Ezekiel 23:11 meaning

In this poignant passage, God uses the metaphor of two sisters, Aholah and Aholibah, to illustrate the unfaithfulness of Israel and Judah. Here, Aholibah, representing Judah, observes the consequences of her sister's actions but fails to learn from them—indicative of a deeper moral blindness and an escalating rebellion against God. Rather than abandoning the path of spiritual adultery, she goes further into idolatry, pursued by her attraction to foreign alliances and powers like the Assyrians and Babylonians.

This verse accentuates the principle that denial of past failings can perpetuate cycles of sin. Aholibah's greater depravity highlights a troubling truth about human nature: the tendency to ignore warnings and repeat the mistakes of others. The unfaithfulness depicted serves as a stark warning against spiritual complacency, reminding believers of the deep consequences that arise when one turns away from God in search of security and identity in worldly alliances. As proclaimed, "...she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms".