Samaria is Aholah and Jerusalem Aholibah. Ezekiel 23 Aholah and Aholibah A London Minister. I. SIN IS SELF-POLLUTING AND THEREFORE SELF-DESTROYING. Constant contact with sin will pollute the conscience, and render it powerless to fulfil the end for which it has been implanted in the man. It will destroy the understanding in the sense that it renders it unable to see and know the things of God ( Ephesians 4:18, 19 ). Sin persisted in defiles the will, and makes it like a palsied limb which has no power to perform its functions. It pollutes the affections by bringing them in contact with debasing objects, until their power to love goodness is gone. And so the man, having destroyed all the forces of his being, stands before the universe with nothing left but his identity, which he cannot destroy. II. THOSE WHO DEPART FROM GOD SHALL BE PUNISHED BY THE WORLD FOR CHANGING THEIR MASTER. (Ver. 22.) The deserter who comes over from the enemy's camp is often regarded with suspicion and sometimes meets with contempt where he expected to find reward. His zeal in the service of his new master is looked upon as simply an effort to ingratiate himself for his own ends and he very often finds punishment instead of welcome. So the world to which the apostate from God returns becomes the instrument of his punishment. He must become a greater sinner than those to whom he joins himself in order to convince his new master that he is entirely with him. III. WHEN SINNERS CAN SERVE NO OTHER PURPOSE IN THE WORLD, THEY MAY RENDER A SERVICE BY BEING A WARNING TO OTHERS. We have shadows here of the truth that Hell has its use in the universe, and that men beyond reach of recovery may be of this use. Convicts have their sphere of usefulness, though it is of such a nature as to send a shudder through the mind of other men. The chained eagle is a warning to those whose wings are free. ( A London Minister. ) Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way. Ezekiel 23:13 Infection easy Manton says: "We easily catch an infectious disease from one another, but no man receiveth health from another's company." Too true. Evil communications inevitably corrupt good manners; but good communications do not so necessarily improve evil manners. We more readily learn evil than good, and we are also more forcible in communicating sin than virtue. Both as to the giving out and the receiving, the aptness lies on the wrong side. What a proof of our natural depravity! What a change must grace work in us before we shall be fully like our Lord Jesus, who was incapable of being inoculated by sin, but abundantly able to communicate goodness; for healing virtue proceeded from Him. When shall we become disseminators of holiness by our very presence? ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup. Ezekiel 23:23 The cup of wrath Homilist. I. THE SYMBOL SUGGESTED. 1. The "cup" is sometimes the emblem of joy and gladness ( Psalm 23:5 ); but here of indignation and wrath, in allusion probably to a very ancient method of punishing criminals — a poisoned cup. 2. The cup is sometimes afflictive dispensations ( Psalm 73:10 ); and though the Lord's people are made to drink deeply of it, yet the dregs only are reserved for the wicked ( Psalm 75:8 ). 3. The cup is significant of future and eternal misery, hence called "the cup of wrath" ( Revelation 16:19 ). The wrath of God and of the Lamb is put into it; the cup has been filling for many years; it will never be emptied. It is also called "the cup of fury," as containing the inexpressible fierceness of Divine indignation ( Jeremiah 25:15 ). II. THE DESCRIPTION AFFORDED — "Much." 1. It contains all the sins that we have ever committed, and these, if not now repented of, will fill us with ceaseless remorse. 2. It contains all the curses of that law which we have violated. 3. It is the everlasting vengeance of God. A lost estate, lost liberty, or lost friends may be regained; but the loss of the soul is irreparable. ( Homilist. ).

Benson Commentary Ezekiel 23:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Ezekiel 23:2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: Ezekiel 23:2-3 . There were two women, daughters of one mother — Judah and Israel, two kingdoms. “Countries are commonly represented as mothers of their people, and the inhabitants as their children: so the daughters of Syria signify the inhabitants of that country, Ezekiel 16:57 . Thus Samaria and Jerusalem are described in this chapter as sisters, the offspring of the same land, or country.” And they committed whoredoms in Egypt — The Israelites first learned idolatry in Egypt, for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were wholly free from it. They committed whoredoms in their youth — The time when the Israelites were in Egypt, or were lately departed out of it, is called their youth in the prophets, because that was the time when God first owned them for his people. There were their breasts pressed — “There they served idols, and there they corrupted their ways,” as the Chaldee paraphrase expresses the sense. The reader must observe, “The style of this chapter, like that of chap. 16., is adapted to persons among whom, at that time, no