Bible Strands
Ezekiel 23:11
Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Ezekiel addresses exiled Israelites in Babylon, using an allegory of two sisters to depict the spiritual history of Samaria and Jerusalem. He introduces Oholibah immediately after narrating the violent judgment inflicted on her sister Oholah.
The words — The Hebrew verb תַּשְׁחֵת (tash.chet) translates literally as 'she acted corruptly,' while עַגְבָתָהּ (ag.va.tah) means 'her lust.' These terms directly describe Oholibah’s intensified moral collapse compared to her sister.
The thread — This pattern of escalating spiritual adultery appears in Ezekiel 16:47, where Judah is condemned for surpassing Samaria in abominations, and parallels Jeremiah 3:8, where God’s response to covenant unfaithfulness is divorce.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that repeated exposure to divine judgment does not automatically produce repentance. It forces the reader to confront how spiritual desensitization accelerates moral decay.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 3:8 She saw that because faithless Israel had committed adultery, I gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Yet that unfaithful sister Judah had no fear and prostituted herself as well.
- Ezekiel 16:47 And you not only walked in their ways and practiced their abominations, but soon you were more depraved than they were.
- Ezekiel 23:4 The older was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah. They became Mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their identities, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.