The Meaning of Ezekiel 23:4 Explained

Ezekiel 23:4

KJV: And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.

YLT: And their names are Aholah the elder, And Aholibah her sister, And they are Mine, and bear sons and daughters. As to their names -- Samaria is Aholah, And Jerusalem is Aholibah.

Darby: And their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister; and they were mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.

ASV: And the names of them were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bare sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And the names  of them [were] Aholah  the elder,  and Aholibah  her sister:  and they were mine, and they bare  sons  and daughters.  Thus [were] their names;  Samaria  [is] Aholah,  and Jerusalem  Aholibah. 

What does Ezekiel 23:4 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Oholah was the name of the older sister (lit. "her tent," probably a reference to her pagan tent shrines), and she represents Samaria, the capital of the kingdom of Israel. Oholibah was the younger sister (lit. "my tent is in her," probably a reference to the temple), and she represents Jerusalem, the capital of the kingdom of Judah. One of Esau"s wives was Oholibamah, meaning "tent of the high place" ( Genesis 36:2). Oholah and Oholibah became the wife of the Lord and bore Him sons and daughters (i.e, inhabitants and surrounding villages). Evidently the Lord regarded Samaria as the older sister because the Northern Kingdom was the first to apostatize and to establish political alliances with foreign nations, particularly the Assyrians ( Hosea 8:9).
While this allegory suggests that Yahweh committed bigamy and incest, He obviously did nothing in relation to Israel that was in any way improper. This is an excellent example of why we should not apply what the parable excludes; there is no reference to the sisters" father in the parable. The story makes certain comparisons, but if we try to apply all the implications of the story we end up with some incongruities.
"Though the law prohibited a man from marrying sisters ( Leviticus 18:18), such marriages are not unknown in the Bible (cf. Jacob). The Lord here uses a contextually conditioned metaphor for illustrative purposes. The use of such an illustration does not mean that the Lord condoned bigamy." [1]

Chapter Summary: Ezekiel 23

1  The unfaithfulness of Aholah and Aholibah
23  Aholibah is to be plagued by her lovers
36  The prophet reproves the adulteries of them both
45  and shows their judgments

What do the individual words in Ezekiel 23:4 mean?

And their names Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister And they were Mine and they bore sons and daughters And [As] [for] their names Samaria [is] Oholah and Jerusalem [is] Oholibah
וּשְׁמוֹתָ֗ן אָהֳלָ֤ה הַגְּדוֹלָה֙ וְאָהֳלִיבָ֣ה אֲחוֹתָ֔הּ וַתִּֽהְיֶ֣ינָה לִ֔י וַתֵּלַ֖דְנָה בָּנִ֣ים וּבָנ֑וֹת וּשְׁמוֹתָ֕ן שֹׁמְר֣וֹן אָהֳלָ֔ה וִירוּשָׁלִַ֖ם אָהֳלִיבָֽה

וּשְׁמוֹתָ֗ן  And  their  names 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct, third person feminine plural
Root: שֵׁם  
Sense: name.
אָהֳלָ֤ה  Oholah 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: אָהֳלָה  
Sense: Samaria as an adulteress with Assyria (metaph).
הַגְּדוֹלָה֙  the  elder 
Parse: Article, Adjective, feminine singular
Root: גָּבֹול 
Sense: great.
וְאָהֳלִיבָ֣ה  and  Oholibah 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: אָהֳלִיבָה  
Sense: (metaph) Jerusalem as adulterous wife of Jehovah.
אֲחוֹתָ֔הּ  her  sister 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: אָחֹות  
Sense: sister.
וַתִּֽהְיֶ֣ינָה  And  they  were 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
לִ֔י  Mine 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
וַתֵּלַ֖דְנָה  and  they  bore 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine plural
Root: יָלַד 
Sense: to bear, bring forth, beget, gender, travail.
בָּנִ֣ים  sons 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
וּבָנ֑וֹת  and  daughters 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural
Root: בַּת  
Sense: daughter.
וּשְׁמוֹתָ֕ן  And  [As]  [for]  their  names 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct, third person feminine plural
Root: שֵׁם  
Sense: name.
שֹׁמְר֣וֹן  Samaria  [is] 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: שֹׁמְרֹון  
Sense: the region of northern Palestine associated with the northern kingdom of the 0 tribes of Israel which split from the kingdom after the death of Solomon during the reign of his son Rehoboam and were ruled by Jeroboam.
אָהֳלָ֔ה  Oholah 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: אָהֳלָה  
Sense: Samaria as an adulteress with Assyria (metaph).
וִירוּשָׁלִַ֖ם  and  Jerusalem  [is] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: יְרוּשָׁלַםִ  
Sense: the chief city of Palestine and capital of the united kingdom and the nation of Judah after the split.
אָהֳלִיבָֽה  Oholibah 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: אָהֳלִיבָה  
Sense: (metaph) Jerusalem as adulterous wife of Jehovah.