Ezekiel 23:1 Komentář

This long chapter (as before ch. 16 and 20) is a history of the apostasies of God's people from him and the aggravations of those apostasies under the similitude of corporal whoredom and adultery. Here the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the ten tribes and the two, with their capital cities, Samaria and Jerusalem, are considered distinctly. Here is, I. The apostasy of Israel and Samaria from God (Eze 23:1-8) and their ruin for it (Eze 23:9, Eze 23:10). II. The apostasy of Judah and Jerusalem from God (Eze 23:11-21) and sentence passed upon them, that they shall in like manner be destroyed for it (Eze 23:22-35). III. The joint wickedness of them both together (Eze 23:36-44) and the joint ruin of them both (Eze 23:45-49). And all that is written for warning against the sins of idolatry, and confidence in an arm of flesh, and sinful leagues and confederacies with wicked people (which are the sins here meant by committing whoredom), is that others may hear and fear, and not sin after the similitude of the transgressions of Israel and Judah.

God had often spoken to Ezekiel, and by him to the people, to this effect, but now his word comes again; for God speaks the same thing once, yea, twice, yea, many a time, and all little enough, and too little, for man perceives it not. Note, To convince sinners of the evil of sin, and of their misery and danger by reason of it, there is need of line upon line, so loth we are to know the worst of ourselves. The sinners that are here to be exposed are two women, two kingdoms, sister-kingdoms, Israel and Judah, daughters of one mother, having been for a long time but one people. Solomon's kingdom was so large, so populous, that immediately after his death it divided into two. Observe, 1. Their character when they were one (Eze 23:3): They committed whoredoms in Egypt, for there they were guilty of idolatry, as we read before, Eze 20:8. The representing of those sins which are most provoking to God and most ruining to a people by the sin of whoredom plainly intimates what an exceedingly sinful sin uncleanness is, how offensive, how destructive. Doubtless it is itself one of the worst of sins, for the worst of other sins are compared to it here and often elsewhere, which should increase our detestation and dread of all manner of fleshly lusts, all appearances of them and approaches to them, as warring against the soul, infatuating sinners, bewitching them, alienating their minds from God and all that is good, debauching conscience, rendering them odious in the eyes of the pure and holy God, and drowning them at last in destruction and perdition. 2. Their names when they became two, Eze 23:4. The kingdom of Israel is called the elder sister, because that first made the breach, and separated from the family both of kings and priests that God had appointed - the greater sister (so the word is), for ten tribes belonged to that kingdom and only two to the other. God says of them both, They were mine, for they were the seed of Abraham his friend and of Jacob his chosen; they were in covenant with God, and carried about with them the sign of their circumcision, the seal of the covenant. They were mine; and therefore their apostasy was the highest injustice. It was alienating God's property, it was the basest ingratitude to the best of benefactors, and a perfidious treacherous violation of the most sacred engagements. Note, Those who have been in profession the people of God, but have revolted from him, have a great deal to answer for more than those who never made any such profession. "They were mine; they were espoused tome, and to me they bore sons and daughters;" there were many among them that were devoted to God's honour, and employed in his service, and were the strength and beauty of these kingdoms, as children are of the families they are born in. In this parable Samaria and the kingdom of Israel shall bear the name of Aholah - her own tabernacle, because the places of worship which that kingdom had were of their own devising, their own choosing, and the worship itself was their own invention; God never owned it. Her tabernacle to herself (so some render it); "let her take it to herself, and make her best of it." Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah bear the name of Aholibah - my tabernacle is in her, because their temple was the place which God himself had chosen to put his name there. He acknowledged it to be his, and honoured them with the tokens of his presence in it. Note, Of those that stand in relation to God, and make profession of his name, some have greater privileges and advantages than others; and, as those who have greater are thereby rendered the more inexcusable if they revolt from God, so those who have less will not thereby be rendered inexcusable. 3. The treacherous departure of the kingdom of Israel from God (Eze 23:5): Aholah played the harlot when she was mine. Though the ten tribes had deserted the house of David, yet God owned them for his still; though Jeroboam, in setting up the golden calves, sinned, and made Israel to sin, yet, as long as they worshipped the God of Israel only, though by images, he did not quite cast them off. But they way of sin is down-hill. Aholah played the harlot, brought in the worship of Baal (Kg1 16:31), set up that other god, that dunghill-god, in competition with Jehovah (Kg1 18:21), as a vile adulteress dotes on her lovers, because they are well dressed and make a figure, because they are young and handsome (Eze 23:6), clothed with blue, captains and rulers, desirable young men, genteel, and that pass for men of honour, so she doted upon her neighbours, particularly the Assyrians, who had