Ezekiel 5:6

5:6 Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations ¹  and the countries around her. ²  Indeed, they ³  have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.

Ezekiel 16:49

16:49 “‘See here – this was the iniquity ⁴  of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help ⁵  the poor and needy.

Ezekiel 16:57

16:57 before your evil was exposed? Now you have become an object of scorn to the daughters of Aram ⁶  and all those around her and to the daughters of the Philistines – those all around you who despise you.

Ezekiel 18:6

18:6 does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains ⁷  or pray to the idols ⁸  of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, does not have sexual relations with a ⁹  woman during her period,

Ezekiel 22:3

22:3 Then say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom), ¹⁰  and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity),

Ezekiel 22:28

22:28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. ¹¹  They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ when the Lord has not spoken.

Ezekiel 23:4

23:4 Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah ¹²  the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. ¹³  Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 23:7

23:7 She bestowed her sexual favors on them; all of them were the choicest young men of Assyria. She defiled herself with all whom she desired ¹⁴  – with all their idols.

Ezekiel 23:42

23:42 The sound of a carefree crowd accompanied her, ¹⁵  including all kinds of men; ¹⁶  even Sabeans ¹⁷  were brought from the desert. The sisters ¹⁸  put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.

Ezekiel 26:17

26:17 They will sing this lament over you: ¹⁹ 

“‘How you have perished – you have vanished ²⁰  from the seas,

O renowned city, once mighty in the sea,

she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror! ²¹ 

Ezekiel 27:9

27:9 The elders of Gebal ²²  and her skilled men were within you, mending cracks; ²³ 

all the ships of the sea and their mariners were within you to trade for your merchandise. ²⁴ 

Ezekiel 32:16

32:16 This is a lament; they will chant it.

The daughters of the nations will chant it.

They will chant it over Egypt and over all her hordes,

declares the sovereign Lord.”

Ezekiel 32:18

32:18 “Son of man, wail ²⁵  over the horde of Egypt. Bring it down; ²⁶  bring ²⁷  her ²⁸  and the daughters of powerful nations down to the lower parts of the earth, along with those who descend to the pit.

Ezekiel 33:28

33:28 I will turn the land into a desolate ruin; her confident pride will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate no one will pass through them.

Ezekiel 36:17

36:17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel was living on their own land, they defiled it by their behavior ²⁹  and their deeds. In my sight their behavior was like the uncleanness of a woman having her monthly period.

Ezekiel 36:38

36:38 Like the sheep for offerings, like the sheep of Jerusalem ³⁰  during her appointed feasts, so will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

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¹ sn The nations are subject to a natural law according to Gen 9; see also Amos 1:3-2:3; Jonah 1:2.

² tn Heb “she defied my laws, becoming wicked more than the nations, and [she defied] my statutes [becoming wicked] more than the countries around her.”

³ sn One might conclude that the subject of the plural verbs is the nations/countries, but the context (vv. 5-6a) indicates that the people of Jerusalem are in view. The text shifts from using the feminine singular (referring to personified Jerusalem) to the plural (referring to Jerusalem’s residents). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:73.

⁴ tn Or “guilt.”

⁵ tn Heb “strengthen the hand of.”

⁶ tc So MT, LXX, and Vulgate; many Hebrew mss and Syriac read “Edom.”

⁷ tn Heb, “on the mountains he does not eat.” The mountains are often mentioned as the place where idolatrous sacrifices were eaten (Ezek 20:28; 22:9; 34:6).

⁸ tn Heb, “does not lift up his eyes.” This refers to looking to idols for help.

⁹ tn Heb, “does not draw near to.” “Draw near” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse (Lev 18:14; Deut 22:14; Isa 8:3).

¹⁰ tn Heb “her time”; this refers to the time of impending judgment (see the note on “doom” in v. 4).

¹¹ tn Heb “her prophets coat for themselves with whitewash.” The expression may be based on Ezek 13:10-15.

¹² tn The names Oholah and Oholibah are both derived from the word meaning “tent.” The meaning of Oholah is “her tent,” while Oholibah means “my tent is in her.”

¹³ sn In this allegory the Lord is depicted as being the husband of two wives. The OT law prohibited a man from marrying sisters (Lev 18:18), but the practice is attested in the OT (cf. Jacob). The metaphor is utilized here for illustrative purposes and does not mean that the Lord condoned such a practice or bigamy in general.

¹⁴ tn Heb “lusted after.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “(was) in her.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “and men from the multitude of mankind.”

¹⁷ tn An alternate reading is “drunkards.” Sheba is located in the area of modern day Yemen.

¹⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referents (the sisters) have been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

¹⁹ tn Heb “and they will lift up over you a lament and they will say to you.”

²⁰ tn Heb “O inhabitant.” The translation follows the LXX and understands a different Hebrew verb, meaning “cease,” behind the consonantal text. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:72, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:43.

²¹ tn Heb “she and her inhabitants who placed their terror to all her inhabitants.” The relationship of the final prepositional phrase to what precedes is unclear. The preposition probably has a specifying function here, drawing attention to Tyre’s inhabitants as the source of the terror mentioned prior to this. In this case, one might paraphrase verse 17b: “she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror; yes, her inhabitants (were the source of this terror).”

²² sn Another Phoenician coastal city located between Sidon and Arvad.

²³ tn Heb “strengthening damages.” Here “to strengthen” means to repair. The word for “damages” occurs several times in 1 Kgs 12 about some type of damage to the temple, which may have referred to or included cracks. Since the context describes Tyre in its glory, we do not expect this reference to damages to be of significant scale, even if there are repairmen. This may refer to using pitch to seal the seams of the ship, which had to be done periodically and could be considered routine maintenance rather than repair of damage.

²⁴ sn The reference to “all the ships of the sea…within you” suggests that the metaphor is changing; previously Tyre had been described as a magnificent ship, but now the description shifts back to an actual city. The “ships of the sea” were within Tyre’s harbor. Verse 11 refers to “walls” and “towers” of the city.

²⁵ tn The Hebrew verb is used as a response to death (Jer 9:17-19; Amos 5:16).

²⁶ sn Through this prophetic lament given by God himself, the prophet activates the judgment described therein. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:217, and L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:136-37.

²⁷ tn Heb “Bring him down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the earth below.” The verb “bring down” appears in the Hebrew text only once. Because the verb takes several objects here, the repetition of the verb in the translation improves the English style.

²⁸ tn This apparently refers to personified Egypt.

²⁹ tn Heb “way.”

³⁰ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.