History of the two adulterous women, Oholah and Oholibah Samaria and Jerusalem The alliances and intrigues of Samaria and Jerusalem with foreign nations had been represented as infidelity to Jehovah since Hosea. These foreign alliances naturally carried foreign manners and worship in their train (I... [ Continue Reading ]
The two kingdoms are already called sisters, Jeremiah 3:7. Cf. Ezekiel 16:46.... [ Continue Reading ]
The two kingdoms are represented ideally as already existing in Egypt. This is not so far from the truth. The great tribes of Judah and Ephraim from the first stood apart, and in their attitude there lay already the germs of the two kingdoms, as appears in the song of Deborah. On the idea of the pro... [ Continue Reading ]
The name Oholah may mean "her tent," though not so pointed, and Oholibah "my tent in her." Possibly the words mean "tent" (or, tents) and "tent in her;" and the reference may be to the worship practised on the high places in both kingdoms, cf. Ezekiel 16:16. It is doubtful if the prophet means that... [ Continue Reading ]
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 ma... [ Continue Reading ]
_captains and rulers_ Or, governors and satraps, cf. Nehemiah 4:14; Nehemiah 5:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
_with all their idols_ The alliance with Assyria brought in Assyrian idolatry, cf. 2 Kings 23:11, where horses and chariots of the sun are mentioned, and also the altars on the roofs, where incense was burnt to the host of heaven, Ezekiel 23:12; Jeremiah 19:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
Samaria intrigued with Assyria and Egypt alternately, or different parties simultaneously. Hosea 7:11, "Ephraim is like a silly dove, without understanding; they call unto Egypt, they go unto Assyria.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have delivered_ I DELIVERED. The Assyrians overthrew Samaria in 722 b.c. Menahem was supported on the throne by Assyria (2 Kings 15:19); and Hoshea, the last king, was dethroned on account of his intrigues with Egypt (2 Kings 17:4).... [ Continue Reading ]
_famous among women_ lit. _a name to women_, i.e. a notorious example to women to take warning from, Ezekiel 23:48; Ezekiel 36:3; Ezekiel 16:41.... [ Continue Reading ]
The infidelities of Judah with Assyria, Babylon and Egypt 11. On the greater excesses of Judah cf. Ezekiel 16:47; Ezekiel 16:51; Jeremiah 3:8; Jeremiah 3:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
her _neighbours_ The order is: the Assyrians, governors and satraps, warriors clothed … See on Ezekiel 23:5. The intervention of Assyria in the affairs of Judah was caused by the appeal of Ahaz for help against Syria and Ephraim, 2 Kings 16:7. On the disastrous consequences of Ahaz's folly cf. Isaia... [ Continue Reading ]
_and_that _she increased_ Rather: AND SHE ADDED TO HER WHOREDOMS, with full stop at Ezekiel 23:13. It was certainly the custom in Babylonia to draw figures of men and the like upon the walls; it is not probable, however, that such figures of Chaldean warriors had actually been seen in Jerusalem. The... [ Continue Reading ]
_girded with girdles_ The "girdles" were properly not belts or sashes, but articles of clothing, tunics or waist-cloths (Isaiah 11:5). "It appears, however, from the monuments that the Assyrians used what was originally the waist-cloth as an ornamental sash" (note from Prof. W. R. Smith). _exceedin... [ Continue Reading ]
Read: AND SHE DOTED UPON THEM AFTER THE SIGHT OF HER EYES i.e. with delight and desire (Isaiah 11:3).... [ Continue Reading ]
_alienated from them_ The figure lies in the revulsion of sated passion; the thing in the weariness of the Babylonian alliance and yoke, cf. ch. 17.... [ Continue Reading ]
"Discovered" is uncovered, revealed.... [ Continue Reading ]
Judah being situated between the two great empires of Babylon and Egypt and coveted by both, was naturally a hotbed of intrigue by partizans on both sides. The influence of the Egyptian party was great even in the Assyrian age (Isaiah 30-31), and the imposing and pretentious power of the Nile valley... [ Continue Reading ]
_calledst to remembrance_ DIDST RECALL, i.e. renew, cf. Ezekiel 38:8. _for the paps_ By a slight change of reading (_k_for _n_), WHEN THY TEATS WERE BRUISED BY THEM OF EGYPT, WHEN THE BREASTS OF THY YOUTH WERE PRESSED (Ezekiel 23:3).... [ Continue Reading ]
Chastisement of the adulteress 22. _thy lovers_ the nations once in alliance with her, Ezekiel 23:9; ch. Ezekiel 16:37; Jeremiah 30:14; Lamentations 1:19. In Hosea 2 the "lovers" are the Baals.... [ Continue Reading ]
