Verses 5-8
Oholah proved unfaithful to the Lord by lusting after her attractive neighbors, the Assyrians.
"The appeal, then as now, was to youth, strength, position, wealth and self-gratification; that is, the world in all its dazzle and attractiveness." [Note: Feinberg, p. 132.]
Oholah committed political adultery by making alliances with the Assyrians, which involved worshipping their idols (cf. 2 Kings 15:19-20; 2 Kings 17:3-4; Hosea 5:13; Hosea 7:11; Hosea 8:9; Hosea 12:1-2; Amos 5:26). The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser, an important archaeological find dating to about 840 B.C., shows King Jehu of Israel bowing in submission before King Shalmaneser III of Assyria and giving him tribute money. [Note: See D. W. Thomas, ed., Documents from Old Testament Times, pp. 48-49, plate 3, and pp. 50-52.] This was a continuation of Oholah’s behavior from her youth in Egypt where she had done the same things.
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