refinement subsisted. Large allowance must be made for language addressed to an ancient eastern people, in the worst period of their history; all whose ideas were sensual; and whose grand inducement to idolatry seems to have been the brutal impurities which it encouraged.” — Bishop Newcome. The Scripture commonly calls idolatrous churches and nations by the name of harlots: and in like manner honours those, who preserve their allegiance to God pure and undefiled, with the title of chaste wives, or virgins. Ezekiel 23:3 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. Ezekiel 23:4 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. Ezekiel 23:4 . The names of them were Aholah and Aholibah — “The word Aholah signifies, Her tent, or tabernacle: Aholibah denotes, My tent, or tabernacle, is in her. These two different appellations imply that Samaria had indeed a tabernacle, or place for public worship, but of her own devising; namely, the cities of Dan and Bethel, where the golden calves were set up; whereas God’s tabernacle first, and afterward his temple, was placed in Jerusalem. He placed his name there, or chose it for the place of his peculiar residence,” 1 Kings 8:29 . Aholah, or Samaria, is here called the elder sister, as having the greatest dominion, power, wealth, and number of people belonging to her, ten tribes out of twelve being under her jurisdiction. And they were mine — By a solemn marriage covenant. And they bare sons and daughters — Were fruitful, and brought forth children to me: they increased in number of people, and among these there were some that were my spiritual children by adoption and grace, by faith, love, and obedience. Ezekiel 23:5 And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours, Ezekiel 23:5-6 . And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine — When she was under my government and protection. “After she had lived in covenant with me, and attended upon my service and worship all the time of the judges, and of David and Solomon, she fell off from my service, and was the first that established idolatry by a law, and consented to Jeroboam’s wicked device of setting up the golden calves.” In the Scripture language, the Jewish people are said to play the harlot with those whose religious ceremonies they imitated. And she doted on her lovers — That is, her foreign allies, whose idolatries she was fond of, and hoped by that means to procure their friendship and assistance: see note on Ezekiel 16:33 ; Ezekiel 16:37 . On the Assyrians her neighbours — The king of Assyria was a very potent prince, and thereupon his alliance was courted both by the kings of Israel and Judah: see the margin. Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers — “As women are apt to fall in love with comely young men, well mounted and richly clothed; so the Israelites were enamoured with the state and bravery of the Assyrians, and thought themselves secure if they could but procure their alliance and friendship, and in order to it embraced their idolatries. Horsemen riding upon horses — Horses were scarce in Judea, which made the Jews apply themselves to the neighbouring counties for troops of horse, in the time of any hostile invasion.” — Lowth. Ezekiel 23:6 Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. Ezekiel 23:7 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. Ezekiel 23:7-10 . Thus she committed whoredoms with them — She defiled herself with idols, as the sense is more plainly expressed at the end of the verse. Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt — She added new idolatries to those she had formerly committed: see Ezekiel 23:3 . Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers — God made these very Assyrians the executioners of his judgments upon the ten tribes, many of them being carried away captive by Pul, king of Assyria, afterward by Tiglath-pileser, and at length the whole country was subdued and depopulated by Shalmaneser: see the margin. The kings of Babylon were likewise styled kings of Assyria, 2 Kings 23:29 ; 2 Chronicles 33:11 . Lovers mean the same with allies; those whose friendship and assistance the Jews courted, by complying with them in their idolatries, Ezekiel 16:37 . These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters — These stripped her of every thing, and carried her and her children away captive: see the margin, and Ezekiel 23:29 . And slew her with the sword — Those that were not led captive were slain in the field of battle, or in the siege of Samaria, 2 Kings 17:5 . And she became famous among women — The Hebrew reads, She became a nation among women: as she had been formerly renowned among the heathen for her beauty, ( Ezekiel 16:14 ,) so now she was everywhere talked of as a remarkable instance of God’s vengeance, and set forth for an example to other cities and nations, to deter them from the like abominations. Ezekiel 23:8 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. Ezekiel 23:9 Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. Ezekiel 23:10 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. Ezekiel 23:11 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. Ezekiel 23:11-12 . When