BIBLICAL PRIMARY SOURCES

Read the Scripture.

The biblical text is the primary reference for the accounts discussed here. Read the complete chapters before comparing the guide's interpretation.

Ezekiel 23:1-8

1 The LORD’s word came again to me, saying,

2 “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother.

3 They played the prostitute in Egypt. They played the prostitute in their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their youthful nipples were caressed there.

4 Their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.

5 “Oholah played the prostitute when she was mine. She doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,

6 who were clothed with blue—governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.

7 She gave herself as a prostitute to them, all of them the choicest men of Assyria. She defiled herself with the idols of whomever she lusted after.

8 She hasn’t left her prostitution since leaving Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her. They caressed her youthful nipples and they poured out their prostitution on her.

World English Bible British Edition. Continue in the complete local chapter.

Explore Assyria in the Bible · Search the verse index

The attraction of Assyrian power

Ezekiel 23 portrays Samaria and Jerusalem through the figures of Oholah and Oholibah. Assyrian officers, clothing, horses and political relationships form part of the imagery. The chapter uses disturbing sexual and violent language to express its prophetic judgement; that literary form should be identified when quoting individual verses.

The cedar in chapter 31

Ezekiel 31 addresses Pharaoh and uses Assyria as the image of a magnificent cedar, nourished by waters and sheltering many nations. Its height and pride lead into the account of its fall. The tree is a prophetic comparison, not a botanical description of the extent of the empire.

Among the fallen

Ezekiel 32:22-23 places Assyria and its company among the slain. Read the image within the surrounding lament over the nations and the ruler being addressed. Together these passages use Assyrian power and collapse to communicate a warning about human pride and the limits of political greatness.

Another ruler is warned through Assyria's image

Ezekiel 31 addresses Pharaoh and develops Assyria as a magnificent cedar. Water, height and shelter communicate prosperity and the dependence of others before exaltation leads into downfall.

The comparison warns through the fate of an apparently secure power. Its beauty and reach matter because they precede destruction. Reducing the tree to literal territorial measurements loses the argument about pride and mortality.

Chapter 23 portrays Assyrian relationships through disturbing imagery, while chapter 32 places Assyria among the dead. Their genres and addressees differ. Each reference needs its literary setting so readers understand why Assyria appears, rather than encountering only a name and an external explanation.

Evidence trail

This introduction draws on the following sources: [1]. Section reading trails highlight selected references where a more precise relationship has been recorded. Unmapped passages and other references remain at article level; these trails are not a sentence-by-sentence verification. Editorial guidance is identified in the text.

Go to the evidence

Sources & further reading

A foundation to build on

This introduction was compiled from the linked sources and has not received specialist peer review. It is intended as a route into further research. Read how corrections and reviews are handled.

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