworthy the dignities and privileges of Israelites," Hos 2:4. (3.) That she shall be stigmatized and deformed: "They shall take away thy nose and thy ears, shall mark thee for a harlot, and render thee for ever odious," Eze 23:25. This intimates the many cruelties of the Chaldean soldiers towards the Jews that fell into their hands, whom, it is probable, they used barbarously. Some will have this to be understood figuratively; and by the nose they think is meant the kingly dignity, and by the ears that of the priesthood. (4.) That she shall be exposed to shame: Thy lewdness and thy whoredoms shall be discovered (Eze 23:29), as, when a malefactor is punished, all his crimes are ripped up, and repeated to his disgrace; what was secret then comes to light, and what was done long since is then called to mind. (5.) That she shall be quite cut off and ruined: "The remnant of thy people that have escaped the famine and pestilence shall fall by the sword; and the residue of thy houses that have not been battered down about thy ears shall be devoured by the fire," Eze 23:25. And this shall be the end of Jerusalem.
III. Because she has trod in the steps of Samaria's sins, she must expect no other than Samaria's fate. It is common, in giving judgment, to have an eye to precedents; so has God in passing this sentence on Jerusalem (Eze 23:31, etc.): "Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister, notwithstanding the warning thou hast had given thee, by the fatal consequences of her wickedness; and therefore I will give her cup, her portion of miseries, into thy hand, the cup of the Lord's fury, which will be to thee a cup of trembling." Now, 1. This cup is said to be deep and large, and to contain much (Eze 23:32), abundance of God's wrath and abundance of miseries, the fruits of that wrath. It is such a cup as that which we read of, Jer 25:15, Jer 25:16. The cup of divine vengeance holds a great deal, and so those will find into whose hand it shall be put. 2. They shall be made to drink the very dregs of this cup, as the wicked are said to do (Psa 75:8): "Thou shalt drink it and suck it out, not because it is pleasant, but because it is forced upon thee (Eze 23:34); thou shalt break the shreds thereof, and pluck off thy own breasts, for indignation at the extreme bitterness of this cup, being full of the fury of the Lord (Isa 51:20), as men in great anguish tear their hair, and throw every thing from them. Finding there is no remedy, but it must be drank (for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God), thou shalt have no manner of patience in the drinking of it." 3. They shall be intoxicated by it, made sick, and be at their wits' end, as men in drink are, staggering, and stumbling, and ready to fall (Eze 23:33): Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. Note, Drunkenness has sorrow attending it, to such a degree that the utmost confusion and astonishment are here represented by it. Who would think that that which is such a force upon nature, such a scandal to it, which deprives men of their reason, disorders them to the last degree, and is therefore expressive of the greatest misery, should yet be with many a beloved sin, that they should damn their own souls to distemper their own bodies? Who has woe and sorrow like them? Pro 23:29. 4. Being so intoxicated, they shall become, as drunkards deserve to be, a laughing-stock to all about them (Eze 23:32): Thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision, as acting ridiculously in every thing thou goest about. When God is about to ruin a people he makes their judges fools and pours contempt on their princes, Job 12:17, Job 12:21.
IV. In all this God will be justified, and by all this they will be reformed; and so the issue even of this will be God's glory and their good. 1. They have been bad, very bad, and that justifies God in all that is brought upon them (Eze 23:30): I will do these things unto thee because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and (Eze 23:35) because thou hast forgotten me and cast me behind thy back. Note, Forgetfulness of God, and a contempt of him, of his eye upon us and authority over us, are at the bottom of all our treacherous adulterous departures from him. Therefore men wander after idols, because they forget God, and their obligations to him; nor could they look with so much desire and delight upon the baits of sin if they did not first cast God behind their back, as not worthy to be regarded. And those who put such an affront upon God, how can they think but that it should turn upon themselves at last? Therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms; that is, thou shalt suffer the punishment of them, and thou alone must bear the blame. Men need no more to sink them than the weight of their own sins; and those who will not part with their lewdness and their whoredoms must bear them. 2. They shall be better, much better, and this fire, though consuming to many, shall be refining to a remnant (Eze 23:27): Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee. The judgments which were brought upon them by their sins parted between them and their sins, and taught them at length to say, What have we to do any more with idols? Observe, (1.) How inveterate the disease was: Thy whoredoms were brought from the land of Egypt. Their disposition to idolatry was early and innate, their practice of it was ancient, and had gained a sort of prescription by long usage. (2.) How complete the cure was notwithstanding: "Though it has taken root, yet it shall be made to cease, so that thou shalt not so much as lift up thy eyes to the idols again, nor remember Egypt with pleasure any more." They shall avoid the occasions of this sin, for they shall not so much as look upon an idol, lest their hearts should unawares walk after their eyes. And they shall abandon all inclinations to it: "They shall not remember Egypt; they shall not retain any of that affection for idols which they had from the very infancy of their nation." They got it, through the corruption of nature, in their bondage in Egypt, and lost it, through the grace of God, in their captivity in Babylon, which this was the blessed fruit of, even the taking away of sin, of that sin; so that whereas, before the captivity, no nation (all things considered) was more impetuously bent upon idols and idolatry than they were, after that captivity no nation was more vehemently set against idols and idolatry than they were, insomuch that at this day the image-worship which is practised in the church of Rome confirms the Jews as much as any thing in their prejudices against the Christian religion.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 22–49. Public domain.