extended their conquests near them; she admired their idols and worshipped them, admired the pomp of their courts and their military strength and courted alliances with them upon any terms, as if her own God were not sufficient to be depended upon. We find one of the kings of Israel giving a thousand talents to the king of Assyria, to engage him in his interests, Kg2 15:19. She doted on the chosen men of Assyria, as worthy to be trusted and employed in the service of the state (Eze 23:7), and on all their idols with which she defiled herself. Note, Whatever creature we dote upon, pay homage to, and put a confidence in, we make an idol of that creature; and whatever we make an idol of we defile ourselves with. And now again the conviction looks back as far as the original of their nation: Neither left she her whoredoms which she brought from Egypt, Eze 23:8. Their being idolaters in Egypt was a thing never to be forgotten - that they should be in love with Egypt's idols even when they were continually in fear of Egypt's tyrants and task-masters! But (as some have observed) therefore, at that time, when Satan boasted of his having walked through the earth as all his own, to disprove his pretensions God did not say, Hast thou considered my people Israel in Egypt? (for they had become idolaters, and were not to be boasted of), but, Hast thou considered my servant Job in the land of Uz? And this corrupt disposition in them, when they were first formed into a people, is an emblem of that original corruption which is born with us and is woven into our constitution, a strong bias towards the world and the flesh, like that in the Israelites towards idolatry; it was bred in the bone with them, and was charged upon them long after, that they left not their whoredoms brought from Egypt. It would never out of the flesh, though Egypt had been a house of bondage to them. Thus the corrupt affections and inclinations which we brought into the world with us we have not lost, nor got clear of, but still retain them, though the iniquity we were born in was the source of all the calamities which human life is liable to. 4. The destruction of the kingdom of Israel for their apostasy from God (Eze 23:9, Eze 23:10): I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers. God first justly gave her up to her lust (Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone), and then gave her up to her lovers. The neighbouring nations, whose idolatries she had conformed to and whose friendship she had confided in, and in both had affronted God, are now made use of as the instruments of her destruction. The Assyrians, on whom she doted, soon spied out the nakedness of the land, discovered her blind side, on which to attack her, stripped her of all her ornaments and all her defences, and so uncovered her, and made her naked and bare, carried her sons and daughters into captivity, slew her with the sword, and quite destroyed that kingdom and put an end to it. We have the story at large Kg2 17:6, etc., where the cause of the ruin of that once flourishing kingdom by the Assyrians is shown to be their forsaking the God of Israel, fearing other gods, and walking in the statutes of the heathen; it was for this that God was very angry with them and removed them out of his sight, Eze 23:18. And that the Assyrians, whom they had been so fond of, should be employed in executing judgments upon them was very remarkable, and shows how God, in a way of righteous judgment, often makes that a scourge to sinners which they have inordinately set their hearts upon. The devil will for ever be a tormentor to those impenitent sinners who now hearken to him and comply with him as a tempter. Thus Samaria became famous among women, or infamous rather; she became a name (so the word is); not only she came to be the subject of discourse, and much talked of, as the desolations of cities and kingdoms fill the newspapers, but she was thus ruined for her idolatries in terrorem - for warning to all people to take heed of doing likewise; as the public execution of notorious malefactors makes them such a name, such an ill name, as may serve to frighten others from those wicked courses which have brought them to a miserable and shameful end. Deu 21:21, All Israel shall hear and fear.

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 23 In this chapter the idolatries of Israel and Judah are represented under the metaphor of two harlots, and their lewdness. These harlots are described by their descent; by the place and time in which they committed their whoredoms; by their names, and which are explained, Eze 23:1, the idolatries of Israel, or the ten tribes, under the name of Aholah, which they committed with the Assyrians, and which they continued from the Egyptians, of whom they had learned them, are exposed, Eze 23:5, and their punishment for them is declared, Eze 23:9 then the idolatries of Judah, or the two tribes, under the name of Aholibah, are represented as greater than those of the ten tribes, Eze 23:11, which they committed with the Assyrians, Eze 23:12, with the Chaldeans and Babylonians, Eze 23:13 in imitation of the Egyptians, reviving former idolatries learnt of them, Eze 23:19, wherefore they are threatened, that the Chaldeans, Babylonians, and Assyrians, should come against them, and spoil them, and carry them captive, Eze 23:22, and the prophet is bid to declare the abominable sin of them both, Eze 23:36, and to signify that they should be judged after the manner of adulteresses, should be stoned, and dispatched with swords, their sons and their daughters, and their houses burnt with fire; by which means their adulteries or idolatries should be made to cease, Eze 23:45

