Ezekiel 23:17

17 The Babylonians came on the run, fornicated with her, made her dirty inside and out. When they had thoroughly debased her, she lost interest in them.

Ezekiel 23:17 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 23:17

And the Babylonians came to her in the bed of love
Entered into alliance with the Jews, and worshipped together in the same idols' temple. Jarchi thinks this refers to the messengers of the king of Babylon to Hezekiah; who were gladly received by him, and to whom he showed all the treasures of his house: and they defiled her with their whoredom;
or with their idols, as the Targum; they drew them into their idolatrous practices; which were defiling them, and by which they were corrupted from the simplicity of the true worship of God: and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them:
or "plucked", or "disjoined from them" F25; the Chaldeans, broke league and covenant with them, hating them as much as before they doted upon them; this was done in the times of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, who rebelled against the king of Babylon, ( 2 Kings 24:1 2 Kings 24:20 ) as it often is the case with lewd women, when they have satisfied their lust with their gallants, loath and despise them, and cast them off.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 (Mhm hvpn eqtw) "avulsa est", Munster; "et luxata est anima ipsius ab eis", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus.

Ezekiel 23:17 In-Context

15 fancy belts around their waists, elaborate turbans on their heads, all of them looking important - famous Babylonians! -
16 she went wild with lust and sent invitations to them in Babylon.
17 The Babylonians came on the run, fornicated with her, made her dirty inside and out. When they had thoroughly debased her, she lost interest in them.
18 Then she went public with her fornication. She exhibited her sex to the world.
19 But that didn't slow her down. She went at her whoring harder than ever. She remembered when she was young, just starting out as a whore in Egypt
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.