1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:
3 And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
4 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.
5 And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,
6 Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
7 Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.
8 Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.
9 Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
10 These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.
11 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.
12 She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
13 Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way,
14 And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,
15 Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:
16 And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.
18 So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister.
19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20 For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
21 Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.
22 Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;
23 The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.
24 And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.
25 And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
26 They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
27 Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.
28 For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated:
29 And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
30 I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.
31 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.
32 Thus saith the Lord God; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.
33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
34 Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.
35 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
36 The Lord said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;
37 That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.
38 Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
39 For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house.
40 And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,
41 And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.
42 And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.
43 Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?
44 Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.
45 And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
46 For thus saith the Lord God; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
47 And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
48 Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.
49 And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.
<html><b>two women</b> Two states, which are like two women. <b>the daughters of one mother</b> The two of them were from one nation, separated into two in the days of Rehoboam.</html>
<html><b>There…were pressed</b> [Heb. מֹעְכוּ]. The Egyptians [pressed] their bosoms, an expression of (Lev. 22: 24): “and anything that has been crushed (וּמַעוּךְ).” <b>and there they squeezed</b> The Egyptians [squeezed] their virgin breasts; i.e., they taught them the ways of their abominations. [Heb. עִשׂוּ,] eteyn[d]irent in Old French, they squeezed</html>
<html><b>And their names</b> i.e., their nicknames were Oholah and Oholibah. <b>and their names</b> The original ones. Samaria is the one I nickname Oholah, for from the beginning she became a tent (אֹהֶל) for the calves of Jeroboam and for Ahab’s temple of Baal. Although Samaria was not built until the days of Omri, He calls the kings of Israel by its name, because as soon as it was built, it became the capital. <b>Oholibah</b> Because My tent (אֹהֹלִי) was in her (בָה), and My sanctuary.</html>
<html><b>and she lusted</b> [Heb. וַתַּעְגַּב,] and she lusted, esvayer or eswaier in Old French, to covet, to lust after. Some editions read: desirer, to desire. <b>for the Assyrians, who were nearby</b> Who were her neighbors, and they sent to them [requesting that they] aid them. This is Menachem the son of Gadi (II Kings 15: 19f.), who gave tribute to Pul king of Assyria in order “that his hands might be with him to strengthen the kingdom in his hand.” The prophet likens the matter to an adulterous woman, for, had they worshipped the Holy One, blessed be He, they would not have needed the kings of Assyria.</html>
