Introduction
The cities of Jerusalem and Samaria are metaphorically referred to as harlots in the OT. Is this language transferrable to the nation as a whole? This article hopes to demonstrate that the nation as a whole, as well as her constituent parts, can be described as a harlot.
The Calling of Israel
The nation of Israel was delivered from Egypt and a covenant relationship was established at Sinai. This covenant relationship was akin to ‘marriage’ and Yahweh says that he was a ‘husband’ to them (Jer 31:32). However, even before the ‘honeymoon’ was over the nation committed adultery with the golden calf. Moses ground the calf to dust and made the nation drink the remains (Deut 9:21) in imitation of the ‘waters of jealousy’—the test proscribed in the law for an unfaithful wife (Num 5:26). So from the very beginning the nation was adulterous; but can she be described as a harlot? The first woman is unfaithful to her husband and the second offers sexual favours for hire.
The verb ‘to commit harlotry’ (hnz, znh) and its related cognates (‘harlotry’: ~ynwnz, twnz) refer to all forms of illicit sex between a man and a woman, whether that be professional prostitution (Tamar; Gen 38:15), freely offered sex outside marriage (Moabite women; Num 25:1), or marital unfaithfulness, as in the metaphorical use of Israel ‘whoring after’ other gods though betrothed to Yahweh (Exod 34:15-16; Lev 20:5-6; Deut 31:16).[1] G. Hall states,
The most common and important usage of the root znh is metaphorical. Since it referred to illicit sex, especially in violation of a covenantal relationship (betrothal or marriage) it could be used to refer to covenantal unfaithfulness on Israel’s part, since this covenant came to be viewed as marriage (Hos 2). This occurs in legal texts (Exod 34:15, 16; Lev 20:5), historical narrative (Judg 2:17; 8:27, 33; 1 Chron 5:25), and the Ps (73:27; 106:39). The prophets Hos, Jer, and Ezek exploit it to the fullest. The distinction between illicit sex and sex for hire is not clear in the metaphorical usage. The promiscuous wife (fornicator) is little different from the one who sells sex for a price. The promiscuous idolatry of Israel and Judah was like both, Israel was controlled by a promiscuous spirit (Hos 4:12; 5:4). She had sold sex for hire (2:5[7]). Judah was no better, waiting like a prostitute for her lovers along the road (Jer 3:1-3). The idolatry being attacked was the Canaanite cult that Israel and Judah had adopted. If the cult included sacred sex, then the power of the metaphor was grounded in real sexual misconduct as well (Hos 4:13-14).[2]
Israel had therefore committed adultery and harlotry as becomes clear from the experiences of the prophet Hosea, who was instructed to marry a wife who was also a harlot.
The Lewdness of Israel’s Youth
The prophet Ezekiel mentions ‘the lewdness of your youth’ in connection with Egypt:
Yet she multiplied her harlotry in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, when she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt (v. 19)…Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth, When the Egyptians pressed your bosom because of your youthful breasts. Ezek 23:19, 21
In this chapter (Ezekiel 23), the two capital cities of the nation are called harlots. Jerusalem was the capital of the southern tribes and Samaria of the northern tribes. The cities are called ‘sisters’:
Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. They committed harlotry in Egypt, they committed harlotry in their youth… Ezek 23:2-3
They are the ‘daughters of one mother’—this allegory has the matriarchs of Israel in mind (Rachael and Leah) who were sisters and gave birth to the twelve tribes who ‘went down to Egypt’. It is quite obvious that the ‘cities’ of Israel (Jerusalem/Samaria) had never gone down to Egypt; however, the forebears of the citizens of those cities had come from Egypt, and committed harlotry in Egypt, and their descendants were still committing harlotry.
C. T. Begg sums it up succinctly when he says,
Ezekiel’s words disclose an overwhelming pessimism concerning the people’s capacity ever to choose rightly. For him, unlike Hosea (3.5) and Jeremiah (2.2-3), there never was a honeymoon period in Israel’s relation to Yahweh. Already during her time in Egypt (16.26; 20.8), as well as ever since, Israel has consistently chosen other gods in preference to Yahweh. Judah learned nothing from Yahweh’s punishment of the northern kingdom, only redoubling her own idolatry in the face of that experience (23.11).[3]
G. Erlandsson comments; “Once again it is emphasized how the Israelites were already playing the harlot in Egypt (zānāh, v.3), i.e., even before the marriage/covenant”.[4]
A Wife of Harlotry and Children of Harlotry
The prophet Hosea was instructed to act out an allegorical parable by marrying a prostitute. It seems that his wife continued her trade even while she was married thus conceiving ‘children of harlotry’. She was guilty of adultery and harlotry and became a fitting type of the nation who although redeemed from harlotry and made respectable[5], continued to ply her trade and therefore added adultery to her sin.
