Ezekiel 23:5

5 "Even when she belonged to me, Oholah prostituted herself; she lusted after her lovers from Ashur - warriors

Ezekiel 23:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 23:5

And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine
His married wife, and so ought to have cleaved to him alone: or, under me {o}; under his cover, power, and protection, and therefore it was their interest to serve him only: or, "instead of me" F16; or, as the Syriac version, "besides me": they worshipped other gods in the room of the true God, or other gods besides him. The Targum is,

``and Aholah erred from my worship;''
the ten tribes fell into idolatry, when they were God's professing people: and she doted on her lovers;
whom she loved even to madness; she was mad with love, to the idols, temples, altars, and idolatrous worship of the Heathens; particularly doted "on the Assyrians her neighbours"; who were become so by the conquest of Syria; and these they treated as their neighbours, and sought to have them to be their allies and confederates; courted their help and assistance, and gave them much money for that purpose; as Menahem gave to Pul king of Assyria a thousand talents of silver, to confirm the kingdom in his hand, ( 2 Kings 15:19 ) .
FOOTNOTES:

F15 (ytxt) "sub me", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Tigurine version. Piscator, Cocceius, Starckius.
F16 "Exteros excipiens loco meo", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus.

Ezekiel 23:5 In-Context

3 who were whores in Egypt - even as young girls they were whores. There they let their breasts be caressed, and there their virgin nipples were fondled.
4 Their names were Oholah, the older one, and Oholivah, her sister. They belonged to me, and they gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their names, Shomron is Oholah, and Yerushalayim is Oholivah
5 "Even when she belonged to me, Oholah prostituted herself; she lusted after her lovers from Ashur - warriors
6 dressed in blue, governors, rulers, all of them good-looking young men riding on horseback.
7 She gave herself as a whore to them, all of them the elite of Ashur; and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.