Ezekiel 23:18-28

18 When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her naked body, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister.
19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt.
20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.
21 So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.[a]
22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will stir up your lovers against you, those you turned away from in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side—
23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of high rank, all mounted on horses.
24 They will come against you with weapons,[b] chariots and wagons and with a throng of people; they will take up positions against you on every side with large and small shields and with helmets. I will turn you over to them for punishment, and they will punish you according to their standards.
25 I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears, and those of you who are left will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and daughters, and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire.
26 They will also strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry.
27 So I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt. You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt anymore.
28 “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am about to deliver you into the hands of those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust.

Ezekiel 23:18-28 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

Cross References 19

  • 1. S Isaiah 57:8
  • 2. Psalms 78:59; Psalms 106:40; Jeremiah 6:8
  • 3. Jeremiah 12:8; Amos 5:21
  • 4. S Ezekiel 16:26
  • 5. S Jeremiah 4:30
  • 6. S Ezekiel 16:37
  • 7. 2 Kings 20:14-18; S Jeremiah 40:9
  • 8. S Genesis 11:28
  • 9. Jeremiah 50:21
  • 10. S 2 Kings 24:2
  • 11. Jeremiah 47:3; Ezekiel 26:7,10; Nahum 2:4
  • 12. Jeremiah 39:5-6
  • 13. S Deuteronomy 29:20
  • 14. ver 47; Ezekiel 24:21
  • 15. S Jeremiah 12:9; S Ezekiel 16:38; S Ezekiel 20:47-48
  • 16. S Jeremiah 13:22
  • 17. S Isaiah 3:18-23; S Ezekiel 16:39
  • 18. S Ezekiel 16:41
  • 19. S Jeremiah 34:20

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Syriac (see also verse 3); Hebrew "caressed because of your young breasts"
  • [b]. The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
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