1.
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2.
Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:
2. two . . . of one mother—Israel
and Judah, one nation by birth from the same ancestress, Sarah.
3.
And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
3. Even so early in their
history as their Egyptian sojourn, they committed idolatries (see on
Ezekiel 23:2; Ezekiel 23:2).
in their youth—an
aggravation of their sin. It was at the very time of their receiving
extraordinary favors from God (Ezekiel 16:6;
Ezekiel 16:22).
they bruised—namely,
the Egyptians.
4.
And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.
4. Aholah—that is, "Her
tent" (put for worship, as the first worship of God in
Israel was in a tent or tabernacle), as contrasted with
Aholibah, that is, "My tent in her." The Beth-el
worship of Samaria was of her own devising, not of God's
appointment; the temple-worship of Jerusalem was expressly appointed
by Jehovah, who "dwelt" there, "setting up His
tabernacle among the people as His" (Exodus 25:8;
Leviticus 26:11; Leviticus 26:12;
Joshua 22:19; Psalms 76:2).
the elder—Samaria is
called "the elder" because she preceded Judah in her
apostasy and its punishment.
they were mine—Previous
to apostasy under Jeroboam, Samaria (Israel, or the ten tribes),
equally with Judah, worshipped the true God. God therefore never
renounced the right over Israel, but sent prophets, as Elijah and
Elisha, to declare His will to them.
5.
And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,
5. when . . . mine—literally,
"under Me," that is, subject to Me as her lawful husband.
neighbours—On the
northeast the kingdom of Israel bordered on that of Assyria; for the
latter had occupied much of Syria. Their neighborhood in locality was
emblematical 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 (2 Kings 15:19;
2 Kings 16:7; 2 Kings 16:9;
2 Kings 17:3; Hosea 8:9).
6.
Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
6. blue—rather, "purple"
[FAIRBAIRN]. As a lustful
woman's passions are fired by showy dress and youthful appearance in
men, so Israel was seduced by the pomp and power of Assyria (compare
Isaiah 10:8).
horsemen—cavaliers.
7.
Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.
7. all their idols—There was
nothing that she refused to her lovers.
8.
Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.
8. whoredoms brought from Egypt—the
calves set up in Dan and Beth-el by Jeroboam, answering to the
Egyptian bull-formed idol Apis. Her alliances with Egypt
politically are also meant (Isaiah 30:2;
Isaiah 30:3; Isaiah 31:1).
The ten tribes probably resumed the Egyptian rites, in order to
enlist the Egyptians against Judah (Isaiah 31:1).
9.
Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
9. God, in righteous
retribution, turned their objects of trust into the instruments of
their punishment: Pul, Tiglath-pileser, Esar-haddon, and Shalmaneser
(2 Kings 15:19; 2 Kings 15:29;
2 Kings 17:3; 2 Kings 17:6;
2 Kings 17:24; Ezra 4:2;
Ezra 4:10). "It was their sin
to have sought after such lovers, and it was to be their punishment
that these lovers should become their destroyers" [FAIRBAIRN].
10.
These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.
10. became famous—literally,
"she became a name," that is, as notorious by her
punishment as she had been by her sins, so as to be quoted as a
warning to others.
women—that is,
neighboring peoples.
11.
And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.
11. Judah, the southern kingdom,
though having the "warning" (see on ) of the northern kingdom before her eyes, instead of
profiting by it, went to even greater lengths in corruption than
Israel. Her greater spiritual privileges made her guilt the greater
(Ezekiel 16:47; Ezekiel 16:51;
Jeremiah 3:11).
12.
She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
12. (Ezekiel 23:6;
Ezekiel 23:23).
most gorgeously—literally,
"to perfection." GROTIUS
translates, "wearing a crown," or "chaplet," such
as lovers wore in visiting their mistresses.
13.
Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way,
13. one way—both alike
forsaking God for heathen confidences.
14.
And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,
14. vermilion—the peculiar
color of the Chaldeans, as purple was of the Assyrians. In striking
agreement with this verse is the fact that the Assyrian sculptures
lately discovered have painted and colored bas-reliefs in red, blue,
and black. The Jews (for instance Jehoiakim, ) copied these (compare ).
15.
Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:
15. exceeding in dyed attire—rather,
"in ample dyed turbans"; literally, "redundant
with dyed turbans." The Assyrians delighted in ample, flowing,
and richly colored tunics, scarfs, girdles, and head-dresses or
turbans, varying in ornaments according to the rank.
