She gave herself as a prostitute to them, all of them the choicest men of Assyria. She defiled herself with the idols of whoever she lusted after. She hasn’t left her prostitution since leaving Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her. They caressed her youthful nipples; and they poured out their prostitution on her.
“Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, on whom she doted. These uncovered her nakedness. They took her sons and her daughters; and they killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women; for they executed judgments on her.
“Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lusting than she, and in her prostitution which was more depraved than the prostitution of her sister. She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. I saw that she was defiled. They both went the same way.
“She increased her prostitution; for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with red, dressed with belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like princes, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. As soon as she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them into Chaldea. The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution. She was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them. So she uncovered her prostitution and uncovered her nakedness. Then my soul was alienated from her, just like my soul was alienated from her sister. Yet she multiplied her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had played the prostitute in the land of Egypt. She lusted after their lovers, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus you called to memory the lewdness of your youth, in the caressing of your nipples by the Egyptians because of your youthful breasts.
“Therefore, Oholibah, the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side: the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; all of them desirable young men, governors and rulers, princes and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. They will come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you with buckler, shield, and helmet all around. I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their judgments. I will set my jealousy against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will take away your nose and your ears. Your remnant will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and the rest of you will be devoured by the fire. They will also strip you of your clothes, and take away your beautiful jewels. Thus I will make your lewdness to cease from you, and remove your prostitution from the land of Egypt; so that you will not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more.’
“For the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your soul is alienated. They will deal with you in hatred, and will take away all your labor, and will leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your prostitution will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution. These things will be done to you, because you have played the prostitute after the nations, and because you are polluted with their idols. You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.’
“The Lord Yahweh says: ‘You will drink of your sister’s cup, which is deep and large. You will be ridiculed and held in derision. It contains much.
You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria.
You will even drink it and drain it out. You will gnaw the broken pieces of it, and will tear your breasts; for I have spoken it,’ says the Lord Yahweh.
“Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back, therefore you also bear your lewdness and your prostitution.’ ”
Yahweh said moreover to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through the fire to them to be devoured. Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my Sabbaths. For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and behold, they have done this in the middle of my house.
“Furthermore you sisters have sent for men who come from far away, to whom a messenger was sent, and behold, they came; for whom you washed yourself, painted your eyes, decorated yourself with ornaments, and sat on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you set my incense and my oil.
“The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her. With men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on their hands, and beautiful crowns on their heads. Then I said of her who was old in adulteries, ‘Now they will play the prostitute with her, and she with them.’ They went in to her, as they go in to a prostitute. So they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. Righteous men will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
“For the Lord Yahweh says: ‘I will bring up a mob against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth and robbed. The company will stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords. They will kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
“ ‘Thus I will cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to be lewd like you. They will recompense your lewdness on you, and you will bear the sins of your idols. Then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.’ ”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv8, 10, 14, 23, 24, 25, 29, 31, 33, 37, 40, 41, 42, 45, 48 The holy Ghost useth these terms which seem strange…
The holy Ghost useth these terms which seem strange to chaste ears, to cause this wicked vice of idolatry so to be abhorred, that […] any should abide to hear the name thereof.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv7–49 Eze 23:7 Thus she committed her whoredoms with them,…
Eze 23:7 Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them [that were] the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.
Ver. 7. Thus she committed her whoredoms with them.] Heb., She bestowed her whoredoms upon them; she was no niggard. A little entreaty served turn. Cuilibet sui copiam faciebat, such was her idol madness.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv7–49 Thus, by the eye and familiar converse, she fell…
Thus, by the eye and familiar converse, she fell to idolatry. Committed her whoredoms: see Eze 23:3.
With all them; she embraced the friendship and religion of all of them, and relied on the Assyrian’s idols for deliverance and peace.
