Ezekiel 8:9-17

8:9 He said to me, “Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.” 8:10 So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure ¹  of creeping thing and beast – detestable images ²  – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. ³  8:11 Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel ⁴  (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant ⁵  vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward.

8:12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? ⁶  For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’” 8:13 He said to me, “You will see them practicing even greater abominations!”

8:14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed ⁷  women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. ⁸  8:15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!”

8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there ⁹  at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, ¹⁰  were about twenty-five ¹¹  men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, ¹²  facing east – they were worshiping the sun ¹³  toward the east!

8:17 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man? Is it a trivial thing that the house of Judah commits these abominations they are practicing here? For they have filled the land with violence and provoked me to anger still further. Look, they are putting the branch to their nose! ¹⁴ 

Ezekiel 16:1-63

God’s Unfaithful Bride

16:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 16:2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem ¹⁵  with her abominable practices 16:3 and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 16:4 As for your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water; ¹⁶  you were certainly not rubbed down with salt, nor wrapped with blankets. ¹⁷  16:5 No eye took pity on you to do even one of these things for you to spare you; ¹⁸  you were thrown out into the open field ¹⁹  because you were detested on the day you were born.

16:6 “‘I passed by you and saw you kicking around helplessly in your blood. I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “Live!” I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “Live!” ²⁰  16:7 I made you plentiful like sprouts in a field; you grew tall and came of age so that you could wear jewelry. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, but you were still naked and bare.

16:8 “‘Then I passed by you and watched you, noticing ²¹  that you had reached the age for love. ²²  I spread my cloak ²³  over you and covered your nakedness. I swore a solemn oath to you and entered into a marriage covenant with you, declares the sovereign Lord, and you became mine.

16:9 “‘Then I bathed you in water, washed the blood off you, and anointed you with fragrant oil. 16:10 I dressed you in embroidered clothing and put fine leather sandals on your feet. I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 16:11 I adorned you with jewelry. I put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. 16:12 I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. 16:13 You were adorned with gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidery. You ate the finest flour, honey, and olive oil. You became extremely beautiful and attained the position of royalty. 16:14 Your fame ²⁴  spread among the nations because of your beauty; your beauty was perfect because of the splendor which I bestowed on you, declares the sovereign Lord. ²⁵ 

16:15 “‘But you trusted in your beauty and capitalized on your fame by becoming a prostitute. You offered your sexual favors to every man who passed by so that your beauty ²⁶  became his. 16:16 You took some of your clothing and made for yourself decorated high places; you engaged in prostitution on them. You went to him to become his. ²⁷  16:17 You also took your beautiful jewelry, made of my gold and my silver I had given to you, and made for yourself male images and engaged in prostitution ²⁸  with them. 16:18 You took your embroidered clothing and used it to cover them; you offered my olive oil and my incense to them. 16:19 As for my food that I gave you – the fine flour, olive oil, and honey I fed you – you placed it before them as a soothing aroma. That is exactly what happened, declares the sovereign Lord.

16:20 “‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them ²⁹  as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough, 16:21 you slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. ³⁰  16:22 And with all your abominable practices and prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, kicking around in your blood.

16:23 “‘After all of your evil – “Woe! Woe to you!” declares the sovereign Lord – 16:24 you built yourself a chamber ³¹  and put up a pavilion ³²  in every public square. 16:25 At the head of every street you erected your pavilion and you disgraced ³³  your beauty when you spread ³⁴  your legs to every passerby and multiplied your promiscuity. 16:26 You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your sexually aroused neighbors, ³⁵  multiplying your promiscuity and provoking me to anger. 16:27 So see here, I have stretched out my hand against you and cut off your rations. I have delivered you into the power of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed by your obscene conduct. 16:28 You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians because your sexual desires were insatiable; you prostituted yourself with them and yet you were still not satisfied. 16:29 Then you multiplied your promiscuity to the land of merchants, Babylonia, ³⁶  but you were not satisfied there either.

