Ezekiel 23:12
in Ezekiel 23She too lusted after the Assyrians—governors and commanders, warriors dressed in splendor, horsemen riding on steeds, all desirable young men.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
KJV
She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
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This verse in Ezekiel 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThus she increased her whoredoms; she fell in love, fell in league, with the Chaldeans. Hezekiah himself was faulty this way when he was proud of the court which the king of Babylon made to him and complimented his ambassadors with the sight of all his treasures, Isa. xxxix.
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, growing more corrupt rather than less. Gill reads the verse as the chapter's hardest charge, a warning seen firsthand and disregarded. Keil notes the phrase they took both one way closes the comparison plainly, two sisters walking the identical road.
This site's exposition
She too lusted after the Assyrians
Judah repeated Samaria's courtship of Assyria. Ahaz sent messengers to the Assyrian king for help against Aram and Israel, as 2 Kings 16:7 records. Barnes traced Judah's intrigues first with Assyria and then with Babylon.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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
She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
For the sons of Assyria she lusted This is Ahaz, who sent to the king of Assyria for aid (II Kings:7).
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And her sister Oholibah saw all the evil that befell her sister because of her harlotries, but she was unafraid.
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. 3 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
15 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּנֵי֩ | benei | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אַשּׁ֨וּר | ʾashur | Assyria | H804 → | 151 times |
| עָגָ֜בָה | ʾagavah | she lusted | H5689 → | 7 times |
| פַּח֨וֹת | pachot | governors | H6346 → | 28 times |
| וּסְגָנִ֤ים | useganim | and officials | H5461 → | 17 times |
| קְרֹבִים֙ | kerovim | warriors | H7138 → | 77 times |
| לְבֻשֵׁ֣י | levushei | clothed of | H3847 → | 110 times |
| מִכְל֔וֹל | mikhlol | perfection | H4358 → | |
| פָּרָשִׁ֖ים | parashim | horsemen | H6571 → | 57 times |
| רֹכְבֵ֣י | rokhevei | riders of | H7392 → | 78 times |
| סוּסִ֑ים | susim | horses | H5483 → | 140 times |
| בַּח֥וּרֵי | bachurei | [were] young men of | H970 → | 44 times |
| חֶ֖מֶד | chemed | desire | H2531 → | 6 times |
| כֻּלָּֽם׃ | kulam | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בְּנֵי֩[the] sons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
אַשּׁ֨וּרAssyria
ʾashurH804 →151 times
עָגָ֜בָהshe lusted
ʾagavahH5689 →7 times
פַּח֨וֹתgovernors
pachotH6346 →28 times
וּסְגָנִ֤יםand officials
useganimH5461 →17 times
קְרֹבִים֙warriors
kerovimH7138 →77 times
לְבֻשֵׁ֣יclothed of
levusheiH3847 →110 times
מִכְל֔וֹלperfection
mikhlolH4358 →
פָּרָשִׁ֖יםhorsemen
parashimH6571 →57 times
רֹכְבֵ֣יriders of
rokheveiH7392 →78 times
סוּסִ֑יםhorses
susimH5483 →140 times
בַּח֥וּרֵי[were] young men of
bachureiH970 →44 times
חֶ֖מֶדdesire
chemedH2531 →6 times
כֻּלָּֽם׃all of them
kulamH3605 →5413 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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 16:28Then you prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, because you were not yet satisfied. Even after that, you were still not satisfied.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 16:7
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hands of the kings of Aram and Israel, who are…
- Jeremiah 2:36
How unstable you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria.
- 2 Kings 16:10–18
Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. On seeing the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent Uriah the priest a model of the altar and complete plans for its…
- Jeremiah 2:18
Now what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? What will you gain on your way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
- Hosea 10:6
Yes, it will be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king. Ephraim will be seized with shame; Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.
- 2 Kings 16:7
Through
Ezekiel 23:23the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them—all desirable young men, governors and commanders, officers and men of renown, mounted on horses.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 50:21
Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the residents of Pekod. Kill them and devote them to destruction. Do all that I have commanded you,” declares the LORD.
- 2 Kings 20:14–17
Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” “They came from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”
- 2 Kings 24:2
And the LORD sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servants the prophets.
- Jeremiah 50:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
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; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.