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And with all, i.e. other nations with whom she had commerce and made leagues,
on whom she doted; like an adulterous wife, she was mad in her love to them, to their persons, customs, idols, and religion, with all which she polluted herself.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv11, 22 The prophet Hosea, in his time, observed that the…
The prophet Hosea, in his time, observed that the two tribes retained their integrity, in a great measure, when the ten tribes had apostatized (Hos 11:12, Ephraim indeed compasses me about with lies, but Judah yet rules with God and is faithful with the saints; and this was justly expected from them: Hos 4:15, Though thou Israel play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend); but this lasted not long. By some unhappy matches made between the house of David and the house of Ahab the worship of Baal had been brought into the kingdom of Judah, but had been by the reforming kings worked out again; and at the time of the captivity of the ten tribes, which was in the reign of Hezekiah, things were in a good posture: but it lasted not long. In the reign of Manasseh, soon after the kingdom of Judah had seen the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, they became more corrupt than Israel had been in their inordinate love of idols, Eze 23:11. Instead of being made better by the warning which that destruction gave them, they were made worse by it, as if they were displeased because the Lord had made that breach upon Israel, and for that reason became disaffected to him and to his service. Instead of being made to stand in awe of him as a jealous God, they therefore grew strange to him, and liked those gods better that would admit of partners with them. Note, Those may justly expect God's judgments upon themselves who do not take warning by his judgments upon others, who see in others what is the end of sin and yet continue to make a light matter of it. But it is bad indeed with those who are made worse by that which should make them better, and have their lusts irritated and exasperated by that which was designed to suppress and subdue them. Jerusalem grew worse in her whoredoms than her sister Samaria had been in her whoredoms. This was observed before (Eze 16:51), Neither has Samaria committed half of thy sins.
I. Jerusalem, that had been a faithful city, became a harlot, Isa 1:21. She also doted upon the Assyrians (Eze 23:12), joined in league with them, joined in worship with them, grew to be in love with their captains and rulers, and cried them up as finer and more accomplished gentlemen than any that ever the land of Israel produced. "See how richly, how neatly, they are dressed, clothed most gorgeously; how well they sit a horse; they are horsemen riding on horses; how charmingly they look, all of them desirable young men." And thus they grew to affect every thing that was foreign and to despise their own nation; and even the religion of it was mean and homely, and not to be compared with the curiosity and gaiety of the heathen temples. Thus she increased her whoredoms; she fell in love, fell in league, with the Chaldeans. Hezekiah himself was faulty this way when he was proud of the court which the king of Babylon made to him and complimented his ambassadors with the sight of all his treasures, Isa 39:2. And the humour increased (Eze 23:14); she doted upon the pictures of the Babylonian captains (Eze 23:15, Eze 23:16), joined in alliance with that kingdom, invited them to come and settle in Jerusalem, that they might refine the genius of the Jewish nation and make it more polite; nay, they sent for patterns of their images, altars, and temples, and made use of them in their worship. Thus was she polluted with her whoredoms (Eze 23:17), and thereby she discovered her own whoredom (Eze 23:18), her own strong inclination to idolatry. And when she had had enough of the Chaldeans, and grew tired of them and disposed to break her league with them, as Jehoiakim and Zedekiah did, her mind being alienated from them, she courted the Egyptians, doted upon their paramours (Eze 23:20), would come into an alliance with them, and, to strengthen the alliance, would join with them in their idolatries and then depend upon them to be their protectors from all other nations; for so wise, so rich, so strong, was the Egyptian nation, and came to such perfection in idolatry, that there was no nation now which they could take such satisfaction in as in Egypt. Thus they called to remembrance the days of their youth (Eze 23:19), the lewdness of their youth, Eze 23:21. 1. They pleased themselves with the remembrance of it. When they began to set their affections upon Egypt, they encouraged themselves to put a confidence in that kingdom, because of the old acquaintance they had with it, as if they still retained the gust and relish of the leeks and onions they ate there, or rather of the idolatrous worship they learned there, and brought up with them thence. When they began an acquaintance with Egypt they remembered how merrily their fathers worshipped the golden calf, what music and dancing they had at that sport, which they learned in Egypt; and they hoped they should now have a fair pretence to come to that again. Thus she multiplied her whoredoms, repeated her former whoredoms, and encouraged herself to close with present temptations, by calling to remembrance the days of her youth. Note, Those who, instead of reflecting upon their former sins with sorrow and shame, reflect upon them with pleasure and pride, contract new guilt thereby, strengthen their own corruptions, and in effect bid defiance to repentance. This is returning with the dog to his vomit. 