16:30 “‘How sick is your heart, declares the sovereign Lord, when you perform all of these acts, the deeds of a bold prostitute. 16:31 When you built your chamber at the head of every street and put up your pavilion in every public square, you were not like a prostitute, because you scoffed at payment. ³⁷ 

16:32 “‘Adulterous wife, who prefers strangers instead of her own husband! 16:33 All prostitutes receive payment, ³⁸  but instead you give gifts to every one of your lovers. You bribe them to come to you from all around for your sexual favors! 16:34 You were different from other prostitutes ³⁹  because no one solicited you. When you gave payment and no payment was given to you, you became the opposite!

16:35 “‘Therefore O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: 16:36 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Because your lust ⁴⁰  was poured out and your nakedness was uncovered in your prostitution with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children you have given to them, 16:37 therefore, take note: I am about to gather all your lovers whom you enjoyed, both all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around, and I will expose your nakedness to them, and they will see all your nakedness. ⁴¹  16:38 I will punish you as an adulteress and murderer deserves. ⁴²  I will avenge your bloody deeds with furious rage. ⁴³  16:39 I will give you into their hands and they will destroy your chambers and tear down your pavilions. They will strip you of your clothing and take your beautiful jewelry and leave you naked and bare. 16:40 They will summon a mob who will stone you and hack you in pieces with their swords. 16:41 They will burn down your houses and execute judgments on you in front of many women. Thus I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer give gifts to your clients. ⁴⁴  16:42 I will exhaust my rage on you, and then my fury will turn from you. I will calm down and no longer be angry.

16:43 “‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth and have enraged me with all these deeds, I hereby repay you for what you have done, ⁴⁵  declares the sovereign Lord. Have you not engaged in prostitution on top of all your other abominable practices?

16:44 “‘Observe – everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” 16:45 You are the daughter of your mother, who detested her husband and her sons, and you are the sister of your sisters who detested their husbands and their sons. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 16:46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived north ⁴⁶  of you with her daughters, and your younger sister, who lived south ⁴⁷  of you, was Sodom ⁴⁸  with her daughters. 16:47 Have you not copied their behavior ⁴⁹  and practiced their abominable deeds? In a short time ⁵⁰  you became even more depraved in all your conduct than they were! 16:48 As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never behaved as wickedly as you and your daughters have behaved.

16:49 “‘See here – this was the iniquity ⁵¹  of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help ⁵²  the poor and needy. 16:50 They were haughty and practiced abominable deeds before me. Therefore when I saw it I removed them. 16:51 Samaria has not committed half the sins you have; you have done more abominable deeds than they did. ⁵³  You have made your sisters appear righteous with all the abominable things you have done. 16:52 So now, bear your disgrace, because you have given your sisters reason to justify their behavior. ⁵⁴  Because the sins you have committed were more abominable than those of your sisters; they have become more righteous than you. So now, be ashamed and bear the disgrace of making your sisters appear righteous.

16:53 “‘I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters (along with your fortunes among them), 16:54 so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in consoling them. 16:55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former status, Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former status, and you and your daughters will be restored to your former status. 16:56 In your days of majesty, ⁵⁵  was not Sodom your sister a byword in your mouth, 16:57 before your evil was exposed? Now you have become an object of scorn to the daughters of Aram ⁵⁶  and all those around her and to the daughters of the Philistines – those all around you who despise you. 16:58 You must bear your punishment for your obscene conduct and your abominable practices, declares the Lord.

16:59 “‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you according to what you have done when you despised your oath by breaking your covenant. 16:60 Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish a lasting ⁵⁷  covenant with you. 16:61 Then you will remember your conduct, and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you. 16:62 I will establish my covenant with you, and then you will know that I am the Lord. 16:63 Then you will remember, be ashamed, and remain silent ⁵⁸  when I make atonement for all you have done, ⁵⁹  declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Ezekiel 23:1-49

Two Sisters

23:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 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 ⁶⁰  fondled their virgin nipples there. 23:4 Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah ⁶¹  the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. ⁶²  Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

23:5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine. ⁶³  She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians ⁶⁴  – warriors ⁶⁵  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 ⁶⁶  – 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. ⁶⁷  23:9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians ⁶⁸  for whom she lusted. 23:10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became notorious ⁶⁹  among women, and they executed judgments against her.