<html><b>And she bestowed her harlotries upon them</b> Her adulterous heart and her promiscuous spirit she bestowed upon them, for she desired them. <b>and in all that she lusted</b> In all the nations with whom she collaborated, she learned their ways and became defiled with their idols.</html>
<html><b>And her harlotries from Egypt she did not abandon</b> They relied also upon the kings of Egypt, for we find (II Kings 17:4), concerning Hoshea the son of Elah, that he sent messengers to So the king of Egypt. <b>for they had lain with her, etc.</b> And since then, “they poured out their harlotry upon her” - her promiscuous spirit entered her from the days of her youth.</html>
<html><b>Therefore, I delivered her, etc.</b> For Sennacherib came and exiled them.</html>
<html><b>and she became a name for the women</b> to take from them a curse for any adulteress to learn a lesson from her: See what happened to so and so because of her lewdness. <b>and… judgments</b> [Heb. וּשְּׁפוּטִים,] like שְּׁפָטִים, judgments, justises, jostises in Old French, judgments, punishments.</html>
<html><b>And her sister Oholibah saw</b> all the evil that befell her sister because of her harlotries, but she was unafraid. <b>she became… corrupt in her lust</b> [Heb. עַגְבָתָה,] her lust, wai(y)ter in Old French, unbridled passion.</html>
<html><b>For the sons of Assyria she lusted</b> This is Ahaz, who sent to the king of Assyria for aid (II Kings 16:7).</html>
<html><b>And she increased her harlotries</b> to lust for images that she had not seen [in actuality], only their likeness, <b>engraved on the wall with types of drawings</b>, whereas her sister did not do anything like this. <b>images of Chaldeans</b> The likeness of Chaldean men, who were unusual in their attire. <b>with types of drawings</b> [Heb. בַּשָׁשַׁר,] types of drawings.</html>
<html><b>Girded with girdles</b> This was the way of the Chaldeans’ attire. <b>hanging turbans</b> [Heb. סְרוּחֵי טְבוּלִים.] [סְרוּחֵי means] oversized, large hats. Menachem (p. 97) explains [טְבוּלִים] like (Gen. 37: 31) “and dipped (וַיִטְבְּלוּ) the shirt in the blood.” Thus the interpretation of סְרוּחֵי טְבוּלִים is as follows (Exod. 26:12): “The overhanging (וְסֵרַח) length” of the dyed turban. There is no [other occurrence of a word] similar to טְבוּלִים, and its meaning is derived from the context, and so did Jonathan render: helmets placed on their heads]. <b>mighty men</b> [Heb. שָׁלִישִׁים,] mighty men.</html>
<html><b>at the sight [that reached] her eyes</b> Because she saw the likeness of their form.</html>
<html><b>And the children of Babylon came to her for a bed of love</b> They made a covenant together, and I say that this is said concerning Hezekiah, who rejoiced about the emissaries of Merodach-baladan (Isa. 39, II Kings 20), and he fed them at his table and showed them his entire treasure house. This resembles the prophet’s statement (verse 14), “men engraved on the wall,” because they came from a distant land, and the Chaldeans were not frequent visitors to them, as it is said (Isa. 39:3): “They have come to me from a distant country,” and from seeing their faces once, they became endeared to him. And the Holy One, blessed be He, became wroth with him because of this matter, as it is written (Isa. 36:6, II Kings 20:17): “Behold a time will come when everything in your palace…will be carried off, etc.,” and in (II) Chronicles (32:25): “But Hezekiah did not pay back according to the benefit they had done for him, but his heart became haughty; therefore, wrath came upon him and upon Judah, etc.” <b>her soul was disgusted with them</b> [Heb. וַתֵּקַע.] That Jehoiakim and Zedekiah rebelled against them. וַתֵּקַע is esloched in Old French, dislocated. וַתֵּקַע is like (Gen. 32: 26): “and the upper joint of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated (וַתֵּקַע).” הוֹקָעָה is an expression of joining and inserting a pole into the earth, and also when it is withdrawn from the earth, is the expression קְעִיָה appropriate for it, just as you say (Ps. 80:10): “it took root (וַתַשְׁרֵשׁ),” as an expression of taking root, and (Job 31:12), “and it uproots (תְּשָׁרֵשׁ) all my grain,” as an expression of uprooting. Similarly (Isa. 17:6): “on its branches (בִּסְעִפֶיהָ) when it produces fruit,” is an expression of branches, and (ibid. 10:33), “lops off (מְסָעֵף) the branches,” is an expression of cutting off the branches of the tree and its boughs.</html>
<html><b>to remember the days of her youth</b> The desire for the Egyptians rose in her heart, for Zedekiah sent to them, as it is said (above 17:15): “But he rebelled against him by sending to Egypt.”</html>