2. They called it God's remembrance, and provoked him to remember it against them. God had said indeed that he would reckon with them for the golden calf, that idol of Egypt (Exo 32:34); but such was his patience that he seemed to have forgotten it till they, by their league now with the Egyptians against the Chaldeans, did, as it were, put him in mind of it; and in the day when he visits he will now, as he has said, visit for that. It is very observable how this adulteress changes her lovers: she dotes first on the Assyrians; then she thought the Chaldeans finer and courted them; after a while her mind was alienated from them, and she thought the Egyptians more powerful (Eze 23:20) and she must contract an intimacy with them. This shows the folly, (1.) Of fleshly lusts; when they are indulged they grow humoursome and fickle, are soon surfeited but never satisfied; they must have variety, and what is loved one day is loathed the next. Unius adulterium matrimonium vocant - One adultery is called marriage, as Seneca observes. (2.) Of idolatry. Those who think one God too little will not think a hundred sufficient, but will still be for trying more, as finding all insufficient. (3.) Of seeking to creatures for help; we go from one to another, but are disappointed in them all, and can never rest till we have made the God of Israel our help.
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II. The faithful God justly gives a bill of divorce to this now faithless city, that has become a harlot. His jealousy soon discovered her lewdness (Eze 23:13): I saw that she was defiled, that she was debauched, and saw which way her inclination was, that the two sisters both took one way, and that Jerusalem grew worse than Samaria. For, if we stretch out our hand to a strange god, will not God search this out? No doubt he will; and when he has found it can he be pleased with it? No (Eze 23:18): Then my mind was alienated from her, as it was from her sister. How could the pure and holy God any longer take delight in such a lewd generation? Note, Sin alienates God's mind from the sinner, and justly, for it is the alienation of the sinner's mind from God; but woe, and a thousand woes, to those from whom God's mind is alienated; for whom he turns from he will turn against.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv7–49 Thus she committed her whoredoms with them,.... Entered into…
Thus she committed her whoredoms with them,.... Entered into alliance with them, and joined them in their idolatrous worship:
with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria; before described by their habit, office, and age:
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and with all on whom she doted; had an insatiable desire and lust after:
with all their idols she defiled herself; worshipped all the idols the Assyrians did; and which were defiling, as they must needs be, since, as the word used signifies, they were dunghill gods.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 29, 32, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 With all - Other nations, with whom she had…
With all - Other nations, with whom she had commerce.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14, 20, 23, 25, 26, 32, 34, 38, 40, 41, 42, 45, 47, 48, 49 Verse 14. Men pourtrayed upon the wall] See on…
Verse 14. Men pourtrayed upon the wall] See on Eze 8:10.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv7, 11, 13, 17, 22, 25, 28, 31, 36, 40, 43, 45 Eze 23:7-10. Thus she committed whoredoms with them —…
Eze 23:7-10. Thus she committed whoredoms with them — She defiled herself with idols, as the sense is more plainly expressed at the end of the verse. Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt — She added new idolatries to those she had formerly committed: see Eze 23:3. Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers — God made these very Assyrians the executioners of his judgments upon the ten tribes, many of them being carried away captive by Pul, king of Assyria, afterward by Tiglath-pileser, and at length the whole country was subdued and depopulated by Shalmaneser: see the margin. The kings of Babylon were likewise styled kings of Assyria, 2Ki 23:29; 2Ch 33:11. Lovers mean the same with allies; those whose friendship and assistance the Jews courted, by complying with them in their idolatries, Eze 16:37. These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters — These stripped her of every thing, and carried her and her children away captive: see the margin, and Eze 23:29. And slew her with the sword — Those that were not led captive were slain in the field of battle, or in the siege of Samaria, 2Ki 17:5. And she became famous among women — The Hebrew reads, She became a nation among women: as she had been formerly renowned among the heathen for her beauty, (Eze 16:14,) so now she was everywhere talked of as a remarkable instance of God’s vengeance, and set forth for an example to other cities and nations, to deter them from the like abominations.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 19, 23, 24, 25, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45 For the cause which at last brought destruction on…
For the cause which at last brought destruction on Israel, see marginal reference.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv8, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, 34, 36, 40, 41, 42, 45, 47 Egypt. They always retained an affection for those idols,…
Egypt. They always retained an affection for those idols, the calf, Adonis, &c.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 34, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 all their idols--There was nothing that she refused to…
all their idols--There was nothing that she refused to her lovers.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7, 11, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 37, 39, 42, 43, 45 7-10. This vile creature is not even true to…
7-10. This vile creature is not even true to her Assyrian paramour, but continues the adultery with Egypt began in her youth. It was because her Assyrian lovers discovered her intrigues with Egypt that they tore off her beautiful garments and left her stricken and destitute.