The word of the Lord came unto me,.... The word of prophecy, as the Targum; another prophecy, one upon the same subject, as in Eze 16:1, saying; as follows:

(Chapter 23, verses 1 onwards) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. And they played the harlot in Egypt, in their youth they played the harlot. There their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms were broken (or, as it is in the Septuagint, There their breasts fell and there they were deflowered). Their names were Oholah the elder (or, the elder sister), and Oholibah her sister. And I took them (whether they were given to me) and they bore sons and daughters. And their names were Samaria Oolla and Jerusalem Ooliba. Therefore, Oolla prostituted herself with me and she went mad (or went away) to her lovers in Assyria, who approached her, dressed in purple, rulers and officials, all young men, choice horsemen. And she gave her fornications over them, all the elect sons of Assyria, and in all on whom she had been mad upon with her uncleanness (or inventions), she was defiled. Moreover, she did not leave her fornications which she had in Egypt. For they also had slept with her in her youth, and they broke the breasts of her puberty (or they also deflowered her): and they poured their fornication over her. Therefore, I handed her over to the hands of her lovers, to the hands of the sons of Assyria, on whose lust she had gone mad. They uncovered her shame; they took away her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. And she became a byword among women; judgments were executed upon her. The Scripture testifies that the twelve tribes of Israel, which were united in Egypt, later divided into two and ten tribes, called Judah and Israel, as recorded in the books of Kings and Chronicles. The tribe of Judah ruled from the line of David, with Rehoboam as the son of Solomon in Jerusalem, where there was a temple and priests, and a large part of the tribe of Levi. But in Samaria, Jeroboam the son of Nabat from the tribe of Ephraim and Joseph ruled over the ten tribes; of which Samaria is now called Oolla, which in our language means tabernacle: but Jerusalem is called Ooliba, which means my tabernacle in it. For indeed, even among the ten tribes, there was a tabernacle not of God, but of idols. For Jeroboam had set up golden calves in Dan and Bethel in order to turn the people away from the worship of God. Let us therefore speak about each. These two women, Samaria and Jerusalem, were daughters of the same mother from the lineage of Israel, and they committed adultery in Egypt during their youth. For they would not have received the Law when they were brought out of Egypt and gathered at Mount Sinai, which prohibited them from worshiping idols, unless they had worshiped Egyptian idols while in Egypt. However, the mother of both could be Chethaea, of whom we read above: Your father was Amorrhaeus, and your mother was Chethaea (Above, XVI, 3). But when it is said: Let each one remove the abominations of Egypt from his sight, it signifies that in Egypt the Israelites worshipped idols and fell there, whether their breasts of virginity were broken or not. And Samaria is said to be greater and older, either because of the multitude of the ten tribes, or because after the death of Moses from the tribe of Ephraim, Joshua the son of Nun led the people: hence we read that Jeroboam, who split them, was from the house of David (3 Kings, XII). And God had them, whether they were made by him, when they groaned from the works of Egypt, serving clay and brick. And afterwards they bore sons and daughters, either in the wilderness or in the promised land. And first Oolla, that is, Samaria, fornicated against God, when she went mad for the Assyrians, who were dressed in her hyacinth garments, not just any people, but leaders and magistrates, not those worn out by age, but all young men, chosen horsemen, from whom she followed idols and from whom she demanded help against the command of God. Those who came and defiled her, did not leave anything that she had done in her youth in Egypt. For even the Egyptians had sexual relations with her in her youth, of whom she worshiped their idols; and there, her virginity was taken and her breasts were broken. And there was such an abundance of fornication, that it is said that they did not fornicate with her, but rather poured out their own fornication upon her. Therefore, she was delivered to her lovers, Phul, Theglathphalassar, and Salmanasar, in whose lust she went mad, and they uncovered her shame, metaphorically, like that of a harlot woman (2 Kings 17 and 18, 1 Chronicles 5). However, the revelation of the city is that it is captured, and they took captive its sons and daughters, and they slaughtered it with the sword, so that it is butchered as an example for all women, and it is celebrated in a negative way by everyone's speech. Those who carried out judgments and vengeance in it, so that they left nothing of salvation in it; but to this day, ten tribes are held captive in the mountains and cities of the Medes, to which they were transferred. We have discussed more fully the allegorical meaning of Joseph, Ephraim, Samaria, Jezreel, and Israel, and how they are contrary to the house of David and Jerusalem, which signifies the Church. The psalm, which is the seventy-seventh, speaks of this: The sons of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle (Psalm 77:9). And again: He rejected the tabernacle of Joseph and chose the tribe of Judah (Ibid., 67). For God has chosen the house of confession, which is the Church, and rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, which signifies increase. They, neglecting the Law of God, added golden calves to their worship, and they are called Oolla, which means tabernacle, not of God, but of error and demons. And the elder and older sister, because of the multitude and captivity by the Assyrians, committed fornication against God, for she abandoned the truth of faith and went mad for the leaders of the heretics, who were clothed in hyacinth, promising her lofty and heavenly things; and the climbers, of whom it is said: These are in chariots, and on horses (Ps. XIX, 8), chosen sons of the Assyrians and leaders and magistrates, who promise themselves knowledge and eloquence. But he did this because he had the same fornications that he had in Egypt, that is, before he believed, and he still lived in the world, he also practiced them in heresy. And she was deflowered (or They were deflowered) by Assyrian men who persist in wickedness, whether as avengers. For our adversary, the devil himself, is an enemy and avenger (I Peter V). They shattered the breasts of Samaria; and they destroyed her virginity that she had in the Church. Therefore, they were delivered to their lovers, according to the Apostle who writes: I have delivered them to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme (I Tim. I, 20). And: I have delivered them to the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved (I Cor. V, 5). They uncovered the shame of miserable Samaria, and they displayed all its turpitude, leading captive the sons and daughters who were born to it, endowed with knowledge and deceived the simple and inexperienced, and killed it with a spiritual sword. They are celebrated in speech throughout the whole world in a negative light, and they become infamous among all the teachings of the world, so that the depravity of that woman may serve as an example for all.

