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Ezekiel 23:40 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

40 And she even sent for men to come from far away, to whom a servant was sent, and they came: for whom she was washing her body and painting her eyes and making herself fair with ornaments.

Cross Reference

2 Kings 9:30 BBE

And when Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel had news of it; and, painting her eyes and dressing her hair with ornaments, she put her head out of the window.

Jeremiah 4:30 BBE

And you, when you are made waste, what will you do? Though you are clothed in red, though you make yourself beautiful with ornaments of gold, though you make your eyes wide with paint, it is for nothing that you make yourself fair; your lovers have no more desire for you, they have designs on your life.

Ezekiel 16:13-16 BBE

So you were made beautiful with gold and silver; and your clothing was of the best linen and silk and needlework; your food was the best meal and honey and oil: and you were very beautiful. You were so beautiful that the story of you went out into all nations; you were completely beautiful because of my glory which I had put on you, says the Lord. But you put your faith in the fact that you were beautiful, acting like a loose woman because you were widely talked of, and offering your cheap love to everyone who went by, whoever it might be. And you took your robes and made high places for yourself ornamented with every colour, acting like a loose woman on them, without shame or fear.

Isaiah 3:18-23 BBE

In that day the Lord will take away the glory of their foot-rings, and their sun-jewels, and their moon-ornaments, The ear-rings, and the chains, and the delicate clothing, The head-bands, and the arm-chains, and the worked bands, and the perfume-boxes, and the jewels with secret powers, The rings, and the nose-jewels, The feast-day dresses, and the robes, and the wide skirts, and the handbags, The looking-glasses, and the fair linen, and the high head-dresses, and the veils.

Isaiah 57:9 BBE

And you went to Melech with oil and much perfume, and you sent your representatives far off, and went as low as the underworld.

Ruth 3:3 BBE

So take a bath, and, after rubbing your body with sweet oil, put on your best robe, and go down to the grain-floor; but do not let him see you till he has come to the end of his meal.

2 Kings 20:13-15 BBE

And Hezekiah was glad at their coming and let them see all his store of wealth, the silver and the gold and the spices and the oil of great price, and the house of his arms, and everything there was in his stores; there was nothing in all his house or his kingdom which Hezekiah did not let them see. Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say and where did they come from? And Hezekiah said, They came from a far country, even from Babylon. And he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah said in answer, They saw everything in my house: there is nothing among my stores which I did not let them see.

Esther 2:12 BBE

Now every girl, when her turn came, had to go in to King Ahasuerus, after undergoing, for a space of twelve months, what was ordered by the law for the women (for this was the time necessary for making them clean, that is, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with sweet perfumes and such things as are needed for making women clean):

Proverbs 7:10 BBE

And the woman came out to him, in the dress of a loose woman, with a designing heart;

Ezekiel 23:13 BBE

And I saw that she had become unclean; the two of them went the same way.

Commentary on Ezekiel 23 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 23

Eze 23:1-49. Israel's and Judah's Sin and Punishment Are Parabolically Portrayed under the Names Aholah and Aholibah.

The imagery is similar to that in the sixteenth chapter; but here the reference is not as there so much to the breach of the spiritual marriage covenant with God by the people's idolatries, as by their worldly spirit, and their trusting to alliances with the heathen for safety, rather than to God.

2. two … of one mother—Israel and Judah, one nation by birth from the same ancestress, Sarah.

3. Even so early in their history as their Egyptian sojourn, they committed idolatries (see on Eze 20:6-8; Joshua 24. 14).

in their youth—an aggravation of their sin. It was at the very time of their receiving extraordinary favors from God (Eze 16:6, 22).

they bruised—namely, the Egyptians.

4. Aholah—that is, "Her tent" (put for worship, as the first worship of God in Israel was in a tent or tabernacle), as contrasted with Aholibah, that is, "My tent in her." The Beth-el worship of Samaria was of her own devising, not of God's appointment; the temple-worship of Jerusalem was expressly appointed by Jehovah, who "dwelt" there, "setting up His tabernacle among the people as His" (Ex 25:8; Le 26:11, 12; Jos 22:19; Ps 76:2).

the elder—Samaria is called "the elder" because she preceded Judah in her apostasy and its punishment.

they were mine—Previous to apostasy under Jeroboam, Samaria (Israel, or the ten tribes), equally with Judah, worshipped the true God. God therefore never renounced the right over Israel, but sent prophets, as Elijah and Elisha, to declare His will to them.