her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt — Jerusalem was so far from taking warning by the judgments inflicted on Samaria, that she advanced to greater degrees of idolatry. She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours — Ahaz, king of Judah, entered into a confederacy with the king of Assyria, hoping for relief from his power and the bravery of his army, and worshipped the idols which the Assyrians worshipped, in order to ingratiate himself with them. See the margin. Ezekiel 23:12 She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. Ezekiel 23:13 Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way, Ezekiel 23:13-16 . Then — When she neither took warning nor feared; I saw that she was defiled — That her heart was already set on her idols; that they both — Samaria and Jerusalem; took one way — That Judah fell into the same idolatrous practices as Israel. And that she increased her whoredoms — Added to the number of her idolatries; for when she saw men portrayed, &c. — These were probably the pictures of those deified heroes, whom the Chaldeans worshipped as gods; such were Bel, Nebo, and Merodach, mentioned Isaiah 46:1 ; Jeremiah 50:2 . Calmet, however, understands the words in a different sense, paraphrasing them thus: “Before she had seen the Assyrians, upon the bare relation concerning them, or upon the painting only which was made of them, her passion was inflamed toward them.” Girded with girdles upon their loins — A girdle was a mark of dignity, and worn as such by princes and men in authority. In died attire upon their heads — Houbigant reads, Having their heads bound with a died tiara, or turban. The Chaldeans, and afterward the Persians, wore a sort of turban upon their heads, died of different colours, and with different degrees of ornaments, according to their different qualities. As soon as she saw them, she doted upon them — These images pleased her so much, that she sent to Babylon to learn the manner how their idols were to be worshipped: see Ezekiel 23:40-41 ; Ezekiel 16:17 . This, Lowth thinks, relates to those times when a correspondence was maintained between the cities of Babylon and Jerusalem, after that Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Judea, and made it a tributary kingdom, in the beginning of the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Ezekiel 23:14 And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion, Ezekiel 23:15 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: Ezekiel 23:16 And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. Ezekiel 23:17 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. Ezekiel 23:17-20 . And the Babylonians came to her, &c. — The metaphor of representing idolatry by the inordinate lust of adultery is still carried on. And her mind was alienated from them — She quickly grew weary of these also, as lewd women are of their former gallants, and look out for new ones. She broke her league and covenant with them, as St. Jerome very well expresses the sense; meaning that covenant which Jehoiakim made with Nebuchadnezzar to be his tributary, and which was afterward renewed by Zedekiah. So she discovered, or, after she discovered, her whoredoms — The sense being still continued with the foregoing verse. The meaning is, She was open and notorious in her lewd practices, and in the highest degree shameless. Then my mind was alienated from her — As she, by her idolatries, had broken all the bonds of duty and allegiance whereby she was engaged to me, a sin often compared to a wife’s disloyalty toward her husband, so I withdrew my love and affection from her, and resolved to give her a bill of divorce, as the Prophet Jeremiah expresses it, and not own her any more as mine, as I had cast off her sister Samaria. Yet she multiplied, &c. — Though she was fond of new idolatries, she did not forget her old ones, even those which she had learned in Egypt. For she doted upon their paramours — Upon the idols of Egypt, and the impure rites which accompanied their idolatrous worship. This may relate to the time when Zedekiah entered into a new confederacy with Egypt, which made the people fond of admitting the Egyptian idolatries. Whose flesh, &c. — These expressions seem to be made use of, to signify the excess of the Egyptian idolatry. They may likewise metaphorically express the great power and riches of the Egyptians, which made the Jewish people fond of courting their friendship and alliance. Ezekiel 23:18 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. Ezekiel 23:19 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. Ezekiel 23:20 For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Ezekiel 23:21 Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth. Ezekiel 23:22 Therefore, 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; Ezekiel 23:22-24 . I will raise up thy lovers against thee, &c. — I will execute my judgments upon thee, by those very Babylonians whose alliance and idolatries thou hast been so fond of, but since hast broken the league thou madest with them, contracting a new one with Egypt, and thereby hast provoked them to revenge thy perfidiousness. Pekod, and Koa, and Shoa, and all