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Texts -- Ezekiel 23:23-49 (NET)

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23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans , Pekod , Shoa , and Koa , and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men , all of them governors and officials , officers and nobles , all of them riding on horses . 23:24 They will attack you with weapons , chariots , wagons , and with a huge army ; they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields , small shields , and helmets . I will assign them the task of judgment ; they will punish you according to their laws . 23:25 I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in rage . They will cut off your nose and your ears , and your survivors will die by the sword . They will seize your sons and daughters , and your survivors will be consumed by fire . 23:26 They will strip your clothes off you and take away your beautiful jewelry . 23:27 So I will put an end to your obscene conduct and your prostitution which you have practiced in the land of Egypt . You will not seek their help or remember Egypt anymore . 23:28 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says : Look here, I am about to deliver you over to those whom you hate , to those with whom you were disgusted . 23:29 They will treat you with hatred , take away all you have labored for, and leave you naked and bare . Your nakedness will be exposed , just as when you engaged in prostitution and obscene conduct . 23:30 I will do these things to you because you engaged in prostitution with the nations , polluting yourself with their idols . 23:31 You have followed the ways of your sister , so I will place her cup of judgment in your hand . 23:32 “This is what the sovereign Lord says : “You will drink your sister’s deep and wide cup ; you will be scorned and derided , for it holds a great deal . 23:33 You will be overcome by drunkenness and sorrow . The cup of your sister Samaria is a cup of horror and desolation . 23:34 You will drain it dry , gnaw its pieces , and tear out your breasts , for I have spoken , declares the sovereign Lord . 23:35 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says : Because you have forgotten me and completely disregarded me, you must bear now the punishment for your obscene conduct and prostitution .” 23:36 The Lord said to me: “Son of man , are you willing to pronounce judgment on Oholah and Oholibah ? Then declare to them their abominable deeds ! 23:37 For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands . They have committed adultery with their idols , and their sons , whom they bore to me, they have passed through the fire as food to their idols. 23:38 Moreover , they have done this to me: In the very same day they desecrated my sanctuary and profaned my Sabbaths . 23:39 On the same day they slaughtered their sons for their idols , they came to my sanctuary to desecrate it. This is what they have done in the middle of my house . 23:40 “They even sent for men from far away ; when the messenger arrived , those men set out . For them you bathed , painted your eyes , and decorated yourself with jewelry . 23:41 You sat on a magnificent couch , with a table arranged in front of it where you placed my incense and my olive oil . 23:42 The sound of a carefree crowd accompanied her, including all kinds of men ; even Sabeans were brought from the desert . The sisters put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads . 23:43 Then I said about the one worn out by adultery , ‘Now they will commit immoral acts with her .’ 23:44 They had sex with her as one does with a prostitute . In this way they had sex with Oholah and Oholibah , promiscuous women . 23:45 But upright men will punish them appropriately for their adultery and bloodshed , because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands . 23:46 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Bring up an army against them and subject them to terror and plunder . 23:47 That army will pelt them with stones and slash them with their swords ; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses . 23:48 I will put an end to the obscene conduct in the land ; all the women will learn a lesson from this and not engage in obscene conduct . 23:49 They will repay you for your obscene conduct , and you will be punished for idol worship. Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord .”

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • Prostitution

    [nave] PROSTITUTION forbidden, Lev. 19:29; Deut. 23:17; 31:16; Judg. 2:17; 2 Kin. 9:22. Punishment of, Lev. 21:9. Figurative Ezek. 16; 23; Rev. 17:1-6. See: Adultery; Lasciviousness.

  • Ezekiel

    [nave] EZEKIEL, a priest. Time of his prophecy, Ezek. 1:1-3. Persecution of, Ezek. 3:25. Visions of: of God's glory, Ezek. 1; 8; 10; 11:22; of Jews' abominations, Ezek. 8:5, 6; of their punishment, Ezek. 9:10; of the valley of dry...

  • Parables

    [nave] PARABLES Of the trees, Judg. 9:8-15. Of the lamb, 2 Sam. 12:1-6. Of the woman of Tekoa, 2 Sam. 14:5-12. Of the garment torn in pieces, 1 Kin. 11:30-32. Of the prisoner of war, 1 Kin. 20:39-42. Of the thistle and cedar, ...