5. when … mine—literally, "under Me," that is, subject to Me as her lawful husband.

neighbours—On the northeast the kingdom of Israel bordered on that of Assyria; for the latter had occupied much of Syria. Their neighborhood in locality was emblematical of their being near in corruption of morals and worship. The alliances of Israel with Assyria, which are the chief subject of reprobation here, tended to this (2Ki 15:19; 16:7, 9; 17:3; Ho 8:9).

6. blue—rather, "purple" [Fairbairn]. As a lustful woman's passions are fired by showy dress and youthful appearance in men, so Israel was seduced by the pomp and power of Assyria (compare Isa 10:8).

horsemen—cavaliers.

7. all their idols—There was nothing that she refused to her lovers.

8. whoredoms brought from Egypt—the calves set up in Dan and Beth-el by Jeroboam, answering to the Egyptian bull-formed idol Apis. Her alliances with Egypt politically are also meant (Isa 30:2, 3; 31:1). The ten tribes probably resumed the Egyptian rites, in order to enlist the Egyptians against Judah (2Ch 12:2-4).

9. God, in righteous retribution, turned their objects of trust into the instruments of their punishment: Pul, Tiglath-pileser, Esar-haddon, and Shalmaneser (2Ki 15:19, 29; 17:3, 6, 24; Ezr 4:2, 10). "It was their sin to have sought after such lovers, and it was to be their punishment that these lovers should become their destroyers" [Fairbairn].

10. became famous—literally, "she became a name," that is, as notorious by her punishment as she had been by her sins, so as to be quoted as a warning to others.

women—that is, neighboring peoples.

11. 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. Her greater spiritual privileges made her guilt the greater (Eze 16:47, 51; Jer 3:11).

12. (Eze 23:6, 23).

most gorgeously—literally, "to perfection." Grotius translates, "wearing a crown," or "chaplet," such as lovers wore in visiting their mistresses.

13. one way—both alike forsaking God for heathen confidences.

14. vermilion—the peculiar color of the Chaldeans, as purple was of the Assyrians. In striking agreement with this verse is the fact that the Assyrian sculptures lately discovered have painted and colored bas-reliefs in red, blue, and black. The Jews (for instance Jehoiakim, Jer 22:14) copied these (compare Eze 8:10).

15. exceeding in dyed attire—rather, "in ample dyed turbans"; literally, "redundant with dyed turbans." The Assyrians delighted in ample, flowing, and richly colored tunics, scarfs, girdles, and head-dresses or turbans, varying in ornaments according to the rank.

Chaldea, … land of their nativity—between the Black and Caspian Seas (see on Isa 23:13).

princes—literally, a first-rate military class that fought by threes in the chariots, one guiding the horses, the other two fighting.

16. sent messengers … into Chaldea—(Eze 16:29). It was she that solicited the Chaldeans, not they her. Probably the occasion was when Judah sought to strengthen herself by a Chaldean alliance against a menaced attack by Egypt (compare 2Ki 23:29-35; 24:1-7). God made the object of their sinful desire the instrument of their punishment. Jehoiakim, probably by a stipulation of tribute, enlisted Nebuchadnezzar against Pharaoh, whose tributary he previously had been; failing to keep his stipulation, he brought on himself Nebuchadnezzar's vengeance.

17. alienated from them—namely, from the Chaldeans: turning again to the Egyptians (Eze 23:19), trying by their help to throw off her solemn engagements to Babylon (compare Jer 37:5, 7; 2Ki 24:7).

18. my mind was alienated from her—literally, "was broken off from her." Just retribution for "her mind being alienated (broken off) from the Chaldeans" (Eze 23:17), to whom she had sworn fealty (Eze 17:12-19). "Discovered" implies the open shamelessness of her apostasy.

19. Israel first "called" her lusts, practised when in Egypt, "to her (fond) remembrance," and then actually returned to them. Mark the danger of suffering the memory to dwell on the pleasure felt in past sins.

20. their paramours—that is, her paramours among them (the Egyptians); she doted upon their persons as her paramours (Eze 23:5, 12, 16).

flesh—the membrum virile (very large in the ass). Compare Le 15:2, Margin; Eze 16:26.

issue of horses—the seminal issue. The horse was made by the Egyptians the hieroglyphic for a lustful person.

21. calledst to remembrance—"didst repeat" [Maurer].

in bruising—in suffering … to be bruised.

22. lovers … alienated—(Eze 23:17). Illicit love, soon or late, ends in open hatred (2Sa 13:15). The Babylonians, the objects formerly of their God-forgetting love, but now, with characteristic fickleness, objects of their hatred, shall be made by God the instruments of their punishment.

23. Pekod, &c.—(Jer 50:21). Not a geographical name, but descriptive of Babylon. "Visitation," peculiarly the land of "judgment"; in a double sense: actively, the inflicter of judgment on Judah; passively, as about to be afterwards herself the object of judgment.

