Ezekiel 23:2-16

23:2 “Son of man, there were two women who were daughters of the same mother. 23:3 They engaged in prostitution in Egypt; in their youth they engaged in prostitution. Their breasts were squeezed there; lovers ¹  fondled their virgin nipples there. 23:4 Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah ²  the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. ³  Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

23:5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine. ⁴  She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians ⁵  – warriors ⁶  23:6 clothed in blue, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 23:7 She bestowed her sexual favors on them; all of them were the choicest young men of Assyria. She defiled herself with all whom she desired ⁷  – with all their idols. 23:8 She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men had sex with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her. ⁸  23:9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians ⁹  for whom she lusted. 23:10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became notorious ¹⁰  among women, and they executed judgments against her.

23:11 “Her sister Oholibah watched this, ¹¹  but she became more corrupt in her lust than her sister had been, and her acts of prostitution were more numerous than those of her sister. 23:12 She lusted after the Assyrians – governors and officials, warriors in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 23:13 I saw that she was defiled; both of them followed the same path. 23:14 But she increased her prostitution. She saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans carved in bright red, ¹²  23:15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians ¹³  whose native land is Chaldea. 23:16 When she saw them, ¹⁴  she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁵ 

[23:3]  ¹ tn In the Hebrew text the subject is left unstated and must be supplied from the context.

[23:4]  ² tn The names Oholah and Oholibah are both derived from the word meaning “tent.” The meaning of Oholah is “her tent,” while Oholibah means “my tent is in her.”

[23:4]  ³ sn In this allegory the Lord is depicted as being the husband of two wives. The OT law prohibited a man from marrying sisters (Lev 18:18), but the practice is attested in the OT (cf. Jacob). The metaphor is utilized here for illustrative purposes and does not mean that the Lord condoned such a practice or bigamy in general.

[23:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “while she was under me.” The expression indicates that Oholah is viewed as the Lord’s wife. See Num 5:19-20, 29.

[23:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “Assyria.”

[23:5]  ⁶ tn The term apparently refers to Assyrian military officers; it is better construed with the description that follows. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:738.

[23:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “lusted after.”

[23:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “and poured out their harlotry on her.”

[23:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Assyria.”

[23:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “name.”

[23:11]  ¹¹ tn The word “this” is not in the original text.

[23:14]  ¹² tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew term is in Jer 22:14.

[23:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “the sons of Babel.”

[23:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “at the appearance of her eyes.”

[23:16]  ¹⁵ sn The Chaldeans were prominent tribal groups of Babylonia. The imagery is reminiscent of events in the reigns of Hezekiah (2 Kgs 20:12-15) and Jehoiakim (2 Kgs 23:34-24:1).