Ezekiel 23:5

And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours, AHOLAH PLAYED THE HARLOT WHEN SHE WAS MINE - literally, 'when she was under me,' - i:e., subject to me as her lawful husband. SHE DOTED ... ON THE ASSYRIANS HER NEIGHBOURS. On the northeast the kingdom of Israel bordered on that of Assyria, because the latter had occupied much of Syria. Their neighbourhood in locality was emblematic of their being near in corruption of morals and worship. The alliances of Israel with Assyria, which are the chief subject of reprobation here, tended to this (for instance, , Menahem's connection with Pul king of Assyria; ; , Ahaz's alliance with Ti...

Verse Ezekiel 23:5. _AND AHOLAH PLAYED THE HARLOT_] Without entering into detail here, or following the _figures_, they both became idolatrous, and received the impure rites of the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans, of which connexion the prophet speaks here as he did in Ezekiel 16:15 c., which see. In this chapter there are many of what we would call indelicate expressions, because a parallel is run between _idolatry_ and _prostitution_, and the circumstances of the latter illustrate the peculiarities of the former. In such cases, perhaps, the _matter_ alone was given to the prophet, and he was left to use his own language, and amplify as he saw good. _Ezekiel_ was among the _Jews_ what _Juvenal_ was among the Romans,-a rough reprover of the most

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 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" p; 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 g...

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

The intrigues of Samaria with Assyria 5. _when she was mine_ THOUGH MY WIFE, lit. under me. _Assyrians_her _neighbours_ In Ezekiel 16:26 the Egyptians are called Israel's "neighbours," but the Assyrians could hardly be so called, and indeed in Ezekiel 23:40 are referred to as "far off." The word may mean "warriors" (the similar word "war" or "battle" 2 Samuel 17:11 and often). Corn, suggests, "famous," the term used in Ezekiel 23:23. The verse should be connected with Ezekiel 23:6, as appears from...

B. Samaria's Prostitution 23:5-10 TRANSLATION (5) And Oholah committed harlotry under Me, and she threw herself on her lovers, on the Assyrians, warriors, (6) clothed with blue. governors and rulers, all of them handsome young men, horsemen riding on horses. (7) And she bestowed her harlotries upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whomsoever she threw herself, with all their idols she defiled herself. (8) And she did not forsake her Egyptian harlotries; for they lay with her in her youth, and they bruised her virgin breasts; and they poured out their lust upon her. (9) Therefore, I will give her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians upon whom she threw herself. (10) They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and daughters, and slew her with the sword, and she became a byword to women, for judgments were made against her. COMMENTS For th...

23:5 mine; (c-9) Or 'instead of remaining with me.'...

THE UNCHASTE SISTERS, OHOLAH AND OHOLIBAH The idolatries and foreign alliances of Jerusalem and Samaria are here described under the same strong figure which is used in Ezekiel 16. Oholah (Samaria) and Oholibah (Jerusalem) were two sisters, both seduced in Egypt in their youth (Ezekiel 23:3), both espoused by God (Ezekiel 23:4), and both unfaithful to Him. Samaria took as her lovers first the Assyrians (Ezekiel 23:5), and then the Egyptians (Ezekiel 23:8), and was at length slain by the former ...