Ezekiel 23: A Parable of Unfaithfulness and Judgment
The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:
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.
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.
And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,
Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
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.
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.
Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
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.
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.
She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way,
And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,
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:
And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
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.
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.
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.
For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.
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;
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.
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.
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.
They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
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.
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:
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.
I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.
Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.
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.
Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
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.
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.
The Lord said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;
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.
Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
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.
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,
And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.
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.
Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?
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.
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.
For thus saith the Lord God; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
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.
Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.
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.
Ezekiel 23 presents a powerful and disturbing parable of two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah, representing the northern kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and the southern kingdom of Judah (Jerusalem), respectively. This chapter serves as a stark warning against spiritual adultery and the inevitable consequences of turning away from God. Through vivid imagery and unflinching language, God exposes the depth of Israel's depravity and announces the judgment to come.
The Two Sisters: Oholah and Oholibah (Ezekiel 23:1-4)
To further illustrate Judah’s unfaithfulness, God gave Ezekiel another parable to tell his listeners and to record for his readers. This one, like the parable of Sodom and Samaria (see Ezekiel 16:44-59), concerned two sinful women, sisters (Ezekiel 23:1). They acted like prostitutes in Egypt, behaving promiscuously (Ezekiel 23:3). Together these “sisters” represented the entire nation of Israel, which spent its youth in Egypt where its people first succumbed to idol worship. Oholah represented Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel (which by this time had been destroyed), and Oholibah represented Jerusalem in the southern kingdom of Judah (Ezekiel 23:4). Their names themselves are significant: "Oholah" means "her own tent," suggesting independence and self-reliance, while "Oholibah" means "my tent is in her," indicating God's presence, which Judah ultimately defiled. Their sexual promiscuity was metaphorical for their idolatry—their spiritual adultery—against the Lord. They worshiped false gods and made alliances with the surrounding nations.
Oholah's Adultery and Destruction (Ezekiel 23:5-10)
The parable unfolds as Oholah (Samaria) sought out her lovers, the Assyrians (Ezekiel 23:5), as the rulers of the northern kingdom prostituted themselves to that pagan nation. Because God’s people did not give up their promiscuity that began in Egypt (Ezekiel 23:8), God handed them over to the Assyrians to be oppressed and eventually killed by them. Israel was destroyed in 722 BC (Ezekiel 23:10). This serves as a historical reminder of the consequences of idolatry and political alliances formed without seeking God's guidance.
Oholibah's Greater Depravity (Ezekiel 23:11-21)
Unbelievably, Oholibah (Jerusalem) watched all this unfold, yet became even more depraved in her lust than Oholah (Ezekiel 23:11). Her lusting after the Assyrians (Ezekiel 23:12) probably refers to the actions of King Ahaz of Judah, who sought an alliance with Assyria to beat back an invasion from Israel (the northern kingdom) and Aram (see 2 Kings 16). In doing so, he made Judah a vassal state of Assyria for the next century. King Josiah freed Judah for a while, but he was killed and Judah came under Egyptian power.
To throw off Egypt, King Jehoiakim turned to the Babylonians and willingly made Judah its vassal state (Ezekiel 23:14-17). But when Babylon proved to be a harsh taskmaster, God’s nation came full circle and turned to Egypt for aid. Thus she revisited the depravity of her youth and turned to the country that had originally enslaved her (Ezekiel 23:19-21). But her attempt to be rescued by Egypt proved futile. In God’s sight the spiritual promiscuity of Oholibah / Jerusalem was as vulgar as actual prostitution. Instead of turning back to God for help and protection, Judah multiplied its unfaithfulness by continually turning to new pagan “lovers” for the same. This illustrates the cyclical nature of sin, where a nation, or an individual, repeatedly returns to destructive patterns despite witnessing their devastating consequences.
Judgment and Consequences (Ezekiel 23:22-49)
Therefore, there was nothing left for Oholibah but judgment at the hands of her lovers, whom God would incite against her in disgust (Ezekiel 23:22). This is a reminder that God sometimes uses the unrighteous to judge his people (see Habakkuk 1:12-13). Ezekiel declared God’s condemnation in horrific terms. The armies of the entire Babylonian kingdom would come against Jerusalem with devastating effect (Ezekiel 23:23). They would inflict punishment similar to the mutilation that was often carried out in that part of the ancient world against a prostitute to ruin her beauty (Ezekiel 23:24-27). When the Babylonians were finished with Jerusalem, she would no longer be attractive to anyone.