the Assyrians with them — The inhabitants of the several provinces of the Babylonish monarchy; for most of the ancients understand these words as names of places. Pekod is mentioned as a province of Babylon, Jeremiah 50:21 . St. Jerome, however, upon the place, understands these three words, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, in an appellative sense, to denote so many titles, or degrees of honour; as much as to say, governors, princes, and great men. In which sense the two former words, Pekod (or Pakud ) and Shoa, are confessedly taken in Scripture. All of them desirable young men, &c. — As their riches and bravery made them appear amiable in your eyes when you first courted their alliance, so they shall appear in the same splendid equipage when they come to invade your country and to besiege your city; but then their gallant appearance shall strike a terror and a consternation into you. And they shall come against thee with chariots, &c. — Chariots are mentioned, both by sacred and profane writers, as of principal use in the ancient way of fighting. And I will set judgment before them, &c. — I will deliver thee into their power, as the ministers of my justice, who shall make thy punishments bear a correspondence with thy guilt. Ezekiel 23:23 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. Ezekiel 23:24 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. Ezekiel 23:25 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. Ezekiel 23:25-27 . I will set my jealousy against thee, &c. — I will be against thee, as a jealous man is against his wife; and they shall deal furiously — And they, as the executioners of my wrath, shall act toward thee as persons provoked to great fury. And they shall take away thy nose, &c. — A punishment of adultery which rage sometimes dictated. As husbands in that case render those women deformed whose beauty hath been too pleasing to strangers, so shall the Chaldeans deface all the glories and ornaments of Jerusalem, and after they have slain and carried captive its inhabitants, shall set the city on fire, and reduce it to a heap of ashes. The mutilations mentioned in this verse were common among the Chaldeans. St. Jerome assures us, that they frequently cut off the nose and the ears of adulterers. And this was practised toward adulteresses in Egypt. They shall also strip thee, &c. — As lewd, disgraced harlots and captives were used chap. Ezekiel 16:39 . And take away thy fair jewels — All thy rich, beautiful ornaments, which shall be a prey to the enemy. Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease — “These severe judgments shall effectually deter thee from idolatry, and make thee abhor the least approaches toward it. Accordingly we find that after the captivity the Jews never returned to their former idolatrous practices.” — Lowth. And thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt — Thy idolatries which thou broughtest with thee from Egypt, where thou didst first learn idolatry, and ever hast had an inclination to it. Ezekiel 23:26 They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels. Ezekiel 23:27 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. Ezekiel 23:28 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: Ezekiel 23:28-30 . Behold, I will deliver thee, &c. — I will give thee up into the power of the Chaldeans, whom thou wast formerly fond of, Ezekiel 23:22 ; but since thou hast broken thy league and friendship with them, thy love is turned into hatred: see Ezekiel 23:17 . They shall deal with thee hatefully, &c. — As thou hast changed thy friendship for them into enmity, so shall they deal with thee; their hatred against thee shall be greater than their former love toward thee. This shall prompt them to take a full revenge upon thy perfidiousness, to consume all the fruits of thy labours, and to take away all the wealth thou hast gathered by thine industry. Thy whoredoms shall be discovered — All thy foul and shameful deeds shall be brought to light. I will do these things, because thou hast gone a whoring, &c. — I will cause all these things to be done unto thee by the Babylonians, who are the executioners of my anger. Ezekiel 23:29 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. Ezekiel 23:30 I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols. Ezekiel 23:31 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand. Ezekiel 23:31-35 . Therefore will I give her cup, &c. — I will make thee drink the same bitter draught, or experience the same calamity that has fallen upon her. God’s judgments are often compared to a cup of intoxicating liquors, because they astonish men, and bereave them of common judgment and discretion, and likewise expose them to the scorn and contempt of their enemies. Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out — There shall be no punishment which thou shalt not partake of. Thou shalt drink of the cup of calamity even to the dregs; that which is the very worst and most bitter: see notes on Psalm 75:8 . and Isaiah 51:17 . Thou shalt break the sherds thereof — People who are quite intoxicated, often in their drunken madness break the cups out of which they had drunk; therefore by this expression here is meant, that the Jewish people should be, as it were, driven to madness by the grievous judgments that should fall upon them. And pluck off thine own breasts — “Thou shalt tear away thy breasts with the sharp pieces of the broken cup, through grief and madness.” — Bishop Newcome. Or, Thou shalt be in a fury with thyself for having by thine own sins brought such grievous calamities upon thyself. Her breasts are mentioned as the parts which had a principal share in her guilt, according to the allegorical description here given of her idolatries. Because thou hast forgotten me — Because thou hast not only forsaken my worship, but hast showed the utmost contempt of and aversion from me. Therefore bear thou also thy lewdness — Therefore thou shalt suffer the punishment of thy wickedness and idolatry. Ezekiel 23:32 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. Ezekiel 23:33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria. Ezekiel 23:34 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. Ezekiel 23:35 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. Ezekiel 23:36 The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations; Ezekiel 23:36-39 . Wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah — That is, Samaria and Jerusalem? The meaning is, Wilt thou not judge, or, Wilt thou not condemn them? That they have committed adultery, and blood is, &c. — That they have been guilty of the heinous sins of murder and adultery; and have also caused their sons, &c. — Have caused their children, who of right belonged to me, and who ought to have been bred up to be my worshippers, to be burned in the fire, by way of sacrifice in honour to false gods. They have defiled my sanctuary in the same day — They have also come directly from these idolatrous and abominable rites and sacrifices into my temple, as though they could worship me acceptably when they were thus horribly polluted. And have profaned my sabbaths — Have spent the sabbaths, which I appointed to be observed to my honour alone, in the service and to the honour of idols. Or, they profaned them by coming into God’s courts to observe them, immediately after they had defiled themselves by their idolatrous and horrid ceremonies. For when they had slain their children to their idols — To my great dishonour, and the reproach of the human nature; then they came into my sanctuary — With their hands imbrued, and their clothes stained with their children’s blood, to present themselves before me; expecting acceptance with me notwithstanding their villanies, as if I either did not know their wickedness, or did not hate it. And lo, thus have they done in the midst of my house — In the inward part of my temple. Some expound the words, of their setting up idols in the very temple, and worshipping them there. Ezekiel 23:37 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 . Ezekiel 23:38 Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. Ezekiel 23:39 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. Ezekiel 23:40 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, Ezekiel 23:40-42 . And furthermore, ye have sent for men to come from far, &c. — Here the same thing which was spoken of in the former part of the chapter, is mentioned again in other words, namely, their courting the alliances of foreign nations, by complying with their idolatries: and this is set forth under the representation of the several arts which harlots used to recommend themselves to new lovers: compare Isaiah 57:7 ; Isaiah 57:9 . For whom thou didst wash thyself — A custom generally practised by women in those countries, before they entertained their lovers. Paintedst thy eyes — It seems to have been their fashion in those days to draw strokes about their eyes, or to colour their eye-brows with black lead. And sattest upon a stately bed — Here the custom of sitting or lying upon beds, at the feasts made in honour of idols, or false gods, seems to be particularly spoken of, as may be inferred from the following words: whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil — That is, whereupon thou hast offered up to idols that incense and oil which ought to have been offered up to me. It was usual, after a sacrifice to idols, for a table well spread to be placed before a couch, and a feast to be partaken of. The lectisternia of the Romans were borrowed from this eastern idolatrous rite, Livy, 5. 