23:11 “Her sister Oholibah watched this, ⁷⁰  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, ⁷¹  23:15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians ⁷²  whose native land is Chaldea. 23:16 When she saw them, ⁷³  she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ⁷⁴  23:17 The Babylonians crawled into bed with her. ⁷⁵  They defiled her with their lust; after she was defiled by them, she ⁷⁶  became disgusted with them. 23:18 When she lustfully exposed her nakedness, ⁷⁷  I ⁷⁸  was disgusted with her, just as I ⁷⁹  had been disgusted with her sister. 23:19 Yet she increased her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she engaged in prostitution in the land of Egypt. 23:20 She lusted after their genitals – as large as those of donkeys, ⁸⁰  and their seminal emission was as strong as that of stallions. 23:21 This is how you assessed ⁸¹  the obscene conduct of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled ⁸²  your nipples and squeezed ⁸³  your young breasts.

23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ⁸⁴  I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side: 23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, ⁸⁵  Shoa, ⁸⁶  and Koa, ⁸⁷  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 ⁸⁸  you with weapons, ⁸⁹  chariots, wagons, and with a huge army; ⁹⁰  they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment; ⁹¹  they will punish you according to their laws. 23:25 I will direct ⁹²  my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in rage. They will cut off your nose and your ears, ⁹³  and your survivors will die ⁹⁴  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. ⁹⁵  You will not seek their help ⁹⁶  or remember Egypt anymore.

23:28 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ⁹⁷  I am about to deliver you over to ⁹⁸  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, ⁹⁹  and leave you naked and bare. Your nakedness will be exposed, just as when you engaged in prostitution and obscene conduct. ¹⁰⁰  23:30 I will do these things to you ¹⁰¹  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 ¹⁰²  in your hand. 23:32 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: “You will drink your sister’s deep and wide cup; ¹⁰³  you will be scorned and derided, for it holds a great deal. 23:33 You will be overcome by ¹⁰⁴  drunkenness and sorrow. The cup of your sister Samaria is a cup of horror and desolation. 23:34 You will drain it dry, ¹⁰⁵  gnaw its pieces, ¹⁰⁶  and tear out your breasts, ¹⁰⁷  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, ¹⁰⁸  you must bear now the punishment ¹⁰⁹  for your obscene conduct and prostitution.”

23:36 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment ¹¹⁰  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, ¹¹¹  they have passed through the fire as food to their idols. ¹¹²  23:38 Moreover, they have done this to me: In the very same day ¹¹³  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. ¹¹⁴  For them you bathed, ¹¹⁵  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, ¹¹⁶  including all kinds of men; ¹¹⁷  even Sabeans ¹¹⁸  were brought from the desert. The sisters ¹¹⁹  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 ¹²⁰  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, ¹²¹  because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

23:46 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Bring up an army ¹²²  against them and subject them ¹²³  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. ¹²⁴  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. ¹²⁵  Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.”

[8:10]  ¹ tn Or “pattern.”

[8:10]  ² tn Heb “detestable.” The word is often used to describe the figures of foreign gods.

[8:10]  ³ sn These engravings were prohibited in the Mosaic law (Deut 4:16-18).

[8:11]  ⁴ sn Note the contrast between these seventy men who represented Israel and the seventy elders who ate the covenant meal before God, inaugurating the covenant relationship (Exod 24:1, 9).

[8:11]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.

[8:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “the room of his images.” The adjective “idolatrous” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:14]  ⁷ tn Given the context this could be understood as a shock, e.g., idiomatically “Good grief! I saw….”

[8:14]  ⁸ sn The worship of Tammuz included the observation of the annual death and descent into the netherworld of the god Dumuzi. The practice was observed by women in the ancient Near East over a period of centuries.

[8:16]  ⁹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.

[8:16]  ¹⁰ sn The priests prayed to God between the porch and the altar on fast days (Joel 2:17). This is the location where Zechariah was murdered (Matt 23:35).

[8:16]  ¹¹ tc The LXX reads “twenty” instead of twenty-five, perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash.

