Ezekiel 23:5-10

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 the purposes of this allegory Samaria is called the elder sister because that city had experienced the judgment of God prior to Jerusalem. Oholah (Samaria) committed harlotry from under God, i.e., from under His control and authority as her lawful husband. She threw herself at various lovers among whom the Assyrians were most notable. The Assyrian warriors dressed in handsome uniforms and led by men of note attracted the inhabitants of Samaria[356] (Ezekiel 23:6). Israel plunged headlong into political alliance with Assyria, and willingly paid the price demanded of all allies, viz., homage to the Assyrian deities. Thus did Samaria defile herself with all their idols (Ezekiel 23:7).

[356] The first king of Israel to render tribute to Assyria was Jehu in 841 B.C. The Black Obelisk Of Shalmaneser depicts and describes the scene.

The corrupt Oholah (Samaria) did not forsake her earlier harlotries when she took up with the Assyrians. She had committed spiritual adultery in Egypt. She had prostituted herself before Egyptian idols, and throughout her history she had continued to engage in those pagan cultic practices (Ezekiel 23:8).

Because of her harlotries Oholah (Samaria) was delivered by God into the hands of her lovers, the Assyrians. What irony, to be destroyed by the nation which she counted on as ally a lover (Ezekiel 23:9). The Assyrians stripped Oholah ravished her land, removed her wealth. The sons and daughters of Samaria were carried away into captivity. Oholah herself was slain with the sword, i.e., Samaria was destroyed by military action. Oholah became a name a byword or warning to all other women (nations) who might contemplate unfaithfulness to the Lord. What happened to Samaria should have been a warning to Jerusalem (Ezekiel 23:10).