13. Houbigant thinks, that by the table here spoken of is meant the altar which Ahaz erected, after the similitude of that which he had seen at Damascus. And a voice of a multitude, &c. — The noise of festivity, and of people assembled together in jollity, was heard all around. It seems their loose mirth, at their meetings in honour of some of their idols, is here particularly meant. And with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans, &c. — The prophet proceeds in comparing the idolatries of the Jews to the practices of lewd women, who prostitute themselves to all comers, even those of the meanest condition. Such were the Sabeans that came from the wilderness, that is, from Arabia, called the desert, where dwelt the posterity of Seba, mentioned Genesis 10:7 . Which put bracelets upon their hands, &c. — That is, upon the hands and heads of these two lewd women, Aholah and Aholibah. Bracelets and crowns were ornaments proper for brides, and were likewise presented by lovers to their mistresses: and therefore this may signify the compliance of the Jewish people with the grossest idolatries. Or the meaning may be, that Aholah and Aholibah, the inhabitants of Samaria and Jerusalem, put bracelets upon the hands, and beautiful crowns upon the heads, of such worthless idolaters as the Sabeans of the wilderness were; that is, courted their friendship and alliance with gifts. Ezekiel 23:41 And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil. Ezekiel 23:42 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. Ezekiel 23:43 Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them ? Ezekiel 23:43-44 . Then I said unto her that was grown old in adulteries — Aholibah, who had been long idolatrous. The words import that experience might, before this time, have sufficiently convinced her of the folly of her ways. Will they now commit whoredoms with her? — God is here represented as waiting to see whether that mutability, which is natural to the human race, would not occasion a difference between the Jewish people and their idolatrous allies, and make them grow weary of one another. Yet they went in unto her, &c. — Both Samaria and Jerusalem continued to defile themselves with the idolatries of all the heathen round about them: compare Ezekiel 23:7 ; Ezekiel 23:17 . Ezekiel 23:44 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. Ezekiel 23:45 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. Ezekiel 23:45-49 . And the righteous men, they shall judge them — All just judges, yea, all men that have any sense of common honesty, will condemn their conduct, and pronounce them deserving of the punishment of adulteresses and murderers. Or, as others interpret the words, “As upright magistrates used to condemn and execute judgment upon adulterers and murderers, so did the prophets, in the name of God, denounce sentence against Jerusalem and Samaria; and even the heathen princes, who executed the sentence, were more righteous than the apostate sufferers.” — Scott. I will bring a company upon them, &c. — This is spoken of the Babylonians, who were to plunder and carry away a great part of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And the company shall stone them with stones, and despatch them with swords — Stoning was the punishment of adulterers, and putting to death with the sword that of murderers. The Babylonian army might be properly said to be the executioners of both these punishments upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as, without doubt, they killed many of them during the siege by the stones they cast from their engines, and slew many by the sword when they took the city by assault. Thus will I cause lewdness to cease, &c. — Thus will I put an end to idolatry in the Jewish nation. That all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness — That is, that all nations may dread defiling themselves with the guilt of your idolatries. For as the kingdoms of Israel and Judah are here described as two women, therefore, by all women here must be meant all nations. And ye shall bear the sins of your idols — Ye shall bear the punishment due to your sins of idolatry. To bear sin, or iniquity, is an expression often used in the Scriptures to signify undergoing the punishment due to it. Ezekiel 23:46 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled. Ezekiel 23:47 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. Ezekiel 23:48 Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness. Ezekiel 23:49 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. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Ezekiel 23:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, OHOLA AND OHOLIBAH Ezekiel 23:1-49 THE allegory of chapter 23 adds hardly any new thought to those which have already, been expounded in connection with chapter 16 and chapter 20. The ideas which enter into it are all such as we are now familiar with. They are: the idolatry of Israel, learned in Egypt and persisted in to the end of her history; her fondness for alliances with the great Oriental empires, which was the occasion of new developments of idolatry; the corruption of religion by the introduction of human sacrifice into the service of Jehovah; and, finally, the destruction of Israel by the hands of the nations whose friendship she had so eagerly courted. The figure under which these facts are presented is the same as in chapter 16, and many of the details of the earlier prophecy are reproduced here with little variation. But along with these resemblances we find certain characteristic features in this chapter which require attention, and perhaps some explanation. In its treatment of the history this passage is distinguished from the other two by the recognition of the separate existence of the northern and southern kingdoms. In the previous retrospects Israel has either been treated as a unit (as in chapter 20), or attention has been wholly concentrated on the fortunes of