Famous [literally, a name] among women — See notes Eze_16:37. It is especially emphasized that it shall be those for whom she has forsaken her loving husband who shall oppress her and make her a byword. The language and comparisons were intended to shock the hearers and compel them to acknowledge that the most indecent actions of the most shameless prostitutes were not as bad as the treatment of Jehovah by Samaria and Judah.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48 7. with all their idols] The alliance with Assyria…
7. with all their idols] The alliance with Assyria brought in Assyrian idolatry, cf. 2Ki_23:11, where horses and chariots of the sun are mentioned, and also the altars on the roofs, where incense was burnt to the host of heaven, Eze_23:12, Jer_19:13.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 32, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49 (7) With all their idols.—The reality breaks through the…
(7) With all their idols.—The reality breaks through the figure, and leaves no doubt of the meaning of the allegory.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 43, 45 Vers. 7-10 The next two verses paint the consequence…
Vers. 7-10 The next two verses paint the consequence of the alliance first with Assyria and then with Egypt. She adopted the religion of Assyria, probably in the form of the worship of Ishtar (Ashtoreth) as the queen of heaven. Having done this, the kings of Israel sought to play off one kingdom against the other. (see Hos_7:11; 2Ki_17:4) It was, in fact, the discovery of Hoshea"s treachery in this matter that led Shalmaneser to besiege Samaria. The result of that siege is described in general terms in Ver. 10. She, the city of Samaria, was slain with the sword, tier sons and daughters were taken into exile. So she became famous (i.e. infamous, like the Latin famosus ), literally, a name among women, so. among the neighboring nations.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv13, 23 Then I saw that she was defiled, that they…
Eze_23:13
Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way.
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Infection easy
Manton says: We easily catch an infectious disease from one another, but no man receiveth health from anothers company. Too true. Evil communications inevitably corrupt good manners; but good communications do not so necessarily improve evil manners. We more readily learn evil than good, and we are also more forcible in communicating sin than virtue. Both as to the giving out and the receiving, the aptness lies on the wrong side. What a proof of our natural depravity! What a change must grace work in us before we shall be fully like our Lord Jesus, who was incapable of being inoculated by sin, but abundantly able to communicate goodness; for healing virtue proceeded from Him. When shall we become disseminators of holiness by our very presence? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv11, 22, 36 EXEGETICAL NOTES.—The spiritual adultery of Judah with Assyria, in…
(Eze_23:11-21.)
EXEGETICAL NOTES.—The spiritual adultery of Judah with Assyria, in which she surpasses Samaria in her iniquity.
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Eze_23:11. “She was more corrupt in her inordinate love.” “Judah went much further than Samaria. It not only indulged in sinful intercourse with Assyria, which led on to idolatry as the latter had done, but it also allowed itself to be led astray by the splendour of Chaldea to form alliances with that imperial power, and to defile itself with her idolatry. And when it became tired of the Chaldeans it formed impure connections with the Egyptians as it had done once before during its sojourn in Egypt” (Keil).
