Ezekiel 23:43

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...

WILL THEY NOW COMMIT ... - Rather, Now shall there be committed her whoredom, even this; i. e., when Israel and Judah had courted these alliances God said in wrath, “This sin too shall be committed, and so (not “yet) they went in;” the alliances were made according to their desires, and then followed the consequent punishment....

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;...

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" l; 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 o...

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

AND SHE. even hers. Ginsburg thinks it should read so it was". Compare Ezekiel 16:15; Ezekiel 16:19....

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

E. Further Indictment of the Two Sisters 23:36-49 TRANSLATION (36) And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. (37) For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands, and with their idols they have committed adultery; and also their sons whom they bore to Me they offered up to them to be devoured. (38) This also they have done unto Me: they have defiled My sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned My sabbaths. (39) For when they had slain their sons to their idols, then they came unto My sanctuary the same day to profane it; and, behold, thus they did in the midst of My house. (40) And furthermore you have sent for men that come from afar; to whom a messenger was sent, and behold they came; for whom you washed, painted your eyes, and you decked yourself with ornaments; (41) and you sat upon a stately b...

23:43 her (f-5) Or 'to her.' she. (g-18) Some read 'Will they now commit fornications [with her], even with her,' or 'and she [with them]?'...