Chaldea, . . . land of their
nativity—between the Black and Caspian Seas (see on ).
princes—literally, a
first-rate military class that fought by threes in the chariots, one
guiding the horses, the other two fighting.
16.
And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
16. sent messengers . . . into
Chaldea— (Ezekiel 16:29). It
was she that solicited the Chaldeans, not they her. Probably the
occasion was when Judah sought to strengthen herself by a Chaldean
alliance against a menaced attack by Egypt (compare 2 Kings 23:29-35;
2 Kings 24:1-7). God made the
object of their sinful desire the instrument of their punishment.
Jehoiakim, probably by a stipulation of tribute, enlisted
Nebuchadnezzar against Pharaoh, whose tributary he previously had
been; failing to keep his stipulation, he brought on himself
Nebuchadnezzar's vengeance.
17.
And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.
17. alienated from them—namely,
from the Chaldeans: turning again to the Egyptians (), trying by their help to throw off her solemn engagements
to Babylon (compare Jeremiah 37:5;
Jeremiah 37:7; 2 Kings 24:7).
18.
So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister.
18. my mind was alienated from
her—literally, "was broken off from her." Just
retribution for "her mind being alienated (broken off) from the
Chaldeans" (Ezekiel 23:17),
to whom she had sworn fealty (Ezekiel 23:17). "Discovered" implies the open shamelessness
of her apostasy.
19.
Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
19. Israel first "called"
her lusts, practised when in Egypt, "to her (fond) remembrance,"
and then actually returned to them. Mark the danger of suffering the
memory to dwell on the pleasure felt in past sins.
20.
For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
20. their paramours—that is,
her paramours among them (the Egyptians); she doted upon their
persons as her paramours (Ezekiel 23:5;
Ezekiel 23:12; Ezekiel 23:16).
flesh—the membrum
virile (very large in the ass). Compare Ezekiel 23:16, Margin; Ezekiel 23:16.
issue of horses—the
seminal issue. The horse was made by the Egyptians the hieroglyphic
for a lustful person.
21.
Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.
21. calledst to remembrance—"didst
repeat" [MAURER].
in bruising—in
suffering . . . to be bruised.
22.
There, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;
22. lovers . . . alienated—
(Ezekiel 23:17). Illicit love,
soon or late, ends in open hatred (Ezekiel 23:17). The Babylonians, the objects formerly of their
God-forgetting love, but now, with characteristic fickleness, objects
of their hatred, shall be made by God the instruments of their
punishment.
23.
The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.
23. Pekod, c.— (). Not a geographical name, but descriptive of Babylon.
"Visitation," peculiarly the land of "judgment"
in a double sense: actively, the inflicter of judgment on
Judah; passively, as about to be afterwards herself the object
of judgment.
Shoa . . . Koa—"rich
. . . noble"; descriptive of Babylon in her prosperity, having
all the world's wealth and dignity at her disposal. MAURER
suggests that, as descriptive appellatives are subjoined to the
proper name, "all the Assyrians" in the second hemistich of
the verse (as the verse ought to be divided at "Koa"), so
Pekod, Shoa, and Koa must be appellatives descriptive of "The
Babylonians and . . . Chaldeans" in the first hemistich; "Pekod"
meaning "prefects"; Shoa . . . Koa, "rich . . .
princely."
desirable young men—strong
irony. Alluding to Ezekiel 23:12,
these "desirable young men" whom thou didst so "dote
upon" for their manly vigor of appearance, shall by that very
vigor be the better able to chastise thee.
24.
And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.
24. with chariots—or, "with
armaments"; so the Septuagint; "axes" [MAURER];
or, joining it with "wagons," translate, "with
scythe-armed wagons," or "chariots" [GROTIUS].
wheels—The unusual
height of these increased their formidable appearance ().
their judgments—which
awarded barbarously severe punishments (Jeremiah 52:9;
Jeremiah 29:22).
25.
And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
25. take away thy nose . . .
ears—Adulteresses were punished so among the Egyptians and
Chaldeans. Oriental beauties wore ornaments in the ear and nose. How
just the retribution, that the features most bejewelled should be
mutilated! So, allegorically as to Judah, the spiritual adulteress.
26.
They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
26. strip . . . of . . .
clothes—whereby she attracted her paramours ().
