Aholah
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Also known as Oholah
No verified interpretive statement was located in the Russell period (1879–1916). In 1918 Aholah was identified with the Roman Catholic church, contrasted with Aholibah as the Protestant church. In 1931 this was stated more precisely in terms of Samaria foreshadowing the Roman or Holy Roman Empire, the Catholic branch of Christendom, and the 1932 Year Book repeated the Catholicism-and-Protestantism application of the two sisters. From 1946 through 1955 publications also explicitly identified Aholah in the immediate setting of Ezekiel 23 with the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel, a historical identification rather than a new modern antitype. In 1971 the modern application was broadened: Christendom as a whole was called the present-day counterpart of the two symbolic sisters, Samaria and Jerusalem. The Watchtower repeated this collective application in 1973. No verified statement was located in the Franz period within the requested 1977–1980 range.
- Ezek. 23:2-10
- Ezek. 23:36-49
Key moments
- 1918 Introduced Aholah pictured the Roman Catholic church in its church-state unions, while her sister Aholibah pictured the Protestant church.
- 1931 Refined The identification was made more precise: Aholah was Samaria, which foreshadowed the Roman Empire, described in the same discussion as the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic branch of organized Christianity.
- 1971 Broadened The modern application was broadened from the earlier division in which Aholah specifically represented the Catholic side: Christendom as a whole was now described as the present-day counterpart of both symbolic sisters, Samaria and Jerusalem.
- 2018 Dropped The modern antitype was expressly withdrawn: neither sister represented any part of Christendom. Their accounts instead illustrated spiritual unfaithfulness; Christendom had never shared Israel’s covenant relationship with Jehovah.
Russell
Charles Taze Russell · 1877–1916
No statement filed for this period.
Rutherford
Joseph F. Rutherford · 1917–1942
-
Aholah pictured the Roman Catholic church in its church-state unions, while her sister Aholibah pictured the Protestant church.
1 quote
Chapter 23 describes the church‐state unions of the Roman Catholic church, pictured as an unchaste woman, Aholah, and of the Protestant church, her unchaste sister, Aholibah, and the destruction of both in the Time of Trouble by the nations with which they have made unions.
The Finished Mystery, 1918 -
The identification was made more precise: Aholah was Samaria, which foreshadowed the Roman Empire, described in the same discussion as the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic branch of organized Christianity.
1 quote
Both “The Holy Roman Empire” and the Anglo-American Empire claim to be God’s by adoption, and hence both take the name “Christian” and together form what is generally called “Christendom”. Jehovah applied the name Aholah to Samaria, and Aholibah to Jerusalem. Samaria therefore foreshadowed the Roman Empire. Samaria means “watchstation”, and the Roman Empire claims to be the “watch” nation for the whole world.
Vindication, Book One, 1931 -
The pair Aholah and Aholibah continued to be applied to the Catholic and Protestant divisions of Christendom, with no substantive change from the 1931 interpretation.
1 quote
Jehovah likewise directs the Ezekiel class, his faithful witnesses, to pronounce his judgment against “Christendom”, and particularly the hypocritical religion thereof as represented and practiced by both Catholicism and Protestantism.
1932 Year Book of the International Bible Students Association, 1932
Knorr
Nathan H. Knorr · 1942–1977
-
In a summary of Ezekiel itself, Aholah and Aholibah were treated as the symbolic figures of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. This statement concerns the historical setting of the prophecy rather than assigning a different modern antitype.
1 quote
Under the figures of two sisters, Aholah and Aholibah, the filthy evils of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel and of the kingdom of Judah are shown, and their fall at the hands of their one-time lovers, the Assyrians and Babylonians, is pictured.
Equipped for Every Good Work, 1946 -
The historical identification was repeated explicitly: Oholah pictured the ten-tribe nation of Israel.
1 quote
Oholah, picturing Israel, doted on the Assyrians and committed whoredoms with them, and finally Jehovah said: “Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they slew with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments upon her.”
The Watchtower, July 15, 1954 -
The Yearbook again identified Oholah with Israel in the historical account of the two sister kingdoms.
1 quote
Because of doting on the Assyrians and committing whoredoms with them God delivered Oholah (Israel) into their hand to slay her.
1955 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 1955 -
The modern application was broadened from the earlier division in which Aholah specifically represented the Catholic side: Christendom as a whole was now described as the present-day counterpart of both symbolic sisters, Samaria and Jerusalem.
1 quote
Since this rule worked so unerringly with the symbolic Oholah and Oholibah, what now is to be expected with regard to Christendom, the present-day counterpart of these two symbolic sisters, Samaria and Jerusalem?
The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah—How?, 1971 -
The collective application was repeated: the conduct of both Oholah and Oholibah was said to fit Christendom.
1 quote
Though having blood-drenched hands, Christendom's adherents enter what they call God's sanctuary on their so-called "sabbath day." The description of Oholah's and Oholibah's acting like professional harlots also fits Christendom.
The Watchtower, February 1, 1973
Franz
Frederick W. Franz · 1977–1992
No statement filed for this period.
Governing Body
1992–
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The modern antitype was expressly withdrawn: neither sister represented any part of Christendom. Their accounts instead illustrated spiritual unfaithfulness; Christendom had never shared Israel’s covenant relationship with Jehovah.
1 quote
Clarification: These prostitute sisters are not prophetic types of any parts of Christendom.
Pure Worship of Jehovah—Restored At Last! (2018), “Summary of Clarifications”, Oholah and Oholibah
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