H2231 H2231
issue, emission; specifically semen, used in a graphic condemnation of Jerusalem's promiscuity
This noun refers to an emission or issue, specifically male semen, appearing only in Ezekiel 23:20 in a shocking metaphor. Jerusalem's lust for Egypt is described graphically: she desired lovers 'whose issue was like the issue of horses.' The image is deliberately crude and offensive, intensifying the prophetic condemnation of Judah's political and spiritual adultery with foreign powers. The term belongs to the realm of bodily fluids and sexual language, weaponized here for maximum rhetorical impact.
Senses
1. sense 1 — A feminine noun for seminal emission, used in Ezekiel's most explicit condemnation of Jerusalem's spiritual adultery. The double use ('whose issue was like the issue of horses') hammers home the bestiality metaphor—Judah's pursuit of alliances with Egypt is portrayed as craving the sexual potency of animals. The vocabulary is deliberately shocking, meant to provoke revulsion at covenant infidelity. This is the prophetic rhetoric of exposure: stripping away euphemism to reveal the grotesque reality of idolatry and political faithlessness. 2×
AR["سَيْلُهُمْ", "وَسَيْلُ"]·ben["এবং-বীর্য", "বীর্য-তাদের"]·DE["[וזרמת]", "[זרמתם]"]·EN["and-issue-of-", "their-issue"]·FR["[וזרמת]", "[זרמתם]"]·heb["ו-זרמת", "זרמתם"]·HI["उनका-बहाव", "और-बहाव"]·ID["dan-mani", "mani-mereka"]·IT["[וזרמת]", "[זרמתם]"]·jav["lan-pancoran", "pancoranipun-sedaya."]·KO["그들의-정액이다", "그리고-정액이"]·PT["e-fluxo-de", "seu-fluxo"]·RU["и-излияние", "излияние"]·ES["flujo-de-ellos", "y-flujo-de"]·SW["na-shahawa-ya", "shahawa-yao"]·TR["akıntıları", "ve-akıntısı"]·urd["اور-فوران", "فوران-ان-کