Yehezkiel 23:21-25

23:21 This is how you assessed ¹  the obscene conduct of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled ²  your nipples and squeezed ³  your young breasts.

23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ⁴  I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side: 23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, ⁵  Shoa, ⁶  and Koa, ⁷  and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, all of them governors and officials, officers and nobles, all of them riding on horses. 23:24 They will attack ⁸  you with weapons, ⁹  chariots, wagons, and with a huge army; ¹⁰  they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment; ¹¹  they will punish you according to their laws. 23:25 I will direct ¹²  my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in rage. They will cut off your nose and your ears, ¹³  and your survivors will die ¹⁴  by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your survivors will be consumed by fire.

[23:21]  ¹ tn Or “you took note of.” The Hebrew verb פָּקַד (paqad) in the Qal implies evaluating something and then acting in light of that judgment; here the prophet depicts Judah as approving of her youthful unfaithfulness and then magnifying it at the present time. Some translations assume the verb should be repointed as a Niphal, rendering “you missed” or by extension “you longed for,” but such an extension of the Niphal “to be missing” is otherwise unattested.

[23:21]  ² tn Heb “when (they) did,” but the verb makes no sense here and is better emended to “when (they) fondled,” a verb used in vv. 3 and 8. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.

[23:21]  ³ tn Heb “for the sake of,” but the expression is awkward and is better emended to read “to squeeze.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.

[23:22]  ⁴ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[23:23]  ⁵ sn Pekod was the name of an Aramean tribe (known as Puqudu in Mesopotamian texts) that lived in the region of the Tigris River.

[23:23]  ⁶ sn Shoa was the name of a nomadic people (the Sutu) that lived in Mesopotamia.

[23:23]  ⁷ sn Koa was the name of another Mesopotamian people group (the Qutu).

[23:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “come against.”

[23:24]  ⁹ tn This is the only occurrence of this term in the OT. The precise meaning is uncertain.

[23:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

[23:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will place before them judgment.”

[23:25]  ¹² tn Heb “give.”

[23:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “they will remove.”

[23:25]  sn This method of punishment is attested among ancient Egyptian and Hittite civilizations. See W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:489.

[23:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “fall.”