Judah, Samaria being regarded as on a level with a purely heathen city like Sodom (chapter 16). Ezekiel may have felt that he has not yet done justice to the truth that the history of Israel ran in two parallel lines, and that the full significance of God’s dealings with the nation can only be understood when the fate of Samaria is placed alongside of that of Jerusalem. He did not forget that he was sent as a prophet to the "whole house of Israel," and indeed all the great pre-exilic prophets realised that their message concerned "the whole family which Jehovah had brought up out of Egypt". { Amos 3:1 } Besides this the chapter affords in many ways an interesting illustration of the workings of the prophet’s mind in the effort to realise vividly the nature of his people’s sin and the meaning of its fate. In this respect it is perhaps the most finished and comprehensive product of his imagination, although it may not reveal the depth of religious insight exhibited in the sixteenth chapter. The main idea of the allegory is no doubt borrowed from a prophecy of Jeremiah belonging to the earlier part of his ministry. { Jeremiah 3:6-13 } The fall of Samaria was even then a somewhat distant memory, but the use which Jeremiah makes of it seems to show that the lesson of it had not altogether ceased to impress the mind of the southern kingdom. In the third chapter he reproaches Judah the "treacherous" for not having taken warning from the fate of her sister the "apostate" Israel, who has long since received the reward of her infidelities. The same lesson is implied in the representation of Ezekiel ( Ezekiel 23:2 ); but, as is usual with our prophet, the simple image suggested by Jeremiah is drawn out in an elaborate allegory, into which as many details are crowded as it will bear. In place of the epithets by which Jeremiah characterises the moral condition of Israel and Judah, Ezekiel coins two new and somewhat obscure names - Ohola for Samaria, and Oholibah for Jerusalem. These women are children of one mother, and afterwards become wives of one husband-Jehovah. This need occasion no surprise in an allegorical representation, although it is contrary to a law which Ezekiel doubtless knew. { Leviticus 18:18 } Nor is it strange, considering the freedom with which he handles the facts of history, that the division between Israel and Judah is carried back to the time of the oppression in Egypt. We have indeed no certainty that this view is not historical. The cleavage between the north and the south did not originate with the revolt of Jeroboam. That great schism only brought out elements of antagonism which were latent in the relations of the tribe of Judah to the northern tribes. Of this there are many indications in the earlier history, and for what we know the separation might have existed among the Hebrews in Goshen. Still, it is not probable that Ezekiel was thinking of any such thing. He is bound by the limits of his allegory; and there was no other way by which he could combine the presentation of the two essential elements of his conception-that Samaria and Jerusalem were branches of the one people of Jehovah, and that the idolatry which marked their history had been learned in the youth of the nation in the land of Egypt. That neither Israel nor Judah ever, shook off the spell of their adulterous connection with Egypt, but returned to it again and again down to the close of their history, is certainly one point which the prophet means to impress on the minds of his readers ( Ezekiel 23:8 , Ezekiel 23:19 , Ezekiel 23:27 ). With this exception the earlier part of the chapter (to Ezekiel 23:35 ) deals exclusively with the later developments of idolatry from the eighth century and onwards. And one of the most remarkable things in it is the description of the manner in which first Israel and then Judah was entangled in political relations with the Oriental empires. There seems to be a vein of sarcasm in the sketch of the gallant Assyrian officers who turned the heads of the giddy and frivolous sisters and seduced them from their allegiance to Jehovah: "Ohola doted on her lovers, on the Assyrian warriors clad in purple, governors and satraps, charming youths all of them, horsemen riding on horses; and she lavished on them her fornications, the elite of the sons of Asshur all of them, and with all the idols of all on whom she doted she defiled herself" ( Ezekiel 23:6-7 ). The first intimate contact of North Israel with Assyria was in the reign of Menahem, { 2 Kings 15:19 } and the explanation of it given in these words of Ezekiel must be historically true. It was the magnificent equipment of the Assyrian armies, the imposing display of military power which their appearance suggested, that impressed the politicians of Samaria with a sense of the value of their alliance. The passage therefore throws light on what Ezekiel and the prophets generally mean by the figure of "whoredom." What he chiefly deplores is the introduction of Assyrian idolatry, which was the inevitable sequel to a political union. But that was a secondary consideration in the intention of those who were responsible for the alliance. The real motive of their policy was