She offered sexual favors to all the elite of Assyria. She defiled herself with all the idols of those for whom she lusted.
Parallel translations
- WEB She gave herself as a prostitute to them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them. She defiled herself with the idols of whoever she lusted after.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV Thus she committed her harlotry with them, All of them choice men of Assyria; And with all for whom she lusted, With all their idols, she defiled herself.
- NASB She bestowed her obscene practices on them, all of whom were the choicest men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she defiled herself.
- NLT And so she prostituted herself with the most desirable men of Assyria, worshiping their idols and defiling herself.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Samaria gave herself to Assyria's choicest men and defiled herself with their idols. Her alliances brought idolatry and corruption.
Overview
Beyond political ties, Samaria adopted the idols of those she pursued, defiling herself with their worship. The link between foreign alliance and idolatry is central to the allegory. It illustrates that turning to the world for help often leads to embracing its false gods and values.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Hos 6:10In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: Ephraim practices prostitution there, and Israel is defiled.
- Hos 5:3I know all about Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me. For now, O Ephraim, you have turned to prostitution; Israel is defiled.
- Ezek 20:7And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’
- Ezek 22:3–4and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O city who brings her own doom by shedding blood within her walls and making idols to defile herself,
- Ezek 16:15But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking.
- Ezek 23:30have brought these things upon you, because you have prostituted yourself with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.
- Ps 106:39They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.
- Gen 10:22The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 23:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.