Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

OHOLAH

(Heb. ʾohŏlâ),

OHOLIBAH

(ʾohŏlîḇâ)

The names given in Ezek. 23 to two sisters, the personified cities of Samaria and Jerusalem, respectively. In a metaphor that draws heavily on Jer. 3:6-11; Ezek. 16, , the capital cities are represented as Yahweh’s wives, and their various international liaisons as a series of sexual encounters — all acts of adultery against Yahweh. The cities’ destruction is thus justified as an enraged husband’s legally sanctioned execution of his spouse. The angry desperation of this oracle against Jerusalem is conveyed through its crude sexual imagery and depictions of savage violence against the two women.

The sisters’ names symbolize their religious identities: “Oholah” (Samaria) may be translated “a tent belongs to her” and “Oholibah” (Jerusalem), “my tent is in her.” The cities’ “tents” are their worship centers: Samaria has her own tent while Jerusalem houses Yahweh’s sanctuary. In a transparent recapitulation of the northern kingdom’s international relations, Oholah is censured for her liaison with Assyria and for her continued flirtations with Egypt, infidelities culminating in her death, i.e., the destruction of Samaria in 722 b.c.e. Oholibah follows her sister’s example, entertaining both Assyrian and Babylonian lovers, but continuing to lust after the Egyptians. The metaphor reflects Judah’s situation in the early 580s, when Jerusalem had transferred loyalty from Assyria to Babylonia but continued to maintain relations with Egypt. In response, Yahweh announces that he is about to punish Oholibah and, surprisingly, the previously executed Oholah as well: i.e., all of Israel will be destroyed.

Julie Galambush

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

OHOLAH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)