[8:16]  ¹² sn The temple faced east.

[8:16]  ¹³ tn Or “the sun god.”

[8:17]  ¹⁴ tn It is not clear what the practice of “holding a branch to the nose” indicates. A possible parallel is the Syrian relief of a king holding a flower to his nose as he worships the stars (ANEP 281). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:145-46. The LXX glosses the expression as “Behold, they are like mockers.”

[16:2]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[16:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in water you were not washed for cleansing” or “with water you were not washed smooth” (see D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:473, n. 57, for a discussion of possible meanings of this hapax legomenon).

[16:4]  ¹⁷ sn Arab midwives still cut the umbilical cords of infants and then proceed to apply salt and oil to their bodies.

[16:5]  ¹⁸ sn These verbs, “pity” and “spare,” echo the judgment oracles in 5:11; 7:4, 9; 8:18; 9:5, 10.

[16:5]  ¹⁹ sn A similar concept is found in Deut 32:10.

[16:6]  ²⁰ tc The translation reflects the Hebrew text, which repeats the statement, perhaps for emphasis. However, a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts, the Old Greek, and the Syriac do not include the repetition. The statement could have been accidentally repeated or the second occurrence could have been accidentally omitted. Based on the available evidence it is difficult to know which is more likely.

[16:8]  ²¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a participle.

[16:8]  ²² tn See similar use of this term in Ezek 23:17; Prov 7:16; Song of Songs 4:10; 7:13.

[16:8]  ²³ tn Heb “wing” or “skirt.” The gesture symbolized acquiring a woman in early Arabia (similarly, see Deut 22:30; Ruth 3:9).

[16:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “name.”

[16:14]  ²⁵ sn The description of the nation Israel in vv. 10-14 recalls the splendor of the nation’s golden age under King Solomon.

[16:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “it” (so KJV, ASV); the referent (the beauty in which the prostitute trusted, see the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:16]  ²⁷ tc The text as written in the MT is incomprehensible (“not coming [plural] and he will not”). Driver has suggested a copying error of similar-sounding words, specifically לֹא (lo’) for לוֹ (lo). The feminine participle בָאוֹת (va’ot) has also been read as the feminine perfect בָאת (va’t). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:228, n. 15.b, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:486, n. 137.

[16:17]  ²⁸ tn Or perhaps “and worshiped them,” if the word “prostitution” is understood in a figurative rather than a literal sense (cf. CEV, NLT).

[16:20]  ²⁹ sn The sacrifice of children was prohibited in Lev 18:21; 20:2; Deut 12:31; 18:10.

[16:21]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and you gave them, by passing them through to them.” Some believe this alludes to the pagan practice of making children pass through the fire.

[16:24]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew גֶּב (gev) may represent more than one word, each rare in the Old Testament. It may refer to a “mound” or to “rafters.” The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate interpret this as a brothel.

[16:24]  ³² tn Or “lofty place” (NRSV). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:229, and B. Lang, Frau Weisheit, 137.

[16:25]  ³³ tn Heb “treated as if abominable,” i.e., repudiated.

[16:25]  ³⁴ tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew root is found in Prov 13:3 in reference to the talkative person who habitually “opens wide” his lips.

[16:26]  ³⁵ tn Heb “your neighbors, large of flesh.” The word “flesh” is used here of the genitals. It may simply refer to the size of their genitals in general, or, as the translation suggests, depicts them as sexually aroused.

[16:29]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Chaldea.” The name of the tribal group ruling Babylon (“Chaldeans”) and the territory from which they originated (“Chaldea”) is used as metonymy for the whole empire of Babylon.

[16:31]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew term, which also occurs in vv. 34 and 41 of this chapter, always refers to the payment of a prostitute (Deut 23:19; Isa 23:17; Hos 9:1; Mic 1:7).

[16:33]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.

[16:34]  ³⁹ tn Heb “With you it was opposite of women in your prostitution.”

[16:36]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.

[16:37]  ⁴¹ sn Harlots suffered degradation when their nakedness was exposed (Jer 13:22, 26; Hos 2:12; Nah 3:5).

