The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 2 — Section 18

the only other instance. Their meaning is Vere. 7-10.-The next two versos pl\int 1m:flkicntly clenr. Ahola.h (but both names the consequence of the allil\nco first with should begin with O rather than .A) means Assyria. and then with Egypt. She orlopted •• Her tent;" Aholibah, '' My tent is in her." the religion of Assyria, probl\bly in tho form or A parallel, 'l"hich mRy hR,'e suggested the the worship oflshlar(Ai!hloreth)C\s the queen names, is found in the Aholibamah (equiva- of heaven. Having done this, the kings of lent to " My tent ie in the high place") of Israel sought to ploy oft' one kingdom against Gen. xxxvi. 2, and another in the use of the other (see Hos. vii.11; 2 l{ings xvii. 4). Ohel as a proper name in 1 Chron. iii. 20. It was, in fact, the discovery of Hosheo.'s The oommon element of the two names is treachery in this matter that led Shalmaneser the word that is commonly used for the to besiege Samaria.. The result of thot siege sacred tent or tabernacle in the Pentateuch is described in general terms in ver. 10. e.nd elsewhere. The distinctive element of She, the aity of Samaria., wRB slain with the each points to the fact that the worship in sword. Her sons and daughters were taken Samaria. was unauthorized. Her "tent" into exile. So she became famous (i.e. was hers, not Jehovah's. Of Jerusalem with infamous, like the Latin/amostU), literally, its temple Jehovah could say," My tent is in a name among women, &c. among the her," and this, ns magnifying her privilege, neighbouring nations. also ag-gravakd her guilt. Keil and others Vera. 11, 12.-The issue of the Assyrian take the adjective here, as in eh. xvi. 46, os alliance in the fall of Samaria. might have mc:ming "greater" rather than "older." served as a warning to the kings of Judah. The former adjective is, of course, applicable But it did not. They also courted the to the greater power of the lingdom of the l\lliance of the kings of .Assyria, as in the Ten Tribes, and, e-ren if we retain the render- case of .Ahaz (2 Kings xvi. 7-10) and ings of the .Authorized Version, is probably Tiglath-Pileser. Hezekiah followed in the the explanation of Samaria. being named os same line, though he too trusted in Egypt, the elder of the two. and afterwards rebelled. Manasseh too paid Ver. 5.-The hi.story of both the sisters tribute, and made Jerusalem the scene of a passes from the time of the Exodus to that confluent idolatry, which included that of of their separate existence, and starts, in .Assyria. Even Josiah went forth age.inst met, from their first intercourse with the great Pha.raoh-Neoho as the faithful vassal of monarchies of Asia. So far it is less e. survey either .Assyria or Babylon. The splendour of their snccessive stages of degradation, which had fascinated Sa.maria. fascinated like that of eh. xvi., than a retrospect of their her also. Here olothed moat gorgeously political allia.nces. Aholah played the harlot. takes the place of "clothed in blue" in The lovers, as in eh. xvi 33, are the nations ver. 6, describing, probably, the same fact. with which the kings of Israel were in Ver. 14.-The sin of Judah went a step alliance, and of these the .A.ssy:ria.ns a.re further than that of Samaria, She courted named os pre-eminent. The word neigh- the alliance of the Che.ldee.ns. Probably bOlll's, which in its literal sense is hardly the sojourn of Manasseh at Babylon (2 Chron. applicable, is probably to be taken of spiritual xxxiii. 11) led him to see in that city a affinity, or may be mken as "come near" is possible rival to Assyria. The embassy of in Gen. XL 4; Ezek. xviii. 6; Lev. xx. 16. Merode.ch.Ba.le.dan to Hezekiah(lse.. xxxix.) The .Assyrians were those who, in that sense, implies, on the other hand, that Ba.bylon came near to the harlot city. We have in was looking to Judah for support against 2 Kings xv. 20 the fact tha.t Menahem pa.id .Assyria. The prophet represents this politi- tribute to PuL Hos. v. 13 and vii. 11 speak cal coquetting, so to speak, as another a.et generally •of snch alliances. The black of whoredom. .Aholihah saw the imagea obelisk of Shalme.neser records the fact that of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion Jehn paid tribute to him ('Records of the (probably "retl ochre : " colours seem to Past,' v. 41). In the last-named case the have been used largely both in Assyrian tribute consisted chiefly of vessels of gold, and Babylonian sculpture as in Egyptian, bowls, goblets, etc. and Judah seems to have copied them, Ver. 6.-Clothed with blue. The same Jer. xxii. 14) and fell in love with them. word as tha.t used in the description of the As the passions of e. Messalina might be tabernacle (Exod. xxvi 4; xxvi 31, et al.). roused by sensuous pictures of masculine It was probably some hue of jhe Tyrian beauty, so Judah was led on by what her purple kind which marked the official dress en vovs reported of the magni.llcence of of the "captains " of the .Assyrian armies. the palaces, the strength of the armies, of The words, with those that follow, bring the Chaldeans. The journey of Jonah before ns the magnificent array of the to Nineveh, and those implied in Hos. vii. .Assyrian cavalry-a force in which Israel, 11, as well as the prophecy of Ne.hum, throughout its history, was deficient (Judg, all indicate a more or less intimate know- T. 10 ; Zech. ix, 9; Isa. uxvi. 8). ledge of the_Mesopotamian monarchies. The 011. xxm, 1-49.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 18