Ezekiel 23:40

The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations; A summing up of the sins of the two sisters, especially those of Judah. A summing up of the sins of the two sisters, especially those of Judah. Verse 36. WILT THOU JUDGE AHOLAH AND AHOLIBAH? - that is, wilt thou not judge them (note, Ezekiel 20:4). Verse 38. THEY HAVE DEFILED MY SANCTUARY IN THE SAME DAY - on the very day that they had burned their children to Moloch in the valley of Gehenna, they shamelessly and hypocritically presented themselves as worshippers in Yahweh's temple, thereby 'defiling' it (Jeremiah 7:9). Verse 40. Ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom...

Verse Ezekiel 23:40. _THOU DIDST WASH THYSELF, PAINTEDST THY EYES, AND_ _DECKEDST THYSELF WITH ORNAMENTS._] This is exactly the way in which a loose female in Bengal adorns herself to receive guests. She first bathes, then rubs black paint around her eyes, and then covers her body with ornaments.-WARD'S _Customs_....

The figure is that of a woman decked in all her beauty, sitting on a couch (not bed) at a banquet prepared for those whom she has invited. This further offence is not one of idolatry, but that of courting alliances with other powers which were not less readily made than broken. Ezekiel 23:40 THAT YE HAVE SENT - Better, “they (i. e., Israel and Judah) sent.”...

EXPOSITION After another pause, the prophet enters on another elaborate parallel, after the pattern of Ezekiel 16:1; but with a marked variation. There we have the history of one harlot, _s.c. _of Israel in its collective unity. There we have two sister harlots, the daughters of one mother, and they are Samaria and Jerusalem, as both belonging to Israel. For the purpose of the parable, they are represented as having had a separate existence, even during the period of the sojourn in Egypt. This was probably historically true, the line of cleavage caused by the claims of Ephraim to supremacy appearing again and again long before the revolt of the tea tribes under Jeroboam (Judges 8:1; Judges 12:1;...

AND FURTHERMORE, THAT YE HAVE SENT FOR MEN TO COME FROM FAR,.... From Egypt, Assyria, and Chaldea, to treat with them, and enter into alliances and confederacies with them, and to join them in their idolatrous practices; these Heathen nations did not send to the Jews, but the Jews to them; they did not court their friendship and alliance, but the Jews courted theirs: UNTO WHOM A MESSENGER WAS SENT; to court their favour, and solicit a confederacy, and to desire that ambassadors might be sent to reside among them: AND, LO, THEY CAME; these Heathen courts listened to the proposal, and accordingly sent their plenipotentiaries and ambassadors to them, who came in their masters' name, and with their credentials; and for the reception of whom great preparations were made, as follows: FOR WHOM THOU DIDST WASH THYSELF, PAINTEDST THY EYES, AND DECKEDST THYSELF WITH ORNAMENTS; just as harlots d...

In Ezekiel 23:1 Samaria and Jerusalem are called two sisters, Aholah and Aholibah, in their ungodly relation with Assyria and Chaldea. Aholah means “her tent.” Aholibah, “my tent is in her.” The latter denotes the fact that the true sanctuary was in Judah. The sins and vileness of both are portrayed throughout this long chapter, as well as the deserved punishment....

EZEKIEL 23. FATAL ALLIANCE WITH FOREIGNERS. This is the third and last of the three great indictments (Ezekiel 16, 20) which draw their material from the past rather than (as Ezekiel 22) from the present. Its underlying imagery is the same as that of ch. 16, but it differs from that chapter in dealing with the northern and southern kingdoms separately (_cf. Ezekiel 16:46_) and in emphasizing political rather than religious entanglements, though of course foreign alliances did as a matter of fact involve the recognition of foreign gods, i_.e._ idolatry (Ezekiel 22:7). Samaria and Jerusalem, the capitals of Israel and Judah respectively, are described as sisters married to Yahweh (_cf._ Jacob with his two sister wives). Their names, Oholah and Oholibah, are significantly connected with t

MEN. Plural _of 'mush._ App-14. WASH THYSELF. Compare Ruth 3:3. PAINTEDST, he. Compare 2 Kings 9:30; Jeremiah 4:30....

New exposure of the immoralities of Oholah and Oholibah (Ezekiel 23:36), and threat of their punishment (Ezekiel 23:45) The passage is not a continuation of Ezekiel 23:1, but an independent description, parallel to these verses. (1) Ezekiel 23:36. The adulteries, that is, idolatries, and bloodshed of which the two women are guilty. (2) _vv_, 38, 39. Their profaning the house of Jehovah, and breaking; his Sabbaths the former particularly in their entering his house fresh from the sacrifice of their children. (3) Ezekiel 23:40

AND FURTHERMORE—_ But when they had called in those men who came from far, and to whom they had sent messengers, lo! they came to her, who had washed herself, had painted her eyes_ [with stibium], _and decked herself with ornaments._ Ezekiel 23:41. _She sat upon a stately bed,_ &c. Houbigant. See 2 Kings 9:30. This is spoken of Aholibah only, to whom the Assyrians came principally, after they had seduced Aholah. The times of Ahaz are alluded to, who called in the Assyrians to assist him against the kings of Assyria and Israel; for in those times _Aholibah_ or _Judah_ revolted to the gods of the Assyrians. By the _stately bed_ and _table_ placed before Aholibah, seems to be meant the altar which Ahaz raised after the similitude of that which he had seen at Damascus. Se