  • WRATH, (ANGER)

    [isbe] WRATH, (ANGER) - rath, roth, rath ('aph, from 'anaph, "to snort," "to be angry"; orge, thumos, orgizomai): Designates various degrees of feeling, such as sadness (Ps 85:4), a frown or turning away of the face in grief or ang...

  • Jerusalem

    [nave] JERUSALEM Called Jebus, Josh. 18:28; Judg. 19:10; Zion, 1 Kin. 8:1; Zech. 9:13; City of David, 2 Sam. 5:7; Isa. 22:9; Salem, Gen. 14:18; Psa. 76:2; Ariel, Isa. 29:1; City of God, Psa. 46:4; City of the Great King, Psa. 48:2;...

  • Vision

    [nave] VISION, a mode of revelation, Num. 12:6; 1 Sam. 3:1; 2 Chr. 26:5; Psa. 89:19; Prov. 29:18; Jer. 14:14; 23:16; Dan. 1:17; Hos. 12:10; Joel 2:28; Obad. 1; Hab. 2:2; Acts 2:17. Of Abraham, concerning his descendants, Gen. 15:1-...

  • EZEKIEL, 1

    [isbe] EZEKIEL, 1 - e-ze'-ki-el: I. THE PROPHET AND HIS BOOK 1. The Person of Ezekiel Name, Captivity and Trials 2. The Book (1) Its Genuineness (2) Its Structure (3) Relation to Jeremiah (4) Fate of the Book and Its Place in the C...

  • EZEKIEL, 2

    [isbe] EZEKIEL, 2 - II. Significance of Ezekiel in Israel's Religious History. Under the first head we will consider the formal characteristics and significance of the book; and the examination of its contents will form the subject...

  • Idolatry

    [nave] IDOLATRY. Wicked Practices of Human sacrifices, Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5; Deut. 12:31; 18:10; 2 Kin. 3:26, 27; 16:3; 17:17, 18; 21:6; 23:10; 2 Chr. 28:3; 33:6; Psa. 106:37, 38; Isa. 57:5; Jer. 7:31; 19:4-7; 32:35; Ezek. 16:20, 2...

  • Backsliders

    [nave] BACKSLIDERS. Lev. 26:14-42; Deut. 4:9; Deut. 8:11-14; Deut. 28:58, 59, 63 vs. 15-68;; 1 Kin. 9:6-9; Deut. 29:18 vs. 18-28.; Deut. 32:15-30; Josh. 24:27 vs. 20-27.; 2 Chr. 15:2-4; Ezra 8:22; Job 34:26, 27; Psa. 44:20, 21; Ps...

  • Israel

    [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...

  • Sin

    [nave] SIN. Index of Sub-Topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to, Defining, and Illustrating; Confession of; Consequences of, Entailed Upon Children; Conviction of; Forgiveness of; Fruits of; Kn...

  • Cup

    [ebd] a wine-cup (Gen. 40:11, 21), various forms of which are found on Assyrian and Egyptian monuments. All Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold (1 Kings 10: 21). The cups mentioned in the New Testament were made after Roman an...
    [nave] CUP. Gen. 40:11; 2 Sam. 12:3; 1 Kin. 7:26; Matt. 23:25. Made of silver, Gen. 44:2; gold, 1 Chr. 28:17; Jer. 52:19. Used in the institution of the Lord's Supper, Matt. 26:27; Mark 14:23; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 10:21. Of the t...

  • Drunkeess

    [nave] DRUNKEESS See: TemperanceDeut. 21:20, 21; Deut. 29:19-21; 1 Sam. 1:14; Psa. 69:12; Prov. 20:1; Prov. 21:17; Prov. 23:20, 21, 29-35; Prov. 31:4-7; Isa. 5:11, 12, 22; Isa. 19:14; Isa. 24:9, 11; Isa. 28:1, 3, 7, 8; Isa. 56:12; ...

  • Pekod

    [ebd] probably a place in Babylonia (Jer. 50:21; Ezek. 23:23). It is the opinion, however, of some that this word signifies "visitation," "punishment," and allegorically "designates Babylon as the city which was to be destroyed."
    [isbe] PEKOD - pe'-kod (peqodh): A name applied in Jer 50:21 and Ezek 23:23 to the Chaldeans. Various English Versions of the Bible (margins) in the former passage gives the meaning as "visitation."
    [smith] (visitation), an appellative applied to the Chaldeans. (Jeremiah 50:21; Ezekiel 23:23) Authorities are undecided as to the meaning of the term.
    [nave] PEKOD, name for Chaldea, Jer. 50:21; Ezek. 23:23.

