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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Ezekiel 23:5 - 23:5
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Samaria's Whoredom and Punishment
Eze 23:5. And Oholibah played the harlot under me, and burned towards her lovers, even as far as Assyria, standing near; Eze 23:6. Clothed in purple, governors and officers, all of them choice men of good deportment, horsemen riding upon horses. Eze 23:7. And she directed her whoredom toward them, to the choice of the sons of Assyria all of them, and with all towards whom she burned, with all their idols she defiled herself. Eze 23:8. Also her whoredom from Egypt she did not give up; for they had lain with her in her youth, and they had handled her virgin bosom, and had poured out their lust upon her. Eze 23:9. Therefore I have given her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Assyria, towards whom she was inflamed. Eze 23:10. They uncovered her nakedness, took away her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword, so that she became a legend among the women, and executed judgments upon her. - Coquetting and whoring with Assyria and Egypt denote religious and political leaning towards and connection with these nations and kingdoms, including idolatry and the formation of alliances with them, as in Ezekiel 16. תַּחְתַּי is to be interpreted in accordance with תַּחַת אִישָׁהּ (Eze 16:32). עָגַּב, which only occurs in Ezekiel and once in Jeremiah, denotes the eager desire kindled by passionate love towards any one. By the words אֶל־אַשּׁוּר the lovers are more precisely defined. קְרֹובִים without an article is not an adjective, belonging to מְאַהֲבֶיהָ, but in apposition, which is continued in the next verse. In these appositions the particular features, which excited the ardent passion towards the lovers, are pointed out. קָרֹוב is not to be taken in an outward or local sense, but as signifying inward or spiritual nearness: standing near, equivalent to inwardly related, as in Psa 38:12; Job 19:14. The description given of the Assyrians in Eze 23:6 contains the thought that Israel, dazzled by Assyria's splendour, and overpowered by the might of that kingdom, had been drawn into intercourse with the Assyrians, which led her astray into idolatry. The predicate, clothed in purple, points to the splendour and glory of this imperial power; the other predicates, to the magnitude of its military force. פִַחֹות וּסְגָנִים are rulers of higher and lower grades (cf. Jer 51:57). “Here the expression is a general one, signifying the different classes of office-bearers in the kingdom” (Hävernick). With regard to פֶּחָה, see my comm. on Hag 1:1; and for סָגָן, see Delitzsch on Isa 41:25. “Riding upon horses” is added to פָּרָשִׁים to denote the noblest horsemen, in contrast to riders upon asses and camels (cf. Isa 21:7). In Eze 23:7 בְּכָּל־גִּלּוּלֵיהֶםhem is in apposition to בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־עָגְבָה, and defines more precisely the instigation to pollution: with all towards whom she burned in love, namely, with all their (the lovers') idols. The thought is as follows: it was not merely through her intercourse with the Assyrians that Israel defiled herself, but also through their idols. At the same time, Samaria did not give up the idolatry which it had derived from Egypt. It was from Egypt that the worship of God under the image of the golden calves had been imported. The words are much too strong for us to understand them as relating simply to political intercourse, as Hitzig has done. We have already observed at Eze 20:7, that even in Egypt itself the Israelites had defiled themselves with Egyptian idolatry, as is also stated in Eze 23:8. - Eze 23:9, Eze 23:10. As a punishment for this, God gave Samaria into the power of the Assyrians, so that they executed judgment upon the harlot. In Eze 23:10 the prophecy passes from the figure to the fact. The uncovering of the nakedness consisted in the transportation of the sons and daughters, i.e., the population of Samaria, into exile by the Assyrians, who slew the woman herself with the sword; in other words, destroyed the kingdom of Samaria. Thus did Samaria become a name for women; that is to say, her name was circulated among the nations, her fate became an object of conversation and ridicule to the nations, not “a nickname for the nations,” as Hävernick supposes (vid., Eze 36:3). שְׁפוּטִים, a later form for שְׁפָטִים (cf. Eze 16:41).