[16:38]  ⁴² tn Heb “and I will judge you (with) the judgments of adulteresses and of those who shed blood.”

[16:38]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and I will give you the blood of rage and zeal.”

[16:41]  ⁴⁴ tn The words “to your clients” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied.

[16:43]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “your way on (your) head I have placed.”

[16:46]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “left.”

[16:46]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “right.”

[16:46]  ⁴⁸ sn Sodom was the epitome of evil (Deut 29:23; 32:32; Isa 1:9-10; 3:9; Jer 23:14; Lam 4:6; Matt 10:15; 11:23-24; Jude 7).

[16:47]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “walked in their ways.”

[16:47]  ⁵⁰ tn The Hebrew expression has a temporal meaning as illustrated by the use of the phrase in 2 Chr 12:7.

[16:49]  ⁵¹ tn Or “guilt.”

[16:49]  ⁵² tn Heb “strengthen the hand of.”

[16:51]  ⁵³ tn Or “you have multiplied your abominable deeds beyond them.”

[16:52]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “because you have interceded for your sisters with your sins.”

[16:56]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “pride.”

[16:57]  ⁵⁶ tc So MT, LXX, and Vulgate; many Hebrew mss and Syriac read “Edom.”

[16:60]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “eternal.”

[16:63]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and your mouth will not be open any longer.”

[16:63]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “when I make atonement for you for all which you have done.”

[23:3]  ⁶⁰ tn In the Hebrew text the subject is left unstated and must be supplied from the context.

[23:4]  ⁶¹ 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]  ⁶² 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]  ⁶³ 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]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “Assyria.”

[23:5]  ⁶⁵ 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]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “lusted after.”

[23:8]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “and poured out their harlotry on her.”

[23:9]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Assyria.”

[23:10]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “name.”

[23:11]  ⁷⁰ tn The word “this” is not in the original text.

[23:14]  ⁷¹ tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew term is in Jer 22:14.

[23:15]  ⁷² tn Heb “the sons of Babel.”

[23:16]  ⁷³ tn Heb “at the appearance of her eyes.”

[23:16]  ⁷⁴ 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).

[23:17]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “The sons of Babel came to her on a bed of love.”

[23:17]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “her soul.”

[23:18]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “She exposed her harlotry and she exposed her nakedness.”

[23:18]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “my soul.”

[23:18]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “my soul.”

[23:20]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “She lusted after their concubines (?) whose flesh was the flesh of donkeys.” The phrase “their concubines” is extremely problematic here. The pronoun is masculine plural, suggesting that the Egyptian men are in view, but how concubines would fit into the picture envisioned here is not clear. Some suggest that Ezekiel uses the term in an idiomatic sense of “paramour,” but this still fails to explain how the pronoun relates to the noun. It is more likely that the term refers here to the Egyptians’ genitals. The relative pronoun that follows introduces a more specific description of their genitals.

[23:21]  ⁸¹ tn Or “you took note of.” The Hebrew verb פָּקַד (paqad) in the Qal implies evaluating something and then acting in light of that judgment; here the prophet depicts Judah as approving of her youthful unfaithfulness and then magnifying it at the present time. Some translations assume the verb should be repointed as a Niphal, rendering “you missed” or by extension “you longed for,” but such an extension of the Niphal “to be missing” is otherwise unattested.

[23:21]  ⁸² tn Heb “when (they) did,” but the verb makes no sense here and is better emended to “when (they) fondled,” a verb used in vv. 3 and 8. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.

[23:21]  ⁸³ tn Heb “for the sake of,” but the expression is awkward and is better emended to read “to squeeze.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.

[23:22]  ⁸⁴ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[23:23]  ⁸⁵ sn Pekod was the name of an Aramean tribe (known as Puqudu in Mesopotamian texts) that lived in the region of the Tigris River.

[23:23]  ⁸⁶ sn Shoa was the name of a nomadic people (the Sutu) that lived in Mesopotamia.

[23:23]  ⁸⁷ sn Koa was the name of another Mesopotamian people group (the Qutu).

[23:24]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “come against.”