  • Aholibah

    [ebd] my tent is in her, the name of an imaginary harlot, applied symbolically to Jerusalem, because she had abandoned the worship of the true God and given herself up to the idolatries of foreign nations. (Ezek. 23:4, 11, 22, 36,...
    [nave] AHOLIBAH, an imaginary character, typical of idolatry, Ezek. 23:4, 5, 36, 44.

  • Adultery

    [ebd] conjugal infidelity. An adulterer was a man who had illicit intercourse with a married or a betrothed woman, and such a woman was an adulteress. Intercourse between a married man and an unmarried woman was fornication. Adult...
    [nave] ADULTERY. Gen. 20:3; 2 Sam. 12:14; Job 24:15-17 v. 18.; Job 31:1, 9-12; Prov. 2:16, 18, 19 v. 17.; Prov. 5:3, 4 vs. 5-22.; Prov. 6:24-29, 32, 33; Prov. 7:5-23; Prov. 9:13-18; Prov. 22:14; Prov. 23:27, 28; Prov. 29:3; Prov. ...

  • Koa

    [ebd] he-camel, occurs only in Ezek. 23:23, some province or place in the Babylonian empire, used in this passage along with Shoa (q.v.).
    [isbe] KOA - ko'-a (qoa`): A people named with Pekod and Shoa as enemies of Jerusalem (Ezek 23:23). Their location was probably Northeast of Babylonia.
    [smith] (he-camel) is a word which occurs only in (Ezekiel 23:23) It may perhaps have been a city or district of Babylonia; or it may be a common noun, signifying "prince" or "nobleman."
    [nave] KOA, a symbolical term in Ezek. 23:23.

  • Shoa

    [ebd] opulent, the mountain district lying to the north-east of Babylonia, anciently the land of the Guti, or Kuti, the modern Kurdistan. The plain lying between these mountains and the Tigris was called su-Edina, i.e., "the borde...
    [isbe] SHOA - sho'-a (shoa`; Soue): A people named in Ezek 23:23 in association with Babylonians, Chaldeans and Assyrians. Schrader identifies with the Sutu of the inscriptions (East of the Tigris).
    [smith] (rich), a proper name which occurs only in (Ezekiel 23:23) in connection with Pekod and Koa. The three apparently designate districts of Assyria with which the southern kingdom of Judah has been intimately connected, and whic...
    [nave] SHOA, an unknown country or city, or a symbolical term, Ezek. 23:23.

