Ezekiel 23

Ezekiel 23
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Book of Ezekiel 30:13–18 in an English manuscript from early 13th century, MS. Bodl. Or. 62, fol. 59a. A Latin translation appears in the margins with further interlineations above the Hebrew.
Book	Book of Ezekiel
Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Bible part	26
Category	Nevi'im

Ezekiel 23 is the twenty-third chapter of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies spoken by the prophet Ezekiel, and is a part of the Books of the Prophets.

Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter in Hebrew language:

Ancient translations in Koine Greek:

NKJV groups this chapter into:

Ezekiel 23 is written in the form of a message delivered by God to Ezekiel. It presents an extended metaphor in which Samaria and Jerusalem are compared to sisters named Oholah (Samaria) and Oholibah (Jerusalem), who are the wives of God and accused of "playing the whore" in Egypt (Ezekiel 23:1-4). The metaphor of Israel and Judah as sisters married to God has attracted the attention of feminist scholars In Ezekiel 23 their disapproval sexual relations in Egypt occur when they are young, before they are married to God. In Ezekiel 16, a text with some similarities but important differences as well, the metaphorical women 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.

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, who are described in the text as having horse-sized genitalia (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).