Discovery BoxEzekiel 23:5-9 
Context23:5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine. 1 She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians 2 – warriors 3 23:6 clothed in blue, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 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 4 – with all their idols. 23:8 She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men had sex with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her. 5 23:9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians 6 for whom she lusted.
1 tn Heb “while she was under me.” The expression indicates that Oholah is viewed as the Lord’s wife. See Num 5:19-20, 29.
sn Played the harlot refers to alliances with pagan nations in this context. In Ezek 16 harlotry described the sin of idolatry.
2 tn Heb “Assyria.”
3 tn The term apparently refers to Assyrian military officers; it is better construed with the description that follows. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:738.
4 tn Heb “lusted after.”
5 tn Heb “and poured out their harlotry on her.”
6 tn Heb “I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Assyria.”