27.
Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.
27. Thus . . . make . . . lewdness
to cease—The captivity has made the Jews ever since abhor
idolatry, not only on their return from Babylon, but for the last
eighteen centuries of their dispersion, as foretold ().
28.
For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated:
28. (Ezekiel 23:17;
Ezekiel 23:18; Ezekiel 16:37).
29.
And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
29. take away . . . thy labour—that
is, the fruits of thy labor.
leave thee naked—as
captive females are treated.
30.
I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.
31.
Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.
31. her cup—of punishment
(Psalms 11:6; Psalms 75:8;
Jeremiah 25:15, &c.). Thy guilt
and that of Israel being alike, your punishment shall be alike.
32.
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.
33.
Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
34.
Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
34. break . . . sherds—So
greedily shalt thou suck out every drop like one drinking to madness
(the effect invariably ascribed to drinking God's cup of wrath,
Jeremiah 51:7; Habakkuk 2:16)
that thou shalt crunch the very shreds of it; that is, there shall be
no evil left which thou shalt not taste.
pluck off thine own
breasts—enraged against them as the ministers to thine
adultery.
35.
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
35. forgotten me—the root of
all sin (Jeremiah 2:32; Jeremiah 13:25).
cast me behind thy back—
(1 Kings 14:9; Nehemiah 9:26).
bear . . . thy lewdness—that
is, its penal consequences (Nehemiah 9:26).
36.
The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;
36-44. A summing up of the sins
of the two sisters, especially those of Judah.
wilt thou judge—Wilt
thou (not) judge (see on Ezekiel 23:2)?
37.
That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.
38.
Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
38. the same day—On the very
day that they had burned their children to Molech in the valley of
Gehenna, they shamelessly and hypocritically presented themselves as
worshippers in Jehovah's temple (Jeremiah 7:9;
Jeremiah 7:10).
39.
For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house.
36-44. A summing up of the sins
of the two sisters, especially those of Judah.
wilt thou judge—Wilt
thou (not) judge (see on Ezekiel 23:2)?
40.
And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,
40. messenger was sent—namely,
by Judah (Ezekiel 23:16; Isaiah 57:9).
paintedst . . . eyes—
(2 Kings 9:30, Margin; 2 Kings 9:30). Black paint was spread on the eyelids of beauties to make
the white of the eye more attractive by the contrast, so Judah left
no seductive art untried.
41.
And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.
41. bed—divan. While men
reclined at table, women sat, as it seemed indelicate for them to lie
down (Amos 6:4) [GROTIUS].
table—that is, the
idolatrous altar.
mine incense—which I
had given thee, and which thou oughtest to have offered to Me
(Ezekiel 16:18; Ezekiel 16:19;
Hosea 2:8; compare Hosea 2:8).
42.
And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.
42. Sabeans—Not content with
the princely, handsome Assyrians, the sisters brought to themselves
the rude robber hordes of Sabeans (). The Keri, or Margin, reads "drunkards."
upon their hands—upon
the hands of the sisters, that is, they allured Samaria and Judah to
worship their gods.
43.
Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?
43. Will they, &c.—Is it
possible that paramours will desire any longer to commit whoredoms
with so worn-out an old adulteress?
44.
Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.
36-44. A summing up of the sins
of the two sisters, especially those of Judah.
wilt thou judge—Wilt
thou (not) judge (see on Ezekiel 23:2)?
45.
And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
45. the righteous men—the
Chaldeans; the executioners of God's righteous vengeance (), not that they were "righteous" in themselves
(Habakkuk 1:3; Habakkuk 1:12;
Habakkuk 1:13).
46.
For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
46. a company—properly, "a
council of judges" passing sentence on a criminal [GROTIUS].
The "removal" and "spoiling" by the Chaldean army
is the execution of the judicial sentence of God.
47.
And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
47. stones—the legal penalty
of the adulteress (Ezekiel 16:40;
Ezekiel 16:41; John 8:5).
Answering to the stones hurled by the Babylonians from engines
in besieging Jerusalem.
houses . . . fire—fulfilled
(2 Chronicles 36:17; 2 Chronicles 36:19).
48.
Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.
48. ().
that all . . . may be taught
not to do, &c.— ().
49.
And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
49. bear the sins of your idols—that
is, the punishment of your idolatry.
know that I am the Lord
God—that is, know it to your cost . . . by bitter suffering.