# Ezekiel 23:20 **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 2, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ezekiel-23-20/185798 "2003-07-02T16:11:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ezekiel-23-20/185798/41 "2003-07-03T08:04:51Z")
Look… you all need to relearn that old rule: “stuff in the Bible is okay, because it’s a really old book”. Donkey members and horse semen and virgins, oh my! Anyway… suppose the word is “flesh”… if the donkeys’ penises aren’t being described, its likely that the horses’ ejaculate isn’t either- couldn’t it be donkey flesh and horse, er, shite? Seeing how the purpose of the verse is to inspire a sense of “eww” that makes a little more sense… ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ezekiel-23-20/185798/42 "2003-07-03T12:35:18Z")
She doted on lovers whose flesh was like donkey flesh and who crapped like horses? 😕 Yeah, that makes sense… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ezekiel-23-20/185798/43 "2003-07-03T12:49:35Z")
From [bible.crosswalk.com](http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/Hebrew/heb.cgi?number=02231&version=kjv): > [@](#): > > Zirmah:flow, issue > issue (of seminal discharge) The most reasonable translation of this verse is that it’s talking about guys who are hung like donkeys and come like horses. Any other reading is just squeamish, wishful thinking. ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ezekiel-23-20/185798/44 "2003-07-03T12:53:04Z")
So I went home last night and looked up some of the classical (Jewish) Biblical commentators. And sure enough, they mostly interpret flesh as a euphemism for genitals, and issue of horses as a reference to the frequency of it (apparently horses go at it relatively often). IOW, oversexed. I therefore retract all my previous posts to this thread. My humble apologies to all posters and readers of this thread, and again to the OP. :o ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ezekiel-23-20/185798/45 "2003-07-03T15:56:11Z")
No problems, **IzzyR**. The Bible is chock-full of stuff like that, which sounds rather shocking to modern sensibilities. I had a rather similar reaction to 1 Samuel 20:30-31. King Saul is angry at his son Jonathan for assisting David to escape when Saul wants to kill him so as to ensure the throne will descend to Jonathan. Saul shouts at his son a phrase that the RSV and ESV translate (rather daintily) as - > [@](#): > > You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Imagine my shock at realizing that an almost exact translation into American English would be - > [@](#): > > You son of a bitch! Such language in the Bible (blushes). It was a radically different culture. I think God may have left these things in the Bible to keep us from forgetting that. Regards, Shodan PS - **Polycarp** - So _you’re_ the one sending me those e-mails! Hee haw. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ezekiel-23-20/185798.md?page=2)