The idolatries of Samaria and Jerusalem are represented in this chapter by the bad practices of two common harlots, for which God denounces severe judgments against them, vv. 1-49. See the sixteenth chapter, where the same metaphor is enlarged upon as here, it being the prophets view to exude the utmost detestation of the crime against which he inveighs.

ISRAEL'S AND JUDAH'S SIN AND PUNISHMENT ARE PARABOLICALLY PORTRAYED UNDER THE NAMES AHOLAH AND AHOLIBAH. (Eze. 23:1-49) two . . . of one mother--Israel and Judah, one nation by birth from the same ancestress, Sarah.

The Sisters Oholah and Oholibah Eze 23:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 23:2. Son of man, two women, daughters of one mother were they, Eze 23:3. They committed whoredom in Egypt, in their youth they committed whoredom; there were their breasts pressed, and there men handled their virgin bosom. Eze 23:4. Their names are Oholah, the greater, and Oholibah her sister; and they became mine, and bare sons and daughters. But their names are: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah. - The name אהליבה is formed from אהלי בהּ, "my tent in her;" and, accordingly, אהלה is to be derived from אהלהּ, "her tent," and not to be regarded as an abbreviation of אהלהּ בהּ, "her tent in her," as Hitzig and Kliefoth maintain. There is no ground for this assumption, as "her tent," in contrast with "my tent in her," expresses the thought with sufficient clearness, that she had a tent of her own, and the place where her tent was does not come into consideration. The "tent" is the sanctuary: both tabernacle and temple. These names characterize the two kingdoms according to their attitude toward the Lord. Jerusalem had the sanctuary of Jehovah; Samaria, on the other hand, had her own sanctuary, i.e., one invented by herself. Samaria and Jerusalem, as the historical names of the two kingdoms, represent Israel of the ten tribes and Judah. Oholah and Oholibah are daughters of one mother, because they were the two halves of the one Israel; and they are called women, because Jehovah had married them (Eze 23:4). Oholah is called הגּדולה, the great, i.e., the greater sister (not the elder, see the comm. on Eze 16:46); because ten tribes, the greater portion of Israel, belonged to Samaria, whereas Judah had only two tribes. They committed whoredom even in Egypt in their youth, for even in Egypt the Israelites defiled themselves with Egyptian idolatry (see the comm. on Eze 20:7). מיעך, to press, to crush: the Pual is used here to denote lewd handling. In a similar manner the Piel עשּׂה is used to signify tractare, contrectare mammas, in an obscene sense.