It is sometimes argued that Hosea was only concerned with the northern tribes and Samaria and therefore the parable is not a commentary on the whole nation, but F. I. Andersen observes,
Hosea’s messages mostly attack the northern kingdom (1.4), but Judah is frequently mentioned side by side with Ephraim and similarly condemned, especially in the all-important chps.4-8. Some scholars wish to delete the references to Judah as secondary additions, but such a revision would seriously injure the fabric of the whole book. The references to Jacob in the latter part of the book secure a complementary historical perspective that shows a concern for all Israel as the covenant people. It reaches deeply into the past and Judah could hardly be excluded from Jacob’s descendants. The reference to David in 3.5 likewise recalls the original unity of the people, and looks forward to its future restoration.[6]
Jerusalem the Harlot
There can be no doubt that the prophets (and therefore Yahweh) viewed the nation as a whole as a harlot. However, within this paradigm, the city of Jerusalem held a special place. The reason for this is because she was the city chosen as Yahweh’s dwelling place. The Temple was built in Jerusalem and the cult and the monarchy were centralised in that city. She was the capital of a united nation under a Davidic king. After the division of the kingdom, Jerusalem still held a privileged position and faithful northern pilgrims would travel to Jerusalem for the feasts. Even the calf-idols of Jeroboam could not completely break the influence of Jerusalem on the political and religious life of the northern tribes.
Prior to the captivity of Judah, the prophet Isaiah declared of Jerusalem:
How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice; Righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers. Isa.1:21
The city of Jerusalem came from lowly origins (Ezek 16:3), but was elevated by Yahweh who made a covenant with her and cleansed her; yet she played the harlot (Ezek 16:15) and became spiritually like her ‘sister’ Sodom (Ezek 16:46, 48, 49, 53, 55, 56).
The description of the woman, Jerusalem, in Ezekiel 16 is based on the tabernacle and its priests in the wilderness and is replete with irony:
- Yahweh clothed the city with badger skins (Ezek 16:10; Exod 25:5);
- A beautiful crown was put on her forehead (Ezek 28:36-38; Ezek.16:12);
- The linen priestly garments, ‘for glory and beauty’ were also embroidered with gold, blue, purple and scarlet (Exod 28:2-5; Ezek.16:13);
- The priests were “decked with ornaments” (the breastplate—Exod 28:15-29; Ezek 16:11).
Jerusalem is depicted as a woman clothed with finery bearing a priestly crown on her head, yet she commits fornication with the surrounding nations. Her fornication was not only syncretistic but political. The city of Jerusalem is therefore particularly singled out for opprobrium because of her special status as Yahweh’s dwelling place. A sexually lose daughter of a priest was subject to being ‘burned with fire’ (Lev 21:9; cf. Gen 38:24; Judg 15:6) because her uncleanness defiled her father. The city of Jerusalem suffered this fate twice in her history in BC 586 (Jer 52:13) and in AD70 (cf. Matt 22:17; 2 Pet 3:10).[7]
After the fall of Judah and the burning of Jerusalem, the inhabitants were condemned, once again, to wander in a ‘wilderness’. This was fitting because when Yahweh had brought them out of Egypt, their rebelliousness had caused them to wander in the wilderness (Ezek 20:13). Hence, it was prophesied that Yahweh would bring them into the ‘wilderness of the peoples’ (Ezek 20:35) and they would experience banishment from the land and from the Sanctuary. However, the wilderness was not only occupied by the generation of the wicked, it was also a place where the faithful were preserved. The faithful were Joshua and Caleb and the youngsters of that rebellious generation, they were the “good figs” of Jer 24:5—so both good and bad shared the same initial fate. The wilderness became a place of banishment but also a place of preservation and hope.
Conclusion
Although Israel was a harlot in Egypt (from her youth), nevertheless Yahweh ‘married’ her in the wilderness. She continued to play the harlot both in the wilderness and subsequently in the land. The city where Yahweh chose to dwell excelled at harlotry and persecuted and killed all who were sent to warn her. For this reason, she was consigned once again to the ‘wilderness’ a place of punishment for the wicked and preservation for a faithful remnant (this remnant accepted the New Covenant when Christ appeared). Once again, after harsh treatment and an even longer exile, they have been regathered to the land, and yet the chosen nation continues to play the harlot: “How degenerate is your heart!” says the Lord God, “seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot” (Ezek 16:30).
[1] J. M. Sprinkle, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch (eds., T. Desmond Alexander, David W. Baker; Dowers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 749.
[2] G. H. Hall, “hnz” in New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (ed. Willem A. VanGemeren; 5 vols; Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 1997), 1:1122-1125 (1123-24).
[3] C. T. Begg, “Ezekiel” in The Oxford Companion to the Bible, (ed., Bruce M. Metzger, Michael D. Coogan, Oxford University Press, 1993), 217-219 (219).
[4] G. Erlandsson “zānāh” in The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (eds., G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, Heinz-Josef Fabry; 15 vols; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980-2006), 4:99-105 (103).
[5] It is not unheard of for a harlot to marry and become a respectable wife. The example that springs to mind is that of faithful Rahab (Josh. 2:1; Matt.1:5). God was willing to overlook the nation’s youthful indiscretion but she did not mend her ways.
[6] F. I. Andersen, “Hosea” in The Oxford Companion to the Bible, (eds., Bruce M. Metzger, Michael D. Coogan, Oxford University Press, 1993), 290-292 (291).
[7] Josephus, War 7.1 indicates that Titus gave orders for “the whole city and the temple to be razed to the ground”; and in Josephus Ant 20.250, it is stated plainly that “Titus captured and set fire to the temple”.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One