<html><b>And she lusted for their concubinage</b> [Heb. פִּלַּגְשֵׁיהֶם,] for their concubinage, to be a concubine to them. <b>those whose flesh is the flesh of donkeys</b> [i.e.,] the phallus. <b>and…is the issue of horses</b> An expression of a profusion of sexual intercourse, for they engage in sexual intercourse more than any other male animals. זִרְמַת refers to the stream of semen, like (Habakkuk 3:10): “A stream (זֶרֶם) of water passed.”</html>
<html><b>And you remembered</b> [Heb. וַתִּפְקְדִי,] and you remembered. <b>were squeezed</b> [Heb. בַּעֲשׂוֹת,] an expression of pressing.</html>
<html><b>your lovers</b> The Chaldeans, who pleased Hezekiah. <b>those with whom your soul has become disgusted</b> Whom Zedekiah [in a change of heart] subsequently hated and against whom he rebelled.</html>
<html><b>Pekod, Shoa, and Koa</b> Jonathan rendered [these as] the names of states, and Scripture supports him in the Book of Jeremiah (50:21): “Upon the rebellious land, march upon her, and upon the inhabitants of Pekod.” [But] the Commentators say that they are an expression of appointees, princes, and rulers. <b>and summoned ones</b> Somonz, semonz in Old French, summoned (top people).</html>
<html><b>weapons</b> [Heb. הֹצֶן]. Dunash (p. 59) explained it as one type of weapon, but I say that it is an expression of the surroundings of camps like (Num. 33:55): “and camps (וְלִצְנִינִים) in your sides,” [which Onkelos renders:] and camps surrounding you. Menachem (p. 150) explains הֹצֶן like (Ps. 91:4): “His truth is an encompassing shield (צִנָה וְסֹחֵרָה), but Dunash does not agree with him, and the Targum supports Dunash, rendering: they will come upon you with weapons. הֹצֶן is like בְּהֹצֶן, with weapons, and הֹצֶן could mean the same as חֹצֶן, from (Isa. 49:22): “and they shall bring your sons בְּחֹצֶן,”which means with the arm, and so too: “And they will come upon you הֹצֶן,” meaning [as with] an army, as (Dan. 11:15), “and the arms (וּזְרוֹעוֹת) of the south,” meaning the armies of the south. <b>and I shall place judgment before them</b> What is incumbent upon Me to judge. I will make them My agents to execute the judgment. <b>with their judgments</b> A judgment that I did not write in My Torah, but which is one of the judgments of their customs, and what is it? Blinding the eyes, that they blinded Zedekiah’s eyes.</html>
<html><b>your nose and your ears</b> They are the beauty of the countenance, and to them he compared the priesthood and the kingship. <b>and your survivors</b> The rest of the people. <b>and your residue will be consumed by fire</b> And the best of your land, which is the security upon which to rely for a livelihood.</html>
<html><b>of your garments</b> The priestly raiment.</html>
<html><b>those you hate</b> The Chaldeans, against whom you rebelled.</html>
<html><b>These will be done</b> [Heb. עָשׂה,] an expression of continuous action, faisant in French, doing (gerundive).</html>
<html><b>too much to bear</b> Too much to contain, like to bear.</html>
<html><b>and bewilderment</b> [Heb. וּשְׁמָמָה] bewilderment.</html>
<html><b>and drain</b> [Heb. וּמָצְת,] an expression of sucking to the last drop, et tu suceras in French, and you will suck. <b>and its shards</b> He compares the cup that gives Israel the drink of retribution to an earthenware vessel, which, once broken, can no longer be repaired. So will it be that once their salvation comes and the cup breaks, He will not return to give them any more to drink. When He speaks of giving drink to the nations, however, He calls it gold, as it is said (Jer. 51:7): “Babylon is a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, it intoxicates all the earth.” <b>you shall scrape</b> [Heb. תְּגָרֵמִי,] like (Num. 24:8): “and he scrapes (יְגָרֵם) their bones”; (Zeph. 3:3), “they did not leave over the bones (גָרְמוּ) for morning,” ronger in French, to gnaw. He scrapes with his teeth around the bone or the shard to detach from it the meat adhering to it. Menachem (p. 59) connects it to an expression of breaking, and he interprets: “and he breaks their bones,” and “they did not break the bones for morning,” in like manner.</html>
<html><b>bear your lewdness</b> Accept the liabilities of the counsel of your sins.</html>
<html><b>will you judge</b> [Heb. הֲתִשׁפֹט,] an expression of debate.</html>
<html><b>and blood is on their hands</b> Through their adulteries, they shed blood. <b>and with their idols they have committed adultery</b> Their adultery was with their idols. <b>and also their children, etc.</b> And this is the bloodshed that is on their hands (i.e., they masturbated with their hands and they did not repent).</html>