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JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Ezekiel
(Verse 35, 36, and following) And I will bring you into a desert of peoples, and there I will judge you face to face. Just as I contended with your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, says the Lord. And I will subject you to my scepter, and I will bring you into the bonds of the covenant, and I will choose from among you the transgressors and the wicked: from their place of residence I will bring them out, and they will not enter the land of Israel, and you will know that I am the Lord. Thus says the Lord: I will do for you who are in Babylon, and now serve idols, what I did for your ancestors in Egypt. I will lead you into the desert of the peoples, and there I will judge you face to face, just as I contended with them in judgment when they came out of Egypt. And after I have judged you, I will subject you to my scepter and rule, and I will make a covenant with you and bring you into your land with the bonds of love, so that bound by my love, you will never be able to depart from me. But I will choose from among you the transgressors and the wicked, who persist in the hardness of their hearts in evil deeds, not for possession, but for rejection. And I will indeed bring them out of the land of their dwelling, so that when they are brought out, they will not enter the land of Israel; but they will perish in various regions. And by the distinction between good and evil, you shall know that I am the Lord, who judges all things. The rest of the discourse hastens, and we briefly go through each point, in order to provide only the meaning to the readers.
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Ezekiel
(Ver. 23, 24 onwards) Again, I raised my hand against them in the wilderness, to scatter them among the nations and disperse them in the lands, because they had not performed my judgments, and had rejected my commandments, and had violated my Sabbaths, and their eyes had been after the idols (or thoughts) of their fathers. Therefore, I also gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments in which they would not live, and I defiled them in their offerings (or transgressions), as they offered (or led astray) everything that opens the womb because of their sins (for which the Septuagint translated, to destroy them and what they had overlooked): and they will know that I am the Lord. Where in the Old Testament, against their children, who fell in the wilderness, the Lord lifted up His hand to scatter them among the nations, Scripture does not say; but it is to be believed that this was done in accordance with what is reported here. Or he signifies by this, that after they entered the promised land, they were given over at various times, for many sins, to different nations and kings, and at that time the commandments of the Lord, which were good according to their nature, and the judgments by which believers could live, were made not good for them, since they were in no way able to keep the precepts of the law in captivity, and to do what the divine word commanded. He did not say, 'I gave them evil commandments,' but, 'not good commandments.' For it does not immediately follow that what is not good is evil, as the Apostle teaches, it is good for a man not to touch a woman; but because of incontinence, let each possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor (I Cor. VII). And if he does not do this, it is neither good nor evil. Therefore, God gave them, dispersed among the nations, not good commandments, that is, he allowed them to follow their own thoughts and desires, to do what is not appropriate. And he defiled them in his gifts: just as a Priest separates lepers from the people, and shows that they are defiled; while they offer to idols what they should offer to God. And they pass everything that opens the womb through the fire of Baal, that is, the firstborn; so that after they have deserted God and been handed over to the worship of idols, then they may understand that He is the Lord whom they have provoked to anger by their own fault. Symmachus interpreted this passage more explicitly, treating the future as past. Therefore, I will also give them bad precepts and judgments for which they will not live, and I will defile them because of their gifts, as they consecrate and offer everything that opens the womb, so that I may destroy them, and they will know that I am the Lord. And the meaning is this: because I have seen the sons of the fathers equaling the wickedness of their ancestors and doing the same things for which they offended God, I wanted to divide them into nations and disperse them throughout the whole world, and give them bad precepts and judgments in which they would not live, so that I may defile them with their gifts, for they consecrated everything that opens the womb to idols, and I may destroy them forever, and they will know that I am the Lord. Through which he showed that he had not given them good commandments who dwelt in the wilderness, but to those whom he wanted to scatter among the nations, and to make foreigners in the whole world, he gave them a desire for things that he did not give: so that there they would do good commandments of God, not good because of their own fault, while they exhibited to idols what God had commanded to be exhibited. This can also be said, that before the offense, they received only the Ten Commandments; but after idolatry and blasphemy, they received multiple ceremonies of the law, so that they would offer victims to God rather than to demons, and by comparison with sacrilege, what was not good in itself became lighter, and by no means evil, because it was offered to God, and yet not good, because they offended the author of good.
