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Ezekiel 23:2-12

Listen to Ezekiel 23:2-12
2 1“Son of man, there were 2two women, the daughters of one mother.
3 3They played the whore in Egypt; 4they played the whore 5in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms[a] handled.
4 Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. 6They became mine, and they 7bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is 8Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.
5 “Oholah played the whore 9while she was mine, and 10she lusted after her lovers 11the Assyrians, warriors
6 clothed in purple, 12governors and commanders, 13all of them desirable young men, 14horsemen riding on horses.
7 She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted.
8 She did not give up her whoring 15that she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her.
9 Therefore 16I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted.
10 17These uncovered her nakedness; 18they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became 19a byword among women, 20when judgment had been executed on her.
11 21“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became 22more corrupt than her sister[b] in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister.
12 She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, 23all of them desirable young men.

Ezekiel 23:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 23

In this chapter the idolatries of Israel and Judah are represented under the metaphor of two harlots, and their lewdness. These harlots are described by their descent; by the place and time in which they committed their whoredoms; by their names, and which are explained, Eze 23:1-4, the idolatries of Israel, or the ten tribes, under the name of Aholah, which they committed with the Assyrians, and which they continued from the Egyptians, of whom they had learned them, are exposed, Eze 23:5-8, and their punishment for them is declared, Eze 23:9,10 then the idolatries of Judah, or the two tribes, under the name of Aholibah, are represented as greater than those of the ten tribes, Eze 23:11, which they committed with the Assyrians, Eze 23:12, with the Chaldeans and Babylonians, Eze 23:13-18 in imitation of the Egyptians, reviving former idolatries learnt of them, Eze 23:19-21, wherefore they are threatened, that the Chaldeans, Babylonians, and Assyrians, should come against them, and spoil them, and carry them captive, Eze 23:22-35, and the prophet is bid to declare the abominable sin of them both, Eze 23:36-44, and to signify that they should be judged after the manner of adulteresses, should be stoned, and dispatched with swords, their sons and their daughters, and their houses burnt with fire; by which means their adulteries or idolatries should be made to cease, Eze 23:45-49.

as the Targum; another prophecy, one upon the same subject, as in Eze 16:1,

\\saying\\; as follows:

28967-950611-1613-Eze23.2

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Cross References 23

  • 1. 23:2 See ch. 2:1
  • 2. 23:2 [ch. 16:45, 46]
  • 3. 23:3 See ch. 16:15
  • 4. 23:3 See ch. 16:15
  • 5. 23:3 [ch. 16:22]
  • 6. 23:4 ch. 16:8
  • 7. 23:4 [ver. 37]
  • 8. 23:4 [ch. 16:46]
  • 9. 23:5 Num. 5:19, 20
  • 10. 23:5 [Hos. 2:5]
  • 11. 23:5 2 Kgs. 15:19; 17:3; Hos. 8:9
  • 12. 23:6 ver. 23
  • 13. 23:6 ver. 23
  • 14. 23:6 ch. 38:15; [Isa. 5:28]
  • 15. 23:8 [ver. 3, 19]
  • 16. 23:9 [2 Kgs. 15:29]; See 2 Kgs. 17:4-6, 23; 18:9-11
  • 17. 23:10 ver. 29; See ch. 16:37
  • 18. 23:10 ver. 25
  • 19. 23:10 [ch. 16:14]
  • 20. 23:10 See ch. 5:8
  • 21. 23:11 Jer. 3:8, 9
  • 22. 23:11 Jer. 3:11; See ch. 16:47
  • 23. 23:12 [See ver. 6 above]

Footnotes 2

  • [a] 23:3 Hebrew 'nipples'; also verses 8, 21
  • [b] 23:11 Hebrew 'than she'
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025

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