Ezekiel 23:11 kjv
And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.
Ezekiel 23:11 nkjv
"Now although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister's harlotry.
Ezekiel 23:11 niv
"Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister.
Ezekiel 23:11 esv
"Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became more corrupt than her sister in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister.
Ezekiel 23:11 nlt
"Yet even though Oholibah saw what had happened to Oholah, her sister, she followed right in her footsteps. And she was even more depraved, abandoning herself to her lust and prostitution.
Ezekiel 23 11 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Jer 3:6-11 | Have you seen what faithless Israel did? ...yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear. | Judah witnessed Israel's sin but did not learn. |
| Eze 16:44-48 | Your mother was a Hittite ... Your older sister was Samaria ... Your younger sister, who lives to your south, is Sodom. You were worse than they. | Jerusalem's greater sin than her 'sisters' (Sodom & Samaria). |
| Jer 2:13 | For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me ... and hewed out cisterns. | Forsaking God for worthless idols. |
| Hos 4:12 | My people inquire of a wooden idol, and their walking staff gives them guidance. For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray. | Spiritual harlotry leading people astray. |
| Isa 1:21 | How the faithful city has become a harlot! | Jerusalem as a harlot due to unfaithfulness. |
| Ps 106:39 | Thus they became unclean by their acts and played the harlot in their deeds. | Spiritual defilement through sinful acts. |
| Deut 32:21 | They have roused My jealousy ... they have provoked Me with their idols. | Idolatry provoking God's jealousy. |
| Amos 3:2 | You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you. | Greater privilege, greater accountability. |
| Luke 12:47-48 | The servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act ... will receive a severe beating. | Knowing God's will and not acting justly incurs greater judgment. |
| Rom 2:4 | Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience. | Despising God's patience through unrepentant sin. |
| Rev 2:20-22 | But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel ... I gave her time to repent... | Opportunity for repentance and judgment for refusal. |
| 2 Pet 2:20-22 | For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge ... they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them. | Returning to sin after knowledge leads to a worse state. |
| 1 Sam 15:23 | For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. | Stubborn disobedience akin to idolatry. |
| Ex 34:15-16 | Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land ... and take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters play the harlot. | Covenant with foreign gods is spiritual harlotry. |
| Jer 3:8 | Because backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had sent her away... Yet treacherous Judah her sister saw it. | Judah saw Israel's fate but persisted in treachery. |
| Eze 20:30 | "Are you defiling yourselves in the way of your fathers and whoring after their detestable things?" | Following in the spiritual harlotry of past generations. |
| Mal 2:11 | For Judah has been faithless, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD... | Judah's faithlessness and defilement of the sanctuary. |
| Jas 4:4 | You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? | Spiritual adultery against God by befriending the world. |
| Matt 11:20-24 | Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago. | Greater light/witness means greater culpability for unbelief. |
| Heb 10:26-27 | For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. | Deliberate, persistent sin after knowledge has severe consequences. |
| Jer 5:3 | You have struck them, but they felt no anguish; You have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent. | Refusal to respond to correction, hardened hearts. |
| 2 Ki 17:18-19 | Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from His presence... Only the tribe of Judah was left. Judah also did not keep the commandments... | Judah's witness to Israel's exile and subsequent continued disobedience. |
Ezekiel 23 verses
Ezekiel 23 11 Meaning
Ezekiel 23:11 declares that Oholibah (representing Jerusalem and Judah), after witnessing the destructive consequences of her sister Oholah's (Samaria and Israel) spiritual harlotry, instead of learning a lesson, intensified her own corrupt desires and whoredoms, surpassing Oholah's in wickedness. This verse underscores Judah's deeper guilt and greater accountability due to her direct observation of judgment, yet her refusal to repent or turn back to God.