Eze_23:12. “Doted upon the Assyrians, her neighbours.” “The reference here is to the application made by Ahaz to Tiglath-pileser for his assistance against the Syrians and Israelites (recorded 2Ki_16:7-9), which led to the idolatrous transaction at Damascus, and the introduction of the Syrian idolatry into Jerusalem (2Ch_28:16)” (Henderson). “Clothed most gorgeously.” The word means perfection, and the thought intended is, perfect beauty of clothing. “The costume of the Assyrian cavalry may be seen in the sculptures brought by Layard from Nineveh, which display all the magnificence of Oriental finery” (Henderson).
Eze_23:14. “She saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion.” “In regard to the Chaldeans, the relation to them was brought about by means of likenesses, which Judah saw. The word means, something engraven or sketched, painted. These were, probably, coloured bas-reliefs, in vermilion, which would be all the more appropriate for warriors. The representation here may probably be the mere drapery of the thought, that the bare report of the military prowess of the Chaldeans had inflamed the imagination and the senses of Judah. Owing to the undeniable intercourse between nations in the Old World, which certainly obtained between Palestine and Babylon, it is not in itself unimaginable that such wall-pictures of representatives of foreign nations may have existed in the royal palaces of Judah.”—(Lange).
Eze_23:15. “Exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads.” The reference is to the lofty turbans, such as may be seen on the monuments of ancient Nineveh.
Eze_23:18. “My mind was alienated from her.” “The thought in these verses (Eze_23:16-18) is the following:—the acquaintance made by Israel (Judah) with the imperial splendour of the Chaldeans, as exhibited in the sculptures of their palaces, incited Judah to cultivate political and mercantile intercourse with this imperial power, which led to its becoming entangled in the heathen ways and idolatry of the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans themselves came and laid the foundation for an intercourse which led to the pollution of Judah with heathenism, and afterwards filled it with disgust, because it was brought thereby into dependence upon the Chaldeans. The consequence of all this was, that the Lord became tired of Judah. For instead of returning to the Lord, Judah turned to the other power of the world, namely, to Egypt; and in the time of Zedekiah renewed its ancient coquetry with that nation.” (Keil).
Eze_23:19. “In calling to remembrance the days of her youth.” She had grown disgusted with Babylon; yet she repented not, but turned back again to the old ways which she had learned in Egypt (2Ki_23:29-35).
Eze_23:20.“Whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.” “This representation is sufficiently explained by the particularly lecherous character of the animals mentioned, and describes the obscene character of the Egyptians (Eze_16:26).”—(Lange.)
Eze_23:21. “Calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth” (Heb.). “And thou didst visit the lewdness of thy youth.” “The falling back into the old sin is, as it were, a visit which is paid to that which ought to be hated and avoided. The words, ‘When a man of Egypt handled,’ etc., refer to the attempt of the Egyptians to draw the people in their first beginnings into the Egyptian unity, and so to nationalize them—an attempt to which the youth of the people furnished the occasion.”—(Hengstenberg.)
HOMILETICS
THE SIN OF JUDAH
The sin of Judah was one of special aggravation. Her sin surpassed that of Samaria. “She was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.”
1. She had greater privileges. A purer knowledge of the true way of worship. Greater grace to resist temptation, and to keep in the right way.
2. She had the warning example of Samaria’s punishment. She saw how God punished them by the very instruments of their inordinate love, and yet took not warning. “They both took one way,” not reflecting that they who take the same way also reach the same end.
3. She used special devices to increase her sinful desires. “She increased her whoredoms.” She stimulated her lustful imagination by pictures and representations of forbidden objects. The sight of these would set her longing after the seductive idolatry of the nations, and draw her away from her lawful love and home. The lust of the eye is one of the great dangers of the world. She also suffered herself to be ensnared by the memory of her old sins (Eze_23:19; Eze_23:21). It is sad when nations and individuals go back again to the sins of their early life.
