Originally published at Martin S Pribble. Posted here with permission from Monica.

My friend Monica left this request in my mailbox:

Since we have discussed personally about many topics in the bible, and you have found reasonable explanations for some topics, here’s a tough one: – Ezekiel 23 has some really strange verses that I would like you to explore, with the help of your vast and knowledgeable audience.

Well I was only familiar with one section of this verse, the one which reads:

“There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.” Ezekiel 23:20

Not that that is actually that relevant to the deciphering of this passage, it’s simply the most colourful bit of language from Ezekiel 23.

It’s pretty obvious from the outset that Ezekiel 23 is a parable which uses the “whorish” behaviour of a pair of women as a metaphor for the unfaithful and ungodly behaviours of Israelites from two nations; “Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.” The parable uses language that nears on pornography, and would no doubt make the most liberal Christian blush. What is interesting it that the language is uses phrases that not only makes the nations of Samaria and Jerusalem look bad and promiscuous, but also makes the actions of women seem unacceptable. The bible does a great job of showing women as untrustworthy and worthy of scorn. In fact, the depictions of women in this verse seem so impassioned and described in such a way that I think the author may have been enjoying writing it a little too much, if you catch my drift.

Read the entire post and comments at Martin S Pribble.

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