  • War

    [nave] WAR Divine approval of, 2 Sam. 22:35. Civil, Judg. 12:1-6; 20; 2 Sam. 2:12-31; 3:1; 20; 1 Kin. 14:30; 16:21; Isa. 19:2; forbidden, 2 Chr. 11:4; averted, Josh. 22:11-34. Enemy harangued by general of opposing side, 2 Kin. 1...
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • 2:18 Adam's creation was not complete because he lacked a "helper"who corresponded to him. This deficiency led God to pronounce Adam's condition "not good."151God not only evaluated Adam's condition, He also rectified it.152"...
  • This commandment deals with adultery only. Whereas murder violates life itself, adultery violates the most important and sacred human relationship, marriage.88God dealt with other forms of sexual sin elsewhere (cf. chs. 22-25...
  • Isaiah identified another mark of Israel, which boasted in its election by God and viewed righteousness in terms of correct worship ritual. This was the widespread departure of the nation from God (apostasy). She had forsaken...
  • This passage probably dates from the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 588-586 B.C. (vv. 2, 4; cf. 2 Kings 25). King Zedekiah sought advice from Jeremiah more than once (cf. 37:3-10, 17-21; 38:14-28). This passage consists of ...
  • 25:15 The Lord instructed Jeremiah to take from His hand, figuratively, a cup of His wrath and to cause all the nations to whom the Lord would send him to drink from it. The cup is a common figure for the wrath of God in Scri...
  • Jeremiah wrote almost as much about Babylon's future as he did about the futures of all the other nations in his other oracles combined. The length of this oracle reflects the great importance of Babylon in his ministry as we...
  • Ezekiel ministered to the Jews in exile. He probably wrote this book for the benefit of the exiles and the other Jewish communities of his day and beyond his day. In some of his visions (e.g. chs. 8 and 11) the Lord carried t...
  • There are two major structural peculiarities that set Ezekiel off as distinctive.First, the book is a collection of prophecies arranged in almost consistent chronological order. No other prophetical book is as consistently ch...
  • Ezekiel began prophesying when he was 30 years old, and he had gone into captivity five years before that. Thus Ezekiel was familiar with Jeremiah's preaching and ministry. Ezekiel shows quite a bit of similarity to Jeremiah ...
  • I. Ezekiel's calling and commission chs. 1-3A. The vision of God's glory ch. 11. The setting of the vision 1:1-32. The vision proper 1:4-28B. The Lord's charge to Ezekiel chs. 2-31. The recipients of Ezekiel's ministry 2:1-52...
  • This pericope contains 10 commands, and it is the center of the chiasm in chapters 1-3."The Lord's charge to Ezekiel emphasized the absolute necessity of hearing, understanding, and assimilating God's message prior to going f...
  • 22:1-2 Another message came from the Lord instructing Ezekiel to remind the residents of the bloody city of Jerusalem about all their abominations (cf. 20:4). A list of specific sins was necessary for him to pronounce judgmen...
  • This chapter is the final climactic one in Ezekiel's collection of messages that condemn Israel's defective leadership (chs. 20-23).Both chapters 16 and 23 describe Israel as a prostitute, but there are significant difference...
  • Four messages announce God's judgment on Jerusalem for her unfaithfulness (vv. 22-27, 28-31, 32-34, 35).23:22-24 Because of her behavior the Lord promised to turn Oholibah's soldier-lovers against her, even the Babylonians, C...
  • This final message brings Oholah and Oholibah back together and passes judgment on all Israel. It is a summary oracle for the section that indicts Israel's leaders (chs. 20-23).23:36-37 The Lord called Ezekiel to pass judgmen...
  • It is appropriate that this section appears at this point in Ezekiel, between the messages announcing judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for sin (chs. 4-24) and the messages announcing future blessings for Israel (chs. 33-48). I...
  • "This last major division of the book focuses on the restoration of Israel's blessing. Israel would be judged for her sin (chaps. 1-24) as would the surrounding nations (chaps. 25-32). But Israel will not remain under judgmen...
  • Since this message is undated, it may have come to Ezekiel about the same time as the previous two in chapter 32, namely, in the last month of 585 B.C. If so, Ezekiel received it about two months after God gave him the six me...
  • This part of Ezekiel's message of warning to the exiles is similar to 3:16-21. Yahweh recommissioned Ezekiel to his prophetic task (cf. chs. 2-3)."Now that Ezekiel's original ministry of judgment was completed, God appointed ...
  • 34:1-2 The Lord gave Ezekiel a message for the shepherds (leaders, rulers, cf. Ps. 23) of Israel. Ancient Near Easterners often referred to kings and leaders as "shepherds"(e.g. 2 Sam. 5:2; Isa. 44:28; Jer. 2:8; 10:21; 23:1-6...
  • The Book of Ezekiel begins with a vision of God's glory (ch. 1), records the departure of God's glory (chs. 8-11), and ends with another vision of God's glory (chs. 40-48). This is the longest vision outside the Book of Revel...
  • The Lord next gave Ezekiel directions for the division of some of the Promised Land in the future. Revelation about apportioning the rest of the land follows later (47:13-48:35). These descriptions do not coincide with any di...
  • Ackroyd, Peter R. Exile and Restoration. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1968.Alexander, Ralph H. Ezekiel. Everyman's Bible Commentary series. Chicago: Moody Press, 1976._____. "Ezekiel."In Isaiah-Ezekiel. Vol. 6 of The Expo...
  • 1:15 This is the first verse of chapter 2 in the Hebrew Bible. Nahum called his audience to give attention. Someone was coming over the mountains with a message of peace. Consequently the people of Judah could celebrate their...
  • This pericope parallels 9:30-37. Both sections deal with true greatness, and both follow predictions of Jesus' passion. This second incident shows the disciples' lack of spiritual perception and their selfishness even more th...
  • 18:1 "These words"evidently refer to all of what Jesus had said in chapters 13-17 all of which He probably spoke in the upper room. The Kidron Valley formed the eastern boundary of Jerusalem. The Kidron was also a wadior dry ...
  • The final three bowl judgments all have political consequences.16:12 The problem that this judgment poses for earth-dwellers is not a result of the judgment itself but its consequences, namely, war. It does not inflict a plag...
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