Eze 16:46, 23:2, 4 | JFB | STEP | 46. elder sister ... Samaria-- older than Sodom, to whom Judah was less nearly related by kindred than she was to Samaria. Sodom is therefore called her younger sister; Samaria, her "elder sister" [Grotius]. Samaria is called the "elder," because in a moral respect more nearly related to Judah [Fairbairn]. Samaria had made the calves at Dan and Beth-el in imitation of the cherubim. her daughters-- the inferior towns subject to Samaria (compare , Margin). left-- The Orientals faced the east in marking the directions of the sky; thus the north was "left," the south "right." Sodom ... daughters-- Ammon and Moab, offshoots from Sodom; also the towns subject to it.

‏ Ezekiel 16:46

46. elder sister ... Samaria--older than Sodom, to whom Judah was less nearly related by kindred than she was to Samaria. Sodom is therefore called her younger sister; Samaria, her "elder sister" [Grotius]. Samaria is called the "elder," because in a moral respect more nearly related to Judah [Fairbairn]. Samaria had made the calves at Dan and Beth-el in imitation of the cherubim.

her daughters--the inferior towns subject to Samaria (compare Nu 21:25, Margin).

left--The Orientals faced the east in marking the directions of the sky; thus the north was "left," the south "right."

Sodom ... daughters--Ammon and Moab, offshoots from Sodom; also the towns subject to it.

‏ Ezekiel 23:2

CHAPTER 23 Eze 23:1-49. Israel's and Judah's Sin and Punishment Are Parabolically Portrayed under the Names Aholah and Aholibah.

The imagery is similar to that in the sixteenth chapter; but here the reference is not as there so much to the breach of the spiritual marriage covenant with God by the people's idolatries, as by their worldly spirit, and their trusting to alliances with the heathen for safety, rather than to God.

2. two ... of one mother--Israel and Judah, one nation by birth from the same ancestress, Sarah.

‏ Ezekiel 23:4

4. Aholah--that is, "Her tent" (put for worship, as the first worship of God in Israel was in a tent or tabernacle), as contrasted with Aholibah, that is, "My tent in her." The Beth-el worship of Samaria was of her own devising, not of God's appointment; the temple-worship of Jerusalem was expressly appointed by Jehovah, who "dwelt" there, "setting up His tabernacle among the people as His" (Ex 25:8; Le 26:11, 12; Jos 22:19; Psa 76:2).

the elder--Samaria is called "the elder" because she preceded Judah in her apostasy and its punishment.

they were mine--Previous to apostasy under Jeroboam, Samaria (Israel, or the ten tribes), equally with Judah, worshipped the true God. God therefore never renounced the right over Israel, but sent prophets, as Elijah and Elisha, to declare His will to them.