[23:24]  ⁸⁹ tn This is the only occurrence of this term in the OT. The precise meaning is uncertain.

[23:24]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

[23:24]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “I will place before them judgment.”

[23:25]  ⁹² tn Heb “give.”

[23:25]  ⁹³ tn Heb “they will remove.”

[23:25]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “fall.”

[23:27]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “I will cause your obscene conduct to cease from you and your harlotry from the land of Egypt.”

[23:27]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “lift your eyes to them.”

[23:28]  ⁹⁷ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[23:28]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “I am giving you into the hand of.”

[23:29]  ⁹⁹ tn The Hebrew term means “labor,” but by extension it can also refer to that for which one works.

[23:29]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “The nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, and your obscene conduct and your harlotry.”

[23:30]  ¹⁰¹ tn The infinitive absolute continues the sequence begun in v. 28: “Look here, I am about to deliver you.” See Joüon 2:430 §123.w.

[23:31]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “her cup.” A cup of intoxicating strong drink is used, here and elsewhere, as a metaphor for judgment because both leave one confused and reeling. (See Jer 25:15, 17, 28; Hab 2:16.) The cup of wrath is a theme also found in the NT (Mark 14:36).

[23:32]  ¹⁰³ sn The image of a deep and wide cup suggests the degree of punishment; it will be extensive and leave the victim helpless.

[23:33]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “filled with.”

[23:34]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Heb “You will drink it and drain (it).”

[23:34]  ¹⁰⁶ tn D. I. Block compares this to the idiom of “licking the plate” (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:754, n. 137). The text is difficult as the word translated “gnaw” is rare. The noun is used of the shattered pieces of pottery and so could envision a broken cup. But the Piel verb form is used in only one other place (Num 24:8), where it is a denominative from the noun “bone” and seems to mean to “break (bones).” Why it would be collocated with “sherds” is not clear. For this reason some emend the phrase to read “consume its dregs” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:44) or emend the verb to read “swallow,” as if the intoxicated Oholibah breaks the cup and then eats the very sherds in an effort to get every last drop of the beverage that dampens them.

[23:34]  ¹⁰⁷ sn The severe action is more extreme than beating the breasts in anguish (Isa 32:12; Nah 2:7). It is also ironic for these are the very breasts she so blatantly offered to her lovers (vv. 3, 21).

[23:35]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Heb “and you cast me behind your back.” The expression pictures her rejection of the Lord (see 1 Kgs 14:9).

[23:35]  ¹⁰⁹ tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text but is demanded by the context.

[23:36]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment. See 20:4; 22:2.

[23:37]  ¹¹¹ sn The Lord speaks here in the role of the husband of the sisters.

[23:37]  ¹¹² tn Heb “they have passed to them for food.” The verb is commonly taken to refer to passing children through fire, especially as an offering to the pagan god Molech. See Jer 32:35.

[23:38]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “in that day.”

[23:40]  ¹¹⁴ tn Heb “to whom a messenger was sent, and look, they came.” Foreign alliances are in view here.

[23:40]  ¹¹⁵ tn The Hebrew verb form is feminine singular, indicating that Oholibah (Judah) is specifically addressed here. This address continues through verse 42a (note “her”), but then both sisters are described in verse 42b, where the feminine pronouns are again plural.

[23:42]  ¹¹⁶ tn Heb “(was) in her.”

[23:42]  ¹¹⁷ tn Heb “and men from the multitude of mankind.”

[23:42]  ¹¹⁸ tn An alternate reading is “drunkards.” Sheba is located in the area of modern day Yemen.

[23:42]  ¹¹⁹ tn Heb “they”; the referents (the sisters) have been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[23:44]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “and they came to her.”

[23:45]  ¹²¹ tn Heb “and upright men will judge them (with) the judgment of adulteresses and the judgment of those who shed blood.”

[23:46]  ¹²² tn Heb “assembly.”

[23:46]  ¹²³ tn Heb “give them to.”

[23:47]  ¹²⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”

[23:49]  ¹²⁵ tn Heb “and the sins of your idols you will bear.” By extension it can mean the punishment for the sins.