Shoa … Koa—"rich … noble"; descriptive of Babylon in her prosperity, having all the world's wealth and dignity at her disposal. Maurer suggests that, as descriptive appellatives are subjoined to the proper name, "all the Assyrians" in the second hemistich of the verse (as the verse ought to be divided at "Koa"), so Pekod, Shoa, and Koa must be appellatives descriptive of "The Babylonians and … Chaldeans" in the first hemistich; "Pekod" meaning "prefects"; Shoa … Koa, "rich … princely."

desirable young men—strong irony. Alluding to Eze 23:12, these "desirable young men" whom thou didst so "dote upon" for their manly vigor of appearance, shall by that very vigor be the better able to chastise thee.

24. with chariots—or, "with armaments"; so the Septuagint; "axes" [Maurer]; or, joining it with "wagons," translate, "with scythe-armed wagons," or "chariots" [Grotius].

wheels—The unusual height of these increased their formidable appearance (Eze 1:16-20).

their judgments—which awarded barbarously severe punishments (Jer 52:9; 29:22).

25. take away thy nose … ears—Adulteresses were punished so among the Egyptians and Chaldeans. Oriental beauties wore ornaments in the ear and nose. How just the retribution, that the features most bejewelled should be mutilated! So, allegorically as to Judah, the spiritual adulteress.

26. strip … of … clothes—whereby she attracted her paramours (Eze 16:39).

27. Thus … make … lewdness to cease—The captivity has made the Jews ever since abhor idolatry, not only on their return from Babylon, but for the last eighteen centuries of their dispersion, as foretold (Ho 3:4).

28. (Eze 23:17, 18; 16:37).

29. take away … thy labour—that is, the fruits of thy labor.

leave thee naked—as captive females are treated.

31. her cup—of punishment (Ps 11:6; 75:8; Jer 25:15, &c.). Thy guilt and that of Israel being alike, your punishment shall be alike.

34. break … sherds—So greedily shalt thou suck out every drop like one drinking to madness (the effect invariably ascribed to drinking God's cup of wrath, Jer 51:7; Hab 2:16) that thou shalt crunch the very shreds of it; that is, there shall be no evil left which thou shalt not taste.

pluck off thine own breasts—enraged against them as the ministers to thine adultery.

35. forgotten me—the root of all sin (Jer 2:32; 13:25).

cast me behind thy back—(1Ki 14:9; Ne 9:26).

bear … thy lewdness—that is, its penal consequences (Pr 1:31).

36-44. A summing up of the sins of the two sisters, especially those of Judah.

wilt thou judge—Wilt thou (not) judge (see on Eze 20:4)?

38. the same day—On the very day that they had burned their children to Molech in the valley of Gehenna, they shamelessly and hypocritically presented themselves as worshippers in Jehovah's temple (Jer 7:9, 10).

40. messenger was sent—namely, by Judah (Eze 23:16; Isa 57:9).

paintedst … eyes—(2Ki 9:30, Margin; Jer 4:30). Black paint was spread on the eyelids of beauties to make the white of the eye more attractive by the contrast, so Judah left no seductive art untried.

41. bed—divan. While men reclined at table, women sat, as it seemed indelicate for them to lie down (Am 6:4) [Grotius].

table—that is, the idolatrous altar.

mine incense—which I had given thee, and which thou oughtest to have offered to Me (Eze 16:18, 19; Ho 2:8; compare Pr 7:17).

42. Sabeans—Not content with the princely, handsome Assyrians, the sisters brought to themselves the rude robber hordes of Sabeans (Job 1:15). The Keri, or Margin, reads "drunkards."

upon their hands—upon the hands of the sisters, that is, they allured Samaria and Judah to worship their gods.

43. Will they, &c.—Is it possible that paramours will desire any longer to commit whoredoms with so worn-out an old adulteress?

45. the righteous men—the Chaldeans; the executioners of God's righteous vengeance (Eze 16:38), not that they were "righteous" in themselves (Hab 1:3, 12, 13).

46. a company—properly, "a council of judges" passing sentence on a criminal [Grotius]. The "removal" and "spoiling" by the Chaldean army is the execution of the judicial sentence of God.

47. stones—the legal penalty of the adulteress (Eze 16:40, 41; Joh 8:5). Answering to the stones hurled by the Babylonians from engines in besieging Jerusalem.

houses … fire—fulfilled (2Ch 36:17, 19).

48. (Eze 23:27).

that all … may be taught not to do, &c.—(De 13:11).

49. bear the sins of your idols—that is, the punishment of your idolatry.

know that I am the Lord God—that is, know it to your cost … by bitter suffering.