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Ezekiel
(Verse 27, 29 onwards) Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and tell them: Thus says the Lord God: Moreover, your fathers have blasphemed against me and have treated me with contempt, even as they spurned me. And I brought them into the land that I had lifted my hand to give them ((Vulgate adds: that land)): they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and there they offered their sacrifices and presented there the irritation of their offerings, and they placed there the fragrance of their sweetness, and they poured out their ((Vulgate is silent on this)) libations there. And I said to them, 'What is the high place to which you are going?' And its name was called the High Place until this day. Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: As for your fathers, they have provoked Me to anger by their iniquities, by the fact that they have fallen away from Me. So I brought them into the land that I had lifted My hand in an oath to give them.' They saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and there they offered their sacrifices. They also presented there the provocation of their gifts, and they set there their pleasing aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings. And I said to them: What is abbana, because you enter there? And they called its name abbana until this day. I wanted, he said, to scatter them in the wilderness, and to give them not good precepts, so that they would sacrifice to idols what they should have offered to me, and consecrate all their first-fruits to them by fire, so that I might kill them and destroy them. But when he says, I wanted, he shows that he did not do what he wanted. And that which follows: 'And they shall know that I am the Lord,' is not found in the Septuagint. For it did not seem fitting to them to know after their destruction that he himself is the Lord. But you, son of man, speak again to them, that is, to the elders of the house of Israel, who have come to inquire of you: Your fathers, from whom you have descended, have also blasphemed against me and held me in contempt; after I brought them into the land which I had given them to possess, they turned against me to provoke me. For when they saw every high hill and leafy tree, they would sacrifice on the mountains and in the groves and thickets, and offer victims to the idols, and pour out libations. And when I saw this, I said to them: What is this, Bama? for it is called high: or why do you enter into such a place which you have chosen for yourselves in all the hills, so that even today these places are called Bamoth, and the ancient error retains its original name? Regarding Bama, which we translate as excelsum, there is an error in the Septuagint edition, where it is written as ἀββανὰ, which does not resonate in the Hebrew language. Bama can mean 'in which' if the two syllables are divided into two words, but in the present context, that sense does not fit. However, wherever it is written in the Books of Kings and Chronicles: 'The people still sacrificed and offered incense on the high places,' Bama in the singular and Bamoth in the plural mean 'high places.'
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Ezekiel
(Verse 28 and following) For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom your soul is sated. And they will deal with you in hatred, and they will take away all your labors, and they will leave you naked and full of shame, and the shame of your fornications will be revealed. Your wickedness and your fornications have done this to you, because you have prostituted yourself to the nations, among whom you have defiled yourself with their idols. You have walked in the way of your sister, and I will give her cup into your hand. Thus says the Lord God: You shall drink the deep and wide cup of your sister. You shall be a laughingstock and a mockery, a very large mock. You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of mourning and sadness, the cup of your sister Samaria. And you will drink it and gulp it down to the dregs, and you will devour its fragments, and you will tear your breasts (or as the Septuagint translated: I will take away her feasts and new moons); for I have spoken, says the Lord God (Vulgate adds God). Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself also bear your wickedness and your adulteries. It is profitable for Jerusalem to have enmity against the Assyrians and the Chaldeans, and to not remember Egypt; but rather, to be delivered into their hands for punishment, those who hated her: to whom it is not given before, unless their souls are satisfied with them, so that after repenting of their old sins, then they may be cleansed with punishments, and may destroy all the works which she acquired by her harlotry: and may see her nakedness and shame; and may know that the Lord did not do all these things for her, but rather her adulteries, by which she committed adultery among the nations whom she enumerated above, so that she would worship their idols. In the streets, she says, you have walked with your sister Samaria: therefore you must drink the cup of her sins, which you have followed. However, there are many examples of the cup, which is often received for punishments and torments, among which is this: The cup in the hand of the Lord is full of mixed wine, and He poured from this into that: but its dregs were not emptied, all the sinners of the earth will drink from it (Psalm 75:8, 9). And in Isaiah it is called the cup of ruin and the goblet of fury (Isaiah 51:17). And God spoke to Jeremiah, saying: Take the cup of wine from my hand, and you shall drink to all the nations, to whom I will send you. And they shall drink, and vomit, and become mad (Jerem. XXV, 15). Just as certain purgatives are given, so that the harmful humor that is in the body may be expelled: so the Lord also gives the most bitter cup of torments, so that he may take away from sinners whatever is of gall and bitterness, and restore them to their former health. And the cup itself will be deep and wide. Deep, in the magnitude of punishment; wide, in the length of captivity. But when, he says, you have become drunk and been seized by pain, and you drink the cup even to the dregs, and you have drunk so much that you devour even the fragments of the cup itself: then you will be disgusted by your former fornication, and you will tear the breasts that were broken in Egypt, and those that were subdued and bruised by your lovers: whether I take away all your feasts and new moons, so that instead of celebration and joy, you will have eternal lamentation and sorrow. Since you have done these things, and have forgotten about me, and have cast me behind your body, or backwards, because of the sins of the body, or behind the genitals, which indicate the filthiness of shame: Therefore, you are the gate of your own wickedness and impiety, namely the punishments that you have deserved because of your impiety and wickedness. This can be understood significantly in regard to Jerusalem, which drinks the cup of her sister Samaria to the last drop, and has drunk the dregs of her torments to the very bottom.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Ezekiel 23:33 delivers a stark prophetic judgment against Jerusalem, personified as Oholibah, condemning her profound spiritual apostasy and idolatrous alliances. Through the vivid metaphor of a "cup," the verse declares that Jerusalem will be utterly overwhelmed by divine wrath, experiencing a profound state of disorientation, inconsolable grief, and utter ruin. This devastating fate is explicitly linked to and mirrors the desolation that had already befallen her sister, Samaria (Oholah), due to similar covenant unfaithfulness and persistent rebellion against God.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: Chapter 23 of Ezekiel presents an extended and graphic allegory of two sisters, Oholah (representing Samaria, the Northern Kingdom of Israel) and Oholibah (representing Jerusalem, the Southern Kingdom of Judah), to illustrate their spiritual harlotry against Yahweh. This chapter builds upon earlier condemnations of idolatry and covenant breaking found throughout Ezekiel's prophecies. The preceding verses detail Oholibah's escalating depravity, as she not only imitated but surpassed Oholah's sins, pursuing even more egregious idolatrous practices and illicit political alliances. Verse 33 marks a climactic pronouncement of the inevitable and severe judgment awaiting Jerusalem, directly following the detailed enumeration of her spiritual infidelity and political entanglements with foreign powers. It serves as the direct consequence of the actions described in Ezekiel 23:1-32, sealing the fate of the unfaithful city.
Historical & Cultural Context: The historical backdrop for Ezekiel's prophecy is the turbulent period leading up to and during the Babylonian exile (6th century BC). The Northern Kingdom (Samaria) had already fallen to the Assyrians in 722 BC, a devastating consequence of their idolatry and reliance on foreign alliances. Judah, despite witnessing this catastrophic event, continued to pursue similar paths, making treaties with powerful nations like Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon, and adopting their pagan gods and religious practices. This was viewed by God as profound spiritual adultery, a direct violation of their covenant with Yahweh. The "cup" metaphor, as used in this verse, was a common ancient Near Eastern motif for destiny or a portion, often associated with divine judgment or a bitter measure of suffering, a concept also prevalent in various ancient texts and within the Old Testament. The explicit reference to "Samaria" would have served as a potent and terrifying reminder to Judah of their sister's downfall and the impending doom that awaited them if they did not repent.
