עֲגָבָה

From the study of Ezekiel 23:11

Range of meaning

Passionate desire, infatuation, the craving of a lover, "doting". The noun appears only here. The root ʿgb means to have a strong, often sensual attraction to someone. The verb is used of the sisters "lusting after" their lovers (Ezek 23:5, 7, 9, 12, 16, 20) and of Jerusalem's "lovers" who despise her (Jer 4:30). A related plural, ʿăgābîm, describes the people treating Ezekiel's words like "love songs" or flirtatious talk (Ezek 33:31–32).

Against the English

KJV "inordinate love" and YLT "doting love" keep the idea of excessive, foolish fondness. BSB, NIV, ESV and NASB say "lust". "Lust" captures the sexual heat, but a modern reader can hear it as a private sexual sin, when the passion here is a nation's craving for foreign powers.

How it drifted

In modern English "lust" mostly means an individual's sexual desire. In the allegory, the sexual language is the picture. What it stands for is Judah's eagerness to court and depend on Assyria, Babylon and Egypt, and to take up their gods and ways.

Used elsewhere in the period

The noun occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. The verb's other occurrences are all in Ezekiel 23 and Jeremiah 4:30, both about cities chasing foreign lovers. The Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) appears to render this root in Ezekiel 23 with forms of epitithēmi ("set upon, be eager for"), which shows the translators took it as a strong drive.