Ezekiel declared that Jerusalem would be left stark naked, exposing the debauchery of God’s faithless people for all to see (Ezekiel 23:28-29). The people of Judah acted like a prostitute with the nations, as did the people of Israel, so they would drink from the cup of Israel’s punishment (Ezekiel 23:30-34). The Lord stated clearly the reason for Jerusalem’s judgment: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and promiscuity (Ezekiel 23:35). The leaders and people of Jerusalem would pay the price for their betrayal of their covenant God.
This chapter concludes with a side-by-side comparison of the two sisters’ sins and judgments. Both Oholah and Oholibah, the northern and southern kingdoms, engaged in detestable idolatry of the most disturbing kind (Ezekiel 23:36). They sacrificed their children in the fire as food for the idols (Ezekiel 23:37) and on the same day went into God’s sanctuary to profane it (Ezekiel 23:37-39). Our theology matters. Worship and obedience to the true God will result in righteousness and justice, but worship and obedience to idols results in the worst kinds of immorality and violence against the helpless.
The adulterous way both kingdoms lured other nations into alliances is graphically portrayed as a prostitute adorning herself to lure her lovers into her room (Ezekiel 23:40-41). God said his people went for the lowest dregs of society, drunkards from the desert, along with common men (Ezekiel 23:42). But righteous men, probably a reference to God’s prophets like Ezekiel, would pronounce judgments on these adulteresses (Ezekiel 23:45). The penalty for adultery was stoning, and their enemies would cut them down with their swords . . . kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses (Ezekiel 23:47)—all of which happened when both Samaria and Jerusalem fell to invaders. In this way God made an end of their depravity (Ezekiel 23:49).
Lessons for Today
Ezekiel 23, while disturbing, offers timeless lessons. It reminds us of the dangers of spiritual adultery, the consequences of idolatry, and the importance of remaining faithful to God. The chapter serves as a warning against seeking security and fulfillment in anything other than God. It also underscores the severe consequences of hypocrisy – profaning God's name while engaging in detestable practices. Just as God judged Israel and Judah for their unfaithfulness, He will hold us accountable for our choices. Let us, therefore, examine our hearts and ensure that our loyalty remains solely with Him. We should learn from the history, and turn to God for help and protection.
The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:
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.
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.
And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,
Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
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.
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.
Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
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.
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.
She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way,
And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,
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:
And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
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.
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.
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.
For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.
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;
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.
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.
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.
They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
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.
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:
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.
I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.
Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.
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.
Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
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.
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.
The Lord said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;
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.
Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
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.
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,
And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.
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.
Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?
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.
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.
For thus saith the Lord God; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
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.
Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.
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.
Ezekiel 23 presents a powerful and disturbing parable of two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah, representing the northern kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and the southern kingdom of Judah (Jerusalem), respectively. This chapter serves as a stark warning against spiritual adultery and the inevitable consequences of turning away from God. Through vivid imagery and unflinching language, God exposes the depth of Israel's depravity and announces the judgment to come.
The Two Sisters: Oholah and Oholibah (Ezekiel 23:1-4)
To further illustrate Judah’s unfaithfulness, God gave Ezekiel another parable to tell his listeners and to record for his readers. This one, like the parable of Sodom and Samaria (see Ezekiel 16:44-59), concerned two sinful women, sisters (Ezekiel 23:1). They acted like prostitutes in Egypt, behaving promiscuously (Ezekiel 23:3). Together these “sisters” represented the entire nation of Israel, which spent its youth in Egypt where its people first succumbed to idol worship. Oholah represented Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel (which by this time had been destroyed), and Oholibah represented Jerusalem in the southern kingdom of Judah (Ezekiel 23:4). Their names themselves are significant: "Oholah" means "her own tent," suggesting independence and self-reliance, while "Oholibah" means "my tent is in her," indicating God's presence, which Judah ultimately defiled. Their sexual promiscuity was metaphorical for their idolatry—their spiritual adultery—against the Lord. They worshiped false gods and made alliances with the surrounding nations.
Oholah's Adultery and Destruction (Ezekiel 23:5-10)
The parable unfolds as Oholah (Samaria) sought out her lovers, the Assyrians (Ezekiel 23:5), as the rulers of the northern kingdom prostituted themselves to that pagan nation. Because God’s people did not give up their promiscuity that began in Egypt (Ezekiel 23:8), God handed them over to the Assyrians to be oppressed and eventually killed by them. Israel was destroyed in 722 BC (Ezekiel 23:10). This serves as a historical reminder of the consequences of idolatry and political alliances formed without seeking God's guidance.