<html><b>they defiled My sanctuary on that day</b> On the day they slaughter their children for idolatry, they come before Me in My sanctuary to commit abominations therein, to provoke Me. <b>and they profaned My Sabbaths</b> For they would slaughter their children on the Sabbath.</html>
<html><b>And furthermore, that they would send</b> [Heb. וְאַף כִּי.] And surely, worst of all is that they would send to bring to them [invite] some of the princes of the nations, their lovers, and these see the profanation with which they profane My sanctuary. <b>to whom an emissary is sent, etc.</b> from Oholah and Oholibah to come to them. <b>and behold they came to the place where you bathed, daubed, etc.</b> [Heb. לַאֲשֶׁר,] to which. Jonathan renders: לַאֲתַר, to the place, au lieu in Modern French. To the place that you designated for them, saying, “In such and such a place, we will come out to meet you, beautified by the bathing and the daubing.” <b>daubed</b> [Heb. כָּחַלְתָּ,] a kind of dye named כָּחוֹל, with which they color their eyes, ecler in Old French, to brighten.</html>
<html><b>a stately bed</b> Adorned with all kinds of beautiful bedclothes, parede in Old French, adorned lavishly.</html>
<html><b>And the sound of a multitude</b> of many nanons were in her; not a multitude that came for war, but the voice of a tranquil multitude. <b>for the sake of men</b> [Heb. וְאֶל אֶנָשִׁים,] for the sake of men. That multitude was of men, not of animals. <b>of the many people</b> who were in her midst, who were brought to commit adultery, from the desert. <b>those dwelling all around</b> [Heb. סָבָאִים,] people who lived around her. Of her neighbors, Ammon and Moab, and so did [Jonathan] render סָבָאִים “from all around.” <b>they placed</b> Oholah and Oholibah [placed] bracelets on their hands to adorn themselves in order to commit adultery; i.e., Ammon and Moab, since they are many, she adorns and beautifies herself for them, and because they are her neighbors, she beautifies herself before their eyes with her ornaments; therefore, Oholah and Oholibah put bracelets on their hands in order to be beautiful in the eyes of the adulterers. The “vav” of וַיִתְּנוּ is superfluous, like that of (Exod. 15:2): “The strength and the cutting of God was (וַיְהִי) my salvation,” and like that of (ibid. 9:21): “But whoever did not take the word of the Lord to heart left (וַיַעֲזֹב).”</html>
<html><b>And I said of the one who had aged [in] adulteries, “Now her harlotries will end,” etc.</b> I said to Myself about this one who had become worn out and aged in her adulteries, “From now on, since she has aged, her harlotries will leave her, and the desires for her harlotry will leave her heart, and she will repent,” but she is still in her harlotries as in the beginning. <b>will end</b> [Heb. יִזְנוּ] will leave. Every “harlot” (זוֹנָה) is translated into Aramaic as נֳפְקֲתבְּרָא, one who goes out. So did I hear, and so did Jonathan render. <b>of the one who had aged [in] adulteries</b> like: [lit. to the one who had aged adulteries,] the one who had aged in adulteries, as you say (Gen. 38:11): “and she remained her father’s house,” is like “in her father’s house”; (Exod. 30:20), “they shall wash water,” is like “they shall wash with water.” [Likewise,] (ibid.): “And he shall go out freedom;” [and] (Num. 30:11): “But if she made a vow [in] her father’s house.” So did Dunash (p. 17) explain [this]. However, Menachem connected it (p. 45) to (Lev 20:12): “they committed a disgraceful act (תֶּבֶל),” but his words are impossible.</html>
<html><b>And he came to her</b> whoever so desired <b>the lewd women</b> [Heb. אִשֹׁתהַזִמָּה,] [like] נְשֵׁי הַזִמָּה, women of lewdness.</html>
<html><b>And righteous men</b> Judges, the princes of the king of Babylon and the king of Assyria. But Jonathan renders: righteous, as compared to them. According to the deeds of these harlots, the nations are more righteous than they. <b>the judgment of adulteresses, etc.</b> as is delineated further.</html>
<html><b>Let…be brought up…and let them be submitted</b> All these are expressions of doing and of a continuous action.</html>
<html><b>shall pelt them with stone</b> The slaying of their sons and daughters and the burning of their houses is the judgment of adulteresses. <b>and slash them with their swords</b> That is the judgment of murderesses. [The word] וּבָרֵא is an expression of cutting, and so: “and you shall cut it down (וּבֵרֵאתוֹ),” of “the forest shall be yours” in the Book of Joshua (17:18).</html>
<html><b>And they shall put their lewdness upon you</b> Your judges shall put the judgment of your lewdness on your heads.</html>