4. She brought sad judgment upon herself, yet repented not. When she had obtained her desire and embraced the idolatry of Babylon, she was still unsatisfied and even learned to loathe that which she once so eagerly sought. “Her mind was alienated from them.” Israel could not find rest in the idolatry of the nations, for she still retained some memory of better things. The people could not become as the heathen in all respects, for their glorious past was still a fact and could not be separated from their history. The idolatry of Babylon could not satisfy the sinful longings of the chosen people. All impure lust, when it has spent its passion, becomes hatred. For all such lust is selfish and will turn, at length, into aversion to its object. Fellowship with sin must only be of short duration. There is no true binding principle in it. But it was the shame and misery of Israel that the judgments of God, and her disgust of Babylon, failed to bring her to repentance.
1. When God executes severe judgments upon cities He looks that others should take warning thereby. God destroyed Samaria for her idolatry and confederating with heathenish nations. When Jerusalem saw this she reformed not, but was more corrupt. God expected that Jerusalem should hereupon have purged out all idolatry, and cleaved wholly to Him, so that she might have been spared, but she made no good use of His dealings with Samaria.
2. Progress in the same sins, after judgments executed upon others is a fearful aggravation of sin. “When she saw this she was more corrupt.” When God’s hand is lifted, judgment executed, men should fear and learn righteousness; but to go on in wickedness is a horrible slighting, yea, despising of God and His judgments.
3. Sinful cities usually grow worse whatever judgments they see executed upon others. Jerusalem was more corrupt than Samaria. So corrupt is the nature of man that it is not only worse after mercies but even after judgments.
4. The eyes are instruments and occasions of great evil. When she saw the images of the Chaldeans in their dresses, with their belts and aspects, she was taken with them. The images affected her eyes, and they conveyed corruption to her heart, or that which stirred the corruption pre-existent in her heart. Adultery and idolatry have their chief entrance by the eye, and many other sins likewise. What a sad thing was it, that Jerusalem’s eyes should be taken with the painted images of Babylonians! Some confess there is danger by gazing upon living objects, the beauties of men and women, but they fear none from dead objects; but Achan saw a wedge of gold and a Babylonish garment, and they snared him; Aholibah here saw Babylonish pictures, and they ensnared him.
5. For God’s people to admit any part of Babylonish worship is to defile the bed of love. God is a jealous God, His worship must be pure, and the heart must be pure. If the worship be mixed, or heart lean upon an arm of flesh, the bed of love is defiled. In His worship and ordinances God lets out His love to the soul. When they are pure, by the heart being pure and confiding in God, He lets out Himself and His love. Let us look to our hearts, that they may be disengaged from all creature confidences, and to our worship that it be according to God, and then we shall have communion with and comfort from our Beloved.
6. Wickedness is inconstant. “Her mind was alienated from them.” She was taken with the very images of the Babylonians; now she cares not for the men themselves, her soul is disjointed from them; but it was to fall in with some others, and they were the Egyptians (Eze_23:19). But she held not there long; which made the Lord to say, “Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wert ashamed of Assyria” (Jer_2:36).
7. Impudence and open sinning cause God to disown and renounce them that do so. Aholibah discovered her whoredoms and nakedness; she talked openly what she had done with the Babylonians, she set up altars and idols in every street, was openly and impudently wicked, prostituting herself to all in the streets. Now it being so, saith the Lord, “then my mind was alienated from her,” seeing she is become so audaciously wicked, I can affect her no longer. Jerusalem’s wickedness alienated God’s heart from her, made Him renounce her for a harlot. It is sad when God renounces (Hos_1:9). If we would not have God’s heart alienated from us, and so be disowned, renounced by Him, let us take heed of all sins, especially of impudency in any sin.