On these peoples cf. Del. _Parad_., pp. 182, 236, 240. According to this writer the names appear in the inscriptions as Pukûdu, Sutu or Su and Kutu or Ku, and are names of peoples lying east of the Tigris and on the confines of Elam or Persia. "Captains and rulers," governors and satraps, Ezekiel 2... [ Continue Reading ]
with _chariots_ The term is entirely unknown; LXX. _from the north_. Boettcher suggested the word "multitude" (Ezekiel 26:10), a sense which Frd. Del. (Baer, _Ez_. p. xi.) thinks can be reached through the Assyr., the present word remaining unchanged. For people PEOPLES. _set judgment_ i.e. commit... [ Continue Reading ]
"Jealousy" differs little from fury, ch. Ezekiel 16:38. _take away thy nose_ Reference is either to the ancient practice (as in Egypt) of mutilating the adulteress, or to the habit of disfiguring the captives, cf. Ezekiel 12:13; Ezekiel 16:40.... [ Continue Reading ]
Cf. Ezekiel 16:39.... [ Continue Reading ]
brought _from … Egypt_ i.e. continued since the time they were in the land of Egypt, cf. Ezekiel 16:41; Ezekiel 22:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
_deal … hatefully_ IN HATRED. "Labour" is wealth, the fruit of labour. "Discovered" is exposed.... [ Continue Reading ]
_her cup_ That which she drank, Isaiah 51:22-23; Jeremiah 25:15-16.... [ Continue Reading ]
_sister's cup deep_ i.e. which is deep. The words "thou shalt … derision" are parenthetical; LXX. omits.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and sorrow_ Or, affliction.... [ Continue Reading ]
Cf. Psalms 75:8; Isaiah 51:17. _break the sheards_ GNAW the sherds. The act of plucking out her own breasts is that of one intoxicated to madness, Jeremiah 25:16. The words are wanting in LXX. Beating the breasts and tearing the cheeks was a sign of excessive grief (_Hamasa_, p. 373). "The women re... [ Continue Reading ]
_bear thou … lewdness_ Here "bear" means endure the punishment of it, Ezekiel 23:49.... [ Continue Reading ]
_yea, declare_ THEN declare.... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
_that they have committed_ FOR they have. The blood on their hands is that of their children whom they sacrifice. See Ezekiel 16:20-21.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the same day_ The phrase is more fully explained in Ezekiel 23:39. LXX. omits in both places.... [ Continue Reading ]
The particular profanation of the Lord's house lay in this that those who had sacrificed their children entered it. The children were no doubt offered to Jehovah, under whatever conception or name, and the worshippers felt no incongruity in entering his house. Jeremiah 7:9 _seq_. _midst of mine hou... [ Continue Reading ]
_that ye have sent_ Perhaps: and furthermore _they_sent. The change of person occurs later. The word "they sent" is wanting in LXX. _wash_thyself] i.e. bathe thyself. _paintedst thy eyes_ This refers to the practice of colouring the edges of the eyelids with a dark powder (stibium), which made the... [ Continue Reading ]
These verses hardly refer to political alliances merely; Ezekiel 23:41 suggests idolatrous worship. As the foreign gods came in, however, through intercourse with the nations which served them they are spoken of as being sent for by messengers (cf. Ezekiel 23:16). The whole is presented under the fi... [ Continue Reading ]
_a table prepared_ i.e. spread. _hast set mine incense_ DIDST SET. The words indicate that service of other gods is referred to under the figure of the harlot's entertainment.... [ Continue Reading ]
_being at ease_ If the reading be correct "at ease" must refer to careless living, a sense which the word has not elsewhere. LXX. renders: and a sound of music they raised; but though the word "multitude" may mean sound or noise when joined to songs (Ezekiel 26:13; Amos 5:23), it can hardly of itsel... [ Continue Reading ]
_unto her … old in adulteries Old_is worn out, e.g. of clothes, Joshua 9:4-5, and the verb of the body, in the decay of nature (Genesis 18:12, of Sarah). The construction of A.V. is unusual; the words might be read as an exclamation: She that is aged committeth adulteries! or, With her that is aged... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yet they went_ AND they. The verse sums up all that precedes. _the lewd women_ The form of _plur_. "women" does not occur again, though the usual one in Assyr. LXX., _to work_lewdness.... [ Continue Reading ]
Judgment on the adulterous women 45. the _righteous_ RIGHTEOUS men. The prophet carries on the figure of the punishment of adulteresses. They are judged by righteous men. He has not in his mind the nations, the actual executors of judgment in the case of Israel. The word "righteous" throws no light... [ Continue Reading ]
Cf. Ezekiel 16:40. _to be removed_ maltreated.... [ Continue Reading ]
_be taught_ TAKE WARNING (the form _nithpa_., cf. Deuteronomy 21:8).... [ Continue Reading ]