Ezekiel 23:43

43 "Then I spoke about Oholibah. She was worn out by adultery. I said, 'Let them use her as a prostitute. After all, that is what she is.'

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 She sat down on a beautiful couch. A table was in front of it. There she put the incense and olive oil that belonged to me.

42 "The noise of a carefree crowd was all around her. Sabeans were brought from the desert. Other men were brought along with them. They put bracelets on the arms of the two sisters. They put beautiful crowns on their heads.

43 "Then I spoke about Oholibah. She was worn out by adultery. I said, 'Let them use her as a prostitute. After all, that is what she is.'

44 So they had sex with her. In fact, they had sex with both of those impure women, Oholah and Oholibah. It was just like having sex with prostitutes.

45 "But men who are right with God will sentence the sisters to be punished. They will be punished in the same way as women who commit adultery and murder. After all, they have committed adultery. And their hands are covered with the blood of the people they have murdered."