The narrative of the two unfaithful women, which is first told to the
prophet (son of man) as a personal communication from Yahweh, without any
command to preach, begins as in ch. 16 with a prologue, which tells their
previous history. In terse sentences this hurries on to the mention of the
marriage between Yahweh and the women (ותהיינה לי
23:4 corresponds to ותהיי לי 16:8) and registers the birth of sons and
daughters by which the marriage receives its confirmatory seal. Whereas 16:9–14
describes in some detail the honor that it means to belong to Yahweh, to which
the mention of the beginnings in Egypt might have given rise (cf. Hos 11:1;
13:4), any such description of Yahweh’s gracious gift is completely lacking
here. (Walther Zimmerli, Ezekiel:
A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, 2 vols. [trans. Ronald E. Clements; Hermeneia—a
Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979],
1:483)