undoubtedly the desire of one party in the state to secure the powerful aid of the king of Assyria against the rival party. None the less it was an act of infidelity and rebellion against Jehovah. Still more striking is the account of the first approaches of the southern kingdom to Babylon. After Samaria had been destroyed by the lovers whom she had gathered to her side, Jerusalem still kept up the illicit connection with the Assyrian empire. After Assyria had vanished from the stage of history, she eagerly sought an opportunity to enter into friendly relations with the new Babylonian empire. She did not even wait till she had made their acquaintance, but "when she saw men portrayed on the wall, pictures of Chaldaeans portrayed in vermilion, girt with waist-cloths on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them champions to look upon, the likeness of the sons of Babel whose native land is Chaldaea-then she doted upon them when she saw them with her eyes, and sent messengers to them to Chaldaea" ( Ezekiel 23:14-16 ). The brilliant pictures referred to are those with which Ezekiel must have been familiar on the walls of the temples and palaces of Babylon. The representation, however, cannot be understood literally, since the Jews could have had no opportunity of even seeing the Babylonian pictures "on the wall" until they had sent ambassadors there. The meaning of the prophet is clear. The mere report of the greatness of Babylon was sufficient to excite the passions of Oholibah, and she began with blind infatuation to court the advances of the distant strangers who were to be her ruin. The exact historic reference, however, is uncertain. It cannot be to the compact between Merodach-baladan and Hezekiah, since at that time the initiative seems to have been taken by the rebel prince, whose sovereignty over Babylon proved to be of short duration. It may rather be some transaction about the time of the battle of Carchemish (604) that Ezekiel is thinking of; but we have not as yet sufficient knowledge of the circumstances to clear up the allusion. Before the end came the soul of Jerusalem was alienated from her latest lovers-another touch of fidelity to the historical situation. But it was now too late. The soul of Jehovah is alienated from Oholibah ( Ezekiel 23:17-18 ), and she is already handed over to the fate which had overtaken her less guilty sister Ohola. The principal agents of her punishment are the Babylonians and all the Chaldaeans; but under their banner marches a host of other nations-Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and, somewhat strangely, the sons of Asshur. In the pomp and circumstance of war which had formerly fascinated her imagination, they shall come against her, and after their cruel manner execute upon her the judgment meted out to adulterous women: "Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister, and I will put her cup into thy hand. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, The cup of thy sister shalt thou drink, -deep and wide, and of large content, -filled with drunkenness and anguish-the cup of horror and desolation, the cup of thy sister Samaria. And thou shalt drink it and drain it out, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah" ( Ezekiel 23:31-34 ). Up to this point the allegory has closely followed the actual history of the two kingdoms. The remainder of the chapter ( Ezekiel 23:36-49 ) forms a pendant to the principal picture, and works out the central theme from a different point of view. Here Samaria and Jerusalem are regarded as still existent, and judgment is pronounced on both as if it were still future. This is thoroughly in keeping with Ezekiel’s ideal delineations. The limitations of space and time are alike transcended. The image, once clearly conceived, fixes itself in the writer’s mind, and must be allowed to exhaust its meaning before it is finally dismissed. The distinctions of far and near, of past and present and future, are apt to disappear in the intensity of his reverie. It is so here. The figures of Ohola and Oholibah are so real to the prophet that they are summoned once more to the tribunal to hear the recital of their "abominations" and receive the sentence which has in fact been already partly executed. Whether he is thinking at all of the ten tribes then in exile and awaiting further punishment it would be difficult to say. We see, however, that the picture is enriched with many features for which there was no room in the more historic form of the allegory, and perhaps the desire for completeness was the chief motive for thus amplifying the figure. The description of the conduct of the two harlots ( Ezekiel 23:40-44 ) is exceedingly graphic, and is no doubt a piece of realism drawn from life. Otherwise the section contains nothing that calls for elucidation. The ideas are those which we have already met with in other connections, and even the setting in which they are placed presents no element of novelty. Thus with words of judgment, and without a ray of hope to lighten the darkness of the picture, the prophet closes this last survey of his people’s history. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.