8. Fresh sins bring to mind former old sins. Aholibah’s latter trucking with the Egyptians minded God of her primitive whoredoms and abominations, when she lived in Egypt, which was one thousand years before: there she had her lovers; there she defiled herself “with the idols of Egypt” (Exek. Eze_20:7); and her affection now to Egypt, and Egypt’s paramours, caused God to mind those sins of her youth. He had no pleasure in doing so, but Aholibah called them to remembrance, by acting the same or the like things again, she called them out of darkness, and presented them to the view of God. (Greenhill).
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v22 The Lord’s Punishment upon the two Kingdoms
The Lord’s Punishment upon the two Kingdoms
v. 22. Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord God, the sovereign Ruler of the universe, Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, the very allies upon whose constancy Jerusalem thought she could depend, from whom thy mind is alienated, as she turned from Assyria to Egypt, and I will bring them against thee on every side, in manifest enmity, with a desire to wreak their vengeance upon the fickle wanton:
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v. 23. the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, at that time representing the world empire, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, words signifying leadership or supremacy, and probably standing for the leaders of the three branches of military forces in the Chaldean army, 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. The latter is said in bitter irony, for the same most desirable allies upon whom Judah had doted in foolish passion now became the instruments of God’s wrath to chastise her.
v. 24. And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, scythe-armed battle-chariots, the size of whose wheels made them doubly formidable, and with an assembly of people, troops of the various provinces and countries under the Babylonian dominion, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about, using all the weapons of war to gain their ends; and I will set judgment before them, appointing them to carry out His sentence of punishment, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments, which, in agreement with their heathenish ideas, were barbarously severe.
v. 25. And I will set My jealousy against thee, which in this case took on the nature of a zeal for destruction, and they shall deal furiously with thee, with unbridled wrath; they shall take away thy nose and thine ears, an allusion to the Oriental custom of mutilating adulteresses, and thy remnant shall fall by the sword, the destruction of Judah thus being consummated; they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue, with reference to rich dresses and costly jewels by means of which lewd women seek to attract, shall be devoured by the fire.
v. 26. They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, instruments of luxury and lewdness as they were, and take away thy fair jewels, the gaudy ornaments with which the spiritual adulteress bedecked herself.
v. 27. Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, so that the Jews would learn to abhor idolatry, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt, which had persisted through all these centuries, so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, namely, in reverence and adoration, nor remember Egypt any more.
v. 28. For thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou, after her recent transfer of affection, hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated;
v. 29. and they shall deal with thee hatefully, with the hatred of those who feel themselves spurned, and shall take away all thy labor, all that she had worked so hard to accumulate, and shall leave thee naked and bare, stripped of all her possessions; and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, laid bare before the eyes of the whole world, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms, so that men would speak of her spiritual adultery with loathing.
v. 30. I will do these things unto thee because thou last gone a-whoring after the heathen, becoming partaker of their idolatrous wickedness, and because thou art polluted with their idols.
v. 31. Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister, following the wicked example of Samaria; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand, namely, the cup of her punishment.
v. 32. Thus saith the Lord God, Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup deep and large, in full draughts; thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision, an object of mockery and contempt on every hand; it containeth much, for God is not lax and lenient in His punishment upon idolaters.
v. 33. Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, her intoxication being caused by the Lord and followed by extreme misery, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria, rather, "a cup of wasting and desolation is the cup of thy sister Samaria. "
v. 34. Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, so that she would feel the full effect of its bitterness, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, gnawing them in a sort of passion to feel the fullness of God’s anger, and pluck off thine own breasts, willfully mutilating them as the instruments of lewdness; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.
v. 35. therefore, thus saith the Lord God, in once more summarizing His sentence upon Judah, Because thou hast forgotten Me, the Lord and Master of her youth, and cast Me behind thy back, in the height of contempt, therefore, in just retribution, bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms, namely, in their guilt and damnableness.
v. 36. The Lord said moreover unto me, Son of man, wilt thou judge, namely, in pronouncing judgment upon, Aholah and Aholibah? Yea, declare unto them their abominations, setting forth the individual acts of wickedness with which they are charged,
v. 37. that they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, the blood of unlawful sacrifices; and with their idols have they committed adultery, for the spiritual adultery of idol-worship was often connected with physical adultery and immorality of the worst kind, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto Me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them, in the hideous and repulsive Molech cult.