Oholibah's Greater Depravity (Ezekiel 23:11-21)
Unbelievably, Oholibah (Jerusalem) watched all this unfold, yet became even more depraved in her lust than Oholah (Ezekiel 23:11). Her lusting after the Assyrians (Ezekiel 23:12) probably refers to the actions of King Ahaz of Judah, who sought an alliance with Assyria to beat back an invasion from Israel (the northern kingdom) and Aram (see 2 Kings 16). In doing so, he made Judah a vassal state of Assyria for the next century. King Josiah freed Judah for a while, but he was killed and Judah came under Egyptian power.
To throw off Egypt, King Jehoiakim turned to the Babylonians and willingly made Judah its vassal state (Ezekiel 23:14-17). But when Babylon proved to be a harsh taskmaster, God’s nation came full circle and turned to Egypt for aid. Thus she revisited the depravity of her youth and turned to the country that had originally enslaved her (Ezekiel 23:19-21). But her attempt to be rescued by Egypt proved futile. In God’s sight the spiritual promiscuity of Oholibah / Jerusalem was as vulgar as actual prostitution. Instead of turning back to God for help and protection, Judah multiplied its unfaithfulness by continually turning to new pagan “lovers” for the same. This illustrates the cyclical nature of sin, where a nation, or an individual, repeatedly returns to destructive patterns despite witnessing their devastating consequences.
Judgment and Consequences (Ezekiel 23:22-49)
Therefore, there was nothing left for Oholibah but judgment at the hands of her lovers, whom God would incite against her in disgust (Ezekiel 23:22). This is a reminder that God sometimes uses the unrighteous to judge his people (see Habakkuk 1:12-13). Ezekiel declared God’s condemnation in horrific terms. The armies of the entire Babylonian kingdom would come against Jerusalem with devastating effect (Ezekiel 23:23). They would inflict punishment similar to the mutilation that was often carried out in that part of the ancient world against a prostitute to ruin her beauty (Ezekiel 23:24-27). When the Babylonians were finished with Jerusalem, she would no longer be attractive to anyone.
Ezekiel declared that Jerusalem would be left stark naked, exposing the debauchery of God’s faithless people for all to see (Ezekiel 23:28-29). The people of Judah acted like a prostitute with the nations, as did the people of Israel, so they would drink from the cup of Israel’s punishment (Ezekiel 23:30-34). The Lord stated clearly the reason for Jerusalem’s judgment: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and promiscuity (Ezekiel 23:35). The leaders and people of Jerusalem would pay the price for their betrayal of their covenant God.
This chapter concludes with a side-by-side comparison of the two sisters’ sins and judgments. Both Oholah and Oholibah, the northern and southern kingdoms, engaged in detestable idolatry of the most disturbing kind (Ezekiel 23:36). They sacrificed their children in the fire as food for the idols (Ezekiel 23:37) and on the same day went into God’s sanctuary to profane it (Ezekiel 23:37-39). Our theology matters. Worship and obedience to the true God will result in righteousness and justice, but worship and obedience to idols results in the worst kinds of immorality and violence against the helpless.
The adulterous way both kingdoms lured other nations into alliances is graphically portrayed as a prostitute adorning herself to lure her lovers into her room (Ezekiel 23:40-41). God said his people went for the lowest dregs of society, drunkards from the desert, along with common men (Ezekiel 23:42). But righteous men, probably a reference to God’s prophets like Ezekiel, would pronounce judgments on these adulteresses (Ezekiel 23:45). The penalty for adultery was stoning, and their enemies would cut them down with their swords . . . kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses (Ezekiel 23:47)—all of which happened when both Samaria and Jerusalem fell to invaders. In this way God made an end of their depravity (Ezekiel 23:49).
Lessons for Today
Ezekiel 23, while disturbing, offers timeless lessons. It reminds us of the dangers of spiritual adultery, the consequences of idolatry, and the importance of remaining faithful to God. The chapter serves as a warning against seeking security and fulfillment in anything other than God. It also underscores the severe consequences of hypocrisy – profaning God's name while engaging in detestable practices. Just as God judged Israel and Judah for their unfaithfulness, He will hold us accountable for our choices. Let us, therefore, examine our hearts and ensure that our loyalty remains solely with Him. We should learn from the history, and turn to God for help and protection.