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Ezekiel 23:11

in Ezekiel 23

Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her whoredoms which were more than the whoredoms of her sister.

KJV

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.

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This verse in Ezekiel 23

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
And when her sister Aholibah saw this,.... The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, when, they saw the idolatries the ten tribes fell into, and the destruction which came upon them for the same; instead of receiving instruction, and taking caution by all this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she; in courting the friendship, alliance, and help of their Heathen neighbours: and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms; guilty of more idolatries than the ten tribes, as in the times of Manasseh; see Jer 2:28.

This site's exposition

she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she

on Ezekiel 23:11-13

Jerusalem watches her sister's fall and draws the opposite lesson from the one the Lord intended, growing more corrupt rather than less, doting on the same Assyrian captains that ruined Samaria. Gill reads the verse as the chapter's hardest charge, a warning seen firsthand and disregarded, which the older writers weighed as a heavier guilt than Samaria's own. Keil notes the phrase they took both one way closes the comparison plainly, two sisters walking the identical road though one watched the other die of it first.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Vers. 11 seqq.) When her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more wicked than her, and her desire for sexual immorality surpassed that of her sister. Shamelessly, she displayed her prostitution to the sons of Assyria, to their captains and leaders who came to her. She was dressed in various (or costly) garments, riding on horses with riders, all of them handsome young men. And I saw that both of them had defiled the same path, and they multiplied their sexual immorality.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Instead of being made to stand in awe of him as a jealous God, they therefore grew strange to him, and liked those gods better that would admit of partners with them. Note, Those may justly expect God's judgments upon themselves who do not take warning by his judgments upon others, who see in others what is the end of sin and yet continue to make a light matter of it.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

The idolatries of Manasseh’s reign exceeded all that had gone before either in Israel or in Judah 2 Kings 21:1-16; 2Ch 33:1-10.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Judah, the southern kingdom, though having the "warning" (see on Eze 23:10) of the northern kingdom before her eyes, instead of profiting by it, went to even greater lengths in corruption than Israel.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

And her sister Oholibah saw all the evil that befell her sister because of her harlotries, but she was unafraid.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezekiel 23:11:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
and she became a name for the women to take from them a curse for any adulteress to learn a lesson from her: See what happened to so and so because of her lewdness.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezekiel 23:10:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
For the sons of Assyria she lusted This is Ahaz, who sent to the king of Assyria for aid (II Kings:7).
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezekiel 23:12:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַתֵּ֙רֶא֙and she saw

    vatere'H7200 →1300 times

  • אֲחוֹתָ֣הּsister her

    ʾachotahH269 →114 times

  • אָהֳלִיבָ֔הOholibah

    ʾoholivahH172 →6 times

  • וַתַּשְׁחֵ֥תand she acted corruptly

    vatashchetH7843 →146 times

  • עַגְבָתָ֖הּlust her

    ʾagvatahH5691 →

  • מִמֶּ֑נָּהmore than her

    mimenahH4480 →1188 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • תַּ֨זְנוּתֶ֔יהָprostitution<s> her

    taznuteihaH8457 →20 times

  • מִזְּנוּנֵ֖יmore than [the] prostitutions of

    mizenuneiH2183 →

  • אֲחוֹתָֽהּ׃sister her

    ʾachotahH269 →114 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

7 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Jeremiah 3:11And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than unfaithful Judah.5 worksJeremiah 3:8–11She saw that because faithless Israel had committed adultery, I gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Yet that unfaithful sister Judah had no fear and prostituted herself as well.4 worksEzekiel 16:47–51And you not only walked in their ways and practiced their abominations, but soon you were more depraved than they were.2 worksEzekiel 23:4The older was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah. They became Mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their identities, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.2 worksEzekiel 16:46Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to your north; and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to your south.2 worksJeremiah 3:6Now in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there.2 works
The other 1 cross-references, with their words ▾
Micah 1:13Harness your chariot horses, O dweller of Lachish. You were the beginning of sin to the Daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Ezekiel 23:4

    The older was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah. They became Mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their identities, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 16:8

      Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a…

    • Exodus 19:5–6

      Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.

    • Psalms 45:11–16

      and the king will desire your beauty; bow to him, for he is your lord.

    • Ezekiel 16:40

      They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.

    • Ezekiel 16:20

      You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?

About Ezekiel

The Prophet Ezekiel, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Ezekiel, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel: the study guide →Read Ezekiel 23 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Ezekiel 23 →