v. 38. Moreover, this they have done unto Me: they have defiled My Sanctuary in the same day, in the very day that they committed such shocking abominations, and have profaned My Sabbaths. Cf.Ezekiel 20:13.
v. 39. For when they had slain their children to their idols, sacrificing them to Molech, the abomination of the Moabites, then they came the same day, while the guilt of their wickedness was still on their hands, into My Sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of Mine house, without the slightest regard for the sanctity of the Lord’s Temple.
v. 40. And furthermore, another point to be urged against the Jews in their apostasy, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent, the Jews going to much trouble in carrying out their purpose; and, lo, they came, for whom thou, like a lewd woman, didst wash thyself, paintedst thine eyes, staining the eyelashes to make the glance of the eye more brilliant, for that is the object of women of this type, who barter their soul by such means, and deckedst thyself with ornaments, all to make herself more attractive to men,
v. 41. and satest upon a stately bed, on an elaborately cushioned couch, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set Mine incense and Mine oil, gifts of the Lord and properly made as sacrifices to Him alone.
v. 42. And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her, a loose and boisterous crowd taking advantage of the invitation of Jerusalem; and with the men of the common sort, the members of the mobs surging through the streets, were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, drunken revelers, which put bracelets upon their hands and beautiful crowns upon their heads, both of the lewd women being thus bedecked by their wicked lovers.
v. 43. Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, well versed in adulteries, worn out by adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her and she with them? Was their sense of shame so far gone as to cause them to desecrate the very city of God’s holiness?
v. 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. In spite of all the warnings of God they became guilty of gross idolatry, calmly ignoring the very sense of decency and shame.
v. 45. And the righteous men, in this case the Chaldeans, as the executioners of God’s sentence of judgment, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses and after the manner of women that shed blood, such as are guilty of murder, because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands, they have been found guilty of the most flagrant crimes.
v. 46. For thus saith the Lord God, I will bring up a company upon them, a council of judges to pass sentence upon the criminals, and will give them to be removed and spoiled, to be exiled and plundered.
v. 47. And the company shall stone them with stones, the usual mode of execution in the case of adulteresses, and dispatch them with their swords, as though removing them out of their misery; they shall slay their Sons and their daughters, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah, and burn up their houses with fire.
v. 48. Thus will I cause lewdness, every form of idolatry, to cease out of the land, that all women, in this case all nations, may be taught not to do after your lewdness.
v. 49. And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, paving them back in the proper coin, as they had deserved, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols, those committed with them, by means of them; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God. The very horror of the description makes the sin of Judah stand out all the more strongly, the effect intended by the Lord being that of making all men look upon similar transgressions with shuddering revulsion.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8, 11, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 40, 42, 43, 46, 48 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues his metaphor in which he speaks of the cities of Jerusalem and Samaria as if they were two prostitutes. This metaphor continues through Ezekiel 23:34. (See: Metaphor)
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to pour out their promiscuous behavior on her
This speaks of the men acting promiscuously towards her as if their promiscuous behavior were a large amount of water that they were pouring out on her. AT: "to act promiscuously towards her" or "to act lustfully towards her" (See: Metaphor)
I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians
The word "hand" refers to power or control. The two phrases have the same meaning and the second phrase explains that "her lovers" were "the Assyrians." AT: "I gave her over to her lovers, the Assyrians" (See: Metonymy and Parallelism)
they executed judgment on her
This is an idiom. AT: "they talked about her disgrace" or "she had a bad reputation among them" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
Egypt
hand
sword
shame
judge
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 11, 19, 22, 25, 31, 36, 44 23:9-10 The northern kingdom was overrun by the Assyrian…
23:9-10 The northern kingdom was overrun by the Assyrian army in 722 BC, and its people were dispersed throughout the Assyrian Empire.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.