Ezekiel 23:43

43 Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Now shalt thy whoredoms come to an end, and she with them;

Ezekiel 23:43 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 23:43

Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries
That had been an old adulterer or idolater; meaning either Aholah the ten tribes, who from Jeroboam's time had been guilty of idolatry; or Aholibah the two tribes, who had remained longer in their own country, and had been long given to idolatry; or both of them, as some think, the whole body of the people of Israel, who had been addicted to idolatry ever since they came out of Egypt, and so was like an old harlot indeed: now the Lord said "unto her", or "concerning her" ^F12; in his own mind, after the manner of men. So the Targum,

``I said concerning the congregation of Israel, whose people are old in sins:''

will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?
will they commit adultery with such an old harlot? are they not weary of her? and will they not rather loath and despise her? as it is common when such prostitutes grow old; and what pleasure can she take, thus advanced in years, in such impurities? suggesting that alliances and confederacies between the Jews and the nations of the world could not be agreeable on either side, especially to the former; but so it was, and so were their idolatries likewise. The Targum is,

``now she will leave her idols, and return to thy worship; but she returned not.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 (hlbl) "de inveterata illa", Vatablus.

Ezekiel 23:43 In-Context

41 and sit upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, upon which thou hast set my incense and my oil.

42 And in her was heard a voice of a multitude at a feast; and with the men of renown were brought the Sabeans from the wilderness to multiply the men, and they put bracelets upon their hands and crowns of glory upon their heads.

43 Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Now shalt thy whoredoms come to an end, and she with them;

44 for they have come to her, as those who come to a woman that plays the harlot, so they went in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.

45 Therefore righteous men shall judge them by the law of adulteresses and after the law of women that shed blood because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.