Texts in Conversation
Judges describes how Gideon made a priestly ephod from captured gold, and all Israel prostituted itself to the object. Ezekiel draws on this sexualized language when Jerusalem turns the gold God gave her into idols she prostitutes herself with.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Judges 8:27
Hebrew Bible
26 The total weight of the gold earrings he requested came to 1,700 gold shekels. This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry, purple clothing worn by the Midianite kings, and the necklaces on the camels. 27 Gideon used all this to make an ephod, which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family. 28 The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken. The land had rest for 40 years during Gideon’s time.
Ezekiel 16:17
Hebrew Bible
16 You took some of your clothing and made for yourself decorated high places; you engaged in prostitution on them. You went to him to become his. 17 You also took your beautiful jewelry, made of my gold and my silver I had given to you, and made for yourself male images and engaged in prostitution with them. 18 You took your embroidered clothing and used it to cover them; you offered my olive oil and my incense to them.
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Notes and References
"... Second, she melted down the gold and silver jewelry she had received from Yahweh and recast them into male images. The fabrication of cult objects out of personal jewelry recalls the episode of the golden calf at Sinai (Exodus 32:2-4, 24), as well as Gideon's ephod (Judges 8:24-27). The gender of these “male images” was determined by Jerusalem's own personification as a woman. Whether Ezekiel envisages simply phallic forms, as in Isaiah 57:8, or full human figures is uncertain, though the care they are given makes the latter more likely. ..."
Block, Daniel I.
The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 1-24
(pp. 488-489) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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