Ezekiel 23 is the twenty-third chapter of the

Book of Ezekiel The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Tanakh and one of the major prophetic books, following Isaiah and Jeremiah. According to the book itself, it records six visions of the prophet Ezekiel, exiled in Babylon, during ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Old Testament of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

Ezekiel, and is one of the

Books of the Prophets Nevi'im (; he, נְבִיאִים ''Nəvīʾīm'', Tiberian: ''Năḇīʾīm,'' "Prophets", literally "spokespersons") is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the ''Tanakh''), lying between the Torah (instruction) and Ketuvim (wri ...

. This chapter forms part of a series of "predictions regarding the fall of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

",Davidson, A. B. (1893)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
on Ezekiel 20, accessed 28 November 2019 and is written in the form of a message delivered by God to Ezekiel. It presents an extended metaphor in which

Samaria Samaria (; he, שֹׁמְרוֹן, translit=Šōmrōn, ar, السامرة, translit=as-Sāmirah) is the historic and biblical name used for the central region of Palestine, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The first ...

and

are compared to sisters named ''Oholah'' (Samaria) and ''Oholibah'' (Jerusalem), who are the wives of God and accused of "playing the whore" in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

then cuckolding her husband while he watched (Ezekiel 23:1-4).New Revised Standard Version

Text

The original text of this chapter is written in the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. This chapter is divided into 49 verses.

Textual witnesses

In the Hebrew Masoretic tradition, some of the early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew language are the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Leningrad Codex (1008-1009). Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

, that is, 4Q73 (4QEzek; 50–25 BCE) with extant verses 14–15, 17–18, 44–47.Dead sea scrolls - Ezekiel
/ref> There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the

version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century) and

Codex Marchalianus Codex Marchalianus designated by siglum Q is a 6th-century Greek manuscript copy of the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament) known as the Septuagint. The text was written on vellum in uncial letters. Palaeographically it ...

(Q;

\mathfrak

^Q; 6th century).

Ezekiel 23's

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

of Israel and Judah as sisters married to God has attracted the attention of feminist scholars. In Ezekiel 23 their disapproved sexual relations in Egypt occur when they are young, before they are married to God. In

Ezekiel 16 Ezekiel 16 is the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophecies attributed to the prophet/priest Ezekiel, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Biblic ...

, a text with some similarities but important differences as well, the metaphorical woman belongs to God from puberty, with her sexual offenses occurring only later. The reference to promiscuity in Egypt could refer to earlier political alliances. Ohalah is accused of adultery with Assyrian soldiers, and of worshipping their gods (verses 5–7). This metaphorically refers to an earlier alliance between the Northern Kingdom of Samaria and Assyria. God punishes her relations with Assyria by giving her over to Assyrian control: they strip her naked, take her children, and kill her (9-10). This is a reference to the conquest of Israel by Assyria and the deportations of inhabitants which occurred in 722 B.C.E. Knowing about her sister's punishment but disregarding it, Oholibah (Jerusalem, the capital city of the Southern Kingdom) continues her "whoring" with the Assyrians, and then with Babylonians as well (11-17). God abandons her in disgust, but she continues her "whorings" with her lovers (18-21). As a result, God proclaims that he will send Babylonian soldiers to conquer Oholibah, to disfigure her, take her children, and burn her people (22-35). God then orders Ezekiel to announce this judgment to Oholibah (36), and accuses the Judahites of committing "adultery" by worshipping idols and practicing child sacrifice (37), polluting the temple and desecrating the Sabbath by simultaneously worshipping the god of Israel and idols (39). God compares this to prostitution (40-45) and calls for their punishment (46-49).

Verse 2

: ''"Son of man, there were two women,'' :: ''The daughters of one mother."'' * "Son of man" (Hebrew: בן־אדם ''ben adam''): this phrase is used 93 times to address Ezekiel.

Verse 4

: ''Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister;'' :: ''They were Mine,'' ::: ''And they bore sons and daughters.'' : ''As for their names,'' :: ''Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.'' * " Oholah and Oholibah": the

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

names containing a

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

in the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, ''Oholah'' means "her tent", and ''Oholibah'' means "my tent is in her", suggesting that "God's real dwelling (tent) was in Jerusalem".The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Augmented Third Edition, New Revised Standard Version, Indexed. Michael D. Coogan, Marc Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, Editors. Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2007. p. 1211-1213 Hebrew Bible. "Tent" also means "tabernacle".Notes and in New King James Version on Ezekiel 23:4.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

Jewish

Ezekiel 23 Hebrew with Parallel EnglishEzekiel 23 Hebrew with Rashi's Commentary

Christian

Ezekiel 23 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
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