Ezek 23

23:1-49 This chapter, like ch 16, gives the history of the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the form of an extended metaphor. It graphically depicts Samaria and Jerusalem, the capital cities, as two immoral women. The metaphor emphasizes that their judgment was inevitable and well-deserved.

23:2 sisters . . . daughters of the same mother: They were descendants of the same nation, and their lives were essentially parallel. Even their names, Oholah and Oholibah, sound similar.

23:3 They became prostitutes by worshiping false gods.

23:4 Marriage is commonly used in the Bible as a symbol for the covenant relationship between God and his people (e.g., Isa 54:1-8; Eph 5:22-33). Adultery symbolizes Israel’s spiritual unfaithfulness (e.g., Hos 1–3). God makes his covenants in spite of, not because of, his people’s character (Rom 5:6-11).

23:5-8 Oholah: The northern kingdom, far from being converted by God’s covenant of grace, was fascinated with the power and prestige of Assyria. Alliances with Assyria were part of Israel’s political strategy from the 800s BC, but in the end, such alliances did not keep Israel safe.

23:9-10 The northern kingdom was overrun by the Assyrian army in 722 BC, and its people were dispersed throughout the Assyrian Empire.

23:11-18 Samaria’s reputation and punishment were known to everyone in Ezekiel’s time. Her sister, Oholibah (Jerusalem), followed the same pattern of life and was even worse than her sister. What a succession of Judah’s kings regarded as wise political maneuvering—seeking alliances with Babylon as well as with Assyria—the prophet presents as a pattern of consistent, ever-deepening spiritual adultery.

23:19-20 When the people of Jerusalem thought of Egypt, they did not remember the Lord’s deliverance through the Exodus, but the forbidden pleasures they had enjoyed there.

23:22-24 Jerusalem’s depravity made God’s judgment inevitable. The very nations that she courted as her lovers would abuse her. Babylon would bring its allies, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa. The names of these obscure tribes sound like Hebrew words meaning “Punishment,” “War cry,” and “Shriek.” Judah’s sins were greater than her sister’s, and her judgment would also be worse.

23:25-29 Stripping an adulterous wife naked—to expose in public what she had done in private—was a punishment for adultery (see study note on 16:35-38). The Babylonians similarly stripped Jerusalem and Judah of everything valuable and exposed them to their own shame.

23:31-34 your sister’s cup of terror: Jerusalem would have to drink from this bitter cup of judgment, as Samaria had. The pain of that judgment would cause her to beat (or tear at) her breast in anguish.

23:36-43 The prophet again adopted the role of prosecuting attorney, whose task was to confront Jerusalem with her sins (described in detail in ch 22). Far from being holy cities, Jerusalem and Samaria had become worn-out prostitutes whose only attractiveness was in their availability.

23:44-49 The sisters’ enemies would stone them like adulteresses and kill them with swords as an invading army would do. In the typical pattern of invasion, not only the prostitutes but also their sons and daughters would die, and the enemy would burn their homes. Those who rebelled against the Lord and pursued idolatry would suffer the full penalty of death.