Key Themes: Ezekiel 23:33 powerfully contributes to several overarching themes present in the book of Ezekiel and throughout prophetic literature. Foremost is the theme of Divine Judgment for Apostasy, emphasizing God's unwavering justice against spiritual unfaithfulness and idolatry. Judah's persistent rebellion, even after witnessing Samaria's tragic fate, sealed their doom, highlighting the severe Consequences of Sin—that covenant breaking and spiritual harlotry inevitably lead to profound suffering and desolation. Furthermore, the verse underscores the Impartiality of God's Justice; both Israel and Judah, despite their unique covenant relationships with God, faced similar judgments for similar sins, demonstrating that God does not show favoritism in matters of righteousness and sin. The pervasive "Cup" Metaphor effectively conveys the idea of a predetermined portion of suffering or wrath that must be consumed, a concept echoed in Psalm 75:8 and Isaiah 51:17.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Ezekiel 23:33 is rich in Metaphor, most notably the "cup" as a powerful symbol of divine wrath and predetermined destiny. This imagery vividly conveys the idea of a bitter portion of suffering that must be consumed, making the abstract concept of judgment tangible and inescapable. The "drunkenness" is also a potent Metaphor for spiritual stupor and disorientation caused by sin, leading to an inability to perceive or resist God's judgment. Furthermore, the entire chapter employs Personification, with Samaria (Oholah) and Jerusalem (Oholibah) depicted as two sisters engaging in spiritual harlotry. This anthropomorphic representation makes the abstract concept of national apostasy relatable and morally reprehensible. The repetition of "with the cup" also creates Anaphora, emphasizing the inescapable nature of the judgment and linking the various aspects of suffering to this singular, bitter portion. The explicit comparison of Jerusalem's fate to Samaria's also highlights a strong Parallelism, underscoring God's consistent and impartial justice.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Ezekiel 23:33 profoundly illustrates God's unwavering holiness and justice in the face of persistent covenant unfaithfulness. It underscores that God's patience has limits, and His judgment is a necessary consequence of unrepentant sin, even for His chosen people. The "cup of wrath" imagery is a recurring theological motif throughout Scripture, signifying the full measure of divine retribution against sin. This verse emphasizes that spiritual idolatry and reliance on worldly alliances, rather than exclusive devotion to God, inevitably lead to devastating consequences. It also highlights the principle of corporate responsibility and the impartiality of God's judgment, as Jerusalem faces the same fate as Samaria, demonstrating that no privilege exempts one from the consequences of rebellion.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
While Ezekiel 23:33 is a specific historical judgment against ancient Judah, its underlying principles resonate powerfully for believers today. It serves as a sobering warning against spiritual complacency and the insidious nature of idolatry, reminding us that anything that displaces God from the center of our devotion—whether it be worldly ambitions, material possessions, or even human relationships—can become a form of spiritual "harlotry." The verse challenges us to examine our allegiances and ensure our trust is placed solely in God, not in fleeting human systems or false securities. It also calls us to learn from the past, both biblical and contemporary, recognizing that God's principles of justice and consequence remain constant. Ultimately, this passage, though grim, implicitly points to the profound mercy available through repentance, urging us to turn back to God before the full measure of judgment is poured out.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What is the significance of the "cup" metaphor in biblical prophecy?
Answer: The "cup" metaphor, as seen in Ezekiel 23:33, is a powerful and recurring image in the Bible, particularly in prophetic literature. It primarily symbolizes a predetermined portion or destiny, often representing divine wrath, judgment, or suffering that an individual or nation must "drink" or experience. For instance, Isaiah 51:17 speaks of Jerusalem drinking the "cup of staggering," and Jeremiah 25:15 refers to the "cup of the wine of wrath" that nations must drink. In the New Testament, Jesus Himself refers to a "cup" of suffering He must drink in Matthew 26:39, signifying His acceptance of the Father's will and the full weight of atonement. Thus, the cup represents the inescapable measure of God's righteous dealings with humanity, whether in judgment or in the fulfillment of His redemptive plan.
Who are Oholah and Oholibah, and why are they important to understanding this verse?
Answer: Oholah and Oholibah are symbolic names used in Ezekiel chapter 23 to personify the two kingdoms of Israel. Oholah represents Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, while Oholibah represents Jerusalem, the capital of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The names themselves carry meaning: "Oholah" means "her tent," and "Oholibah" means "my tent is in her," referring to God's dwelling place (the Temple) being in Jerusalem. They are portrayed as sisters who engaged in spiritual "harlotry" by abandoning their covenant with Yahweh and pursuing idolatrous practices and political alliances with foreign nations. Oholah had already been judged and destroyed by Assyria. Ezekiel 23:33 is a direct pronouncement that Oholibah (Jerusalem), despite witnessing Oholah's fate, would suffer an even greater, yet similar, judgment. Their importance lies in illustrating God's impartial justice and the severe consequences of covenant unfaithfulness for both parts of His chosen people.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
While Ezekiel 23:33 vividly portrays the devastating consequences of sin and the righteous wrath of God against unfaithfulness, its ultimate fulfillment and resolution are found in Jesus Christ. The "cup of astonishment and desolation" that Judah was forced to drink foreshadows the far greater "cup" that Christ willingly drank on behalf of humanity. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." This was not a cup of mere physical suffering, but the full, bitter draught of God's holy wrath against all human sin, a wrath that justly fell upon Jerusalem and Samaria. By drinking this cup to its dregs on the cross, Jesus absorbed the desolation, sorrow, and judgment that was due to us, becoming the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Through His atoning sacrifice, those who believe in Him are spared from drinking the cup of God's judgment, instead receiving the cup of salvation and blessing, thereby fulfilling the promise of a new covenant where sins are remembered no more, and reconciliation with God is made possible.