2 Two women were daughters of one mother, 3 And they go a-whoring in Egypt, In their youth they have gone a-whoring, There they have bruised their breasts, And there they have dealt with the loves of their virginity. 4 And their names 'are' Aholah the elder, And Aholibah her sister, And they are Mine, and bear sons and daughters. As to their names—Samaria 'is' Aholah, And Jerusalem 'is' Aholibah. 5 And go a-whoring doth Aholah under Me, And she doteth on her lovers, On the neighbouring Assyrians, 6 Clothed with blue—governors and prefects, Desirable young men all of them, Horsemen, riding on horses, 7 And she giveth her whoredoms on them, The choice of the sons of Asshur, All of them—even all on whom she doted, By all their idols she hath been defiled. 8 And her whoredoms out of Egypt she hath not forsaken, For with her they lay in her youth, And they dealt with the loves of her virginity, And they pour out their whoredoms on her. 9 Therefore I have given her into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of sons of Asshur on whom she doted. 10 They have uncovered her nakedness, Her sons and her daughters they have taken, And her by sword they have slain, And she is a name for women, And judgments they have done with her.

11 And see doth her sister Aholibah, And she maketh her doting love more corrupt than she, And her whoredoms than the whoredoms of her sister. 12 On sons of Asshur she hath doted, Governors and prefects, Neighbouring ones—clothed in perfection, Horsemen, riding on horses, Desirable young men all of them. 13 And I see that she hath been defiled, One way 'is' to them both. 14 And she doth add unto her whoredoms, And she seeth graved men on the wall, Pictures of Chaldeans, graved with red lead, 15 Girded with a girdle on their loins, Dyed attire spread out on their heads, The appearance of rulers—all of them, The likeness of sons of Babylon, Chaldea is the land of their birth. 16 And she doteth on them at the sight of her eyes, And sendeth messengers to them, to Chaldea. 17 And come in unto her do sons of Babylon, To the bed of loves, And they defile her with their whoredoms, And she is defiled with them, And her soul is alienated from them. 18 And she revealeth her whoredoms, And she revealeth her nakedness, And alienated is My soul from off her, As alienated was My soul from off her sister. 19 And she multiplieth her whoredoms, To remember the days of her youth, When she went a-whoring in the land of Egypt. 20 And she doteth on their paramours, Whose flesh 'is' the flesh of asses, And the issue of horses—their issue.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 23:2-20

Chapter Contents

A history of the apostacy of God's people from him, and the aggravation thereof.

In this parable, Samaria and Israel bear the name Aholah, "her own tabernacle;" because the places of worship those kingdoms had, were of their own devising. Jerusalem and Judah bear the name of Aholibah, "my tabernacle is in her," because their temple was the place which God himself had chosen, to put his name there. The language and figures are according to those times. Will not such humbling representations of nature keep open perpetual repentance and sorrow in the soul, hiding pride from our eyes, and taking us from self-righteousness? Will it not also prompt the soul to look to God continually for grace, that by his Holy Spirit we may mortify the deeds of the body, and live in holy conversation and godliness?