Ezekiel 23 11 Context
Ezekiel 23 details an allegorical judgment on the two sister nations, Oholah (Samaria, representing the northern kingdom of Israel) and Oholibah (Jerusalem, representing the southern kingdom of Judah). God's message through Ezekiel, delivered to the exiles in Babylon, exposes the spiritual adultery of His people. In previous verses (1-10), Oholah is depicted committing spiritual harlotry by pursuing alliances and gods of Assyria, leading to her eventual destruction. Verse 11 introduces Oholibah's response to this tragic lesson. Historically, Judah witnessed the northern kingdom of Israel's fall to Assyria in 722 BC, which served as a severe warning against idolatry and covenant unfaithfulness. Despite this powerful historical example, Jerusalem not only continued in the same sins but intensified them, pursuing even more decadent alliances and idolatries, specifically with the Babylonians and Egyptians. This verse highlights Judah's deliberate refusal to learn from divine judgment, thus deepening her guilt and meriting an even harsher condemnation.
Ezekiel 23 11 Word analysis
- And when her sister Oholibah saw this:
- Oholibah (אֳהָלִיבָה, Oholibah): Meaning "My tent is in her." This name inherently speaks of a closer relationship between God and Jerusalem (where the Temple, God's dwelling, was). This sacred connection accentuates her spiritual betrayal as more grievous than Samaria's.
- Saw this (רָאֲתָה אֹתָהּ, ra'atah otah): Signifies direct observation of Oholah's downfall. This isn't just hearing; it's witnessing. The implication is clear: Judah should have learned, but defiantly chose not to.
- she was more corrupt in her inordinate love:
- More corrupt (הִשְׁחִיתָה, hishkhita): From the root שׁחת (shachat), meaning to ruin, destroy, spoil. In the Hiphil stem, it indicates she caused herself to be corrupted or she acted corruptly. This highlights her active and willing participation in self-degradation.
- Inordinate love (תַאֲוָתָהּ, ta'avatah): Literally "her lust" or "her desire." This isn't merely political maneuvering but an overwhelming, insatiable craving for foreign connections and their idolatrous practices, rooted in a deeper spiritual perversity that went beyond mere strategy. It suggests an emotional and spiritual addiction.
- than she:
- A direct comparison that explicitly states Oholibah's sin exceeded Oholah's. The depth and intensity of her sin surpassed her elder sister's.
- and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms:
- Whoredoms (וּבִזְנוּתָהּ, u'viznutah): From the root זנה (zanah), meaning to commit fornication, to play the harlot. This is the pervasive biblical metaphor for idolatry and covenant unfaithfulness.
- The repetition of "more than her sister in her whoredoms" provides emphatic parallelism, powerfully reinforcing that Oholibah's spiritual harlotry was not only quantitatively greater but qualitatively more offensive and audacious given her knowledge of the consequences. It underscores the escalation of sin and defiant rejection of God.
Ezekiel 23 11 Bonus section
The explicit and graphic sexual imagery in Ezekiel 23, of which verse 11 is a part, serves a crucial rhetorical purpose. It aims to shock the audience, revealing the depth of God's offense and disgust at His people's idolatry. This isn't merely metaphor; it communicates the abominable nature of unfaithfulness to a holy God, showing it as a heinous betrayal, much like adultery is in a marital covenant. For Judah, with her greater covenant relationship and the explicit presence of God in Jerusalem, the spiritual harlotry was considered even more offensive and a profound defilement of the sacred bond. The escalating nature of Oholibah's lusts highlights the principle of hardening hearts; repeated exposure to sin and divine warning without repentance can lead to a deeper descent into corruption.
Ezekiel 23 11 Commentary
Ezekiel 23:11 lays bare the profound and inexcusable guilt of Judah (Oholibah). Her sin was not one of ignorance, but of willful defiance. She possessed greater light—God's covenant presence in the Temple and the living warning of Israel's (Oholah's) destruction. Yet, instead of repentance, Judah embraced even more intense and depraved forms of spiritual adultery, craving alliances and idols with a greater passion. This verse powerfully conveys the theological principle that privilege and observed warnings heighten accountability, making deliberate disobedience after such insights a far greater transgression in God's eyes. It’s a tragic statement about human stubbornness and the profound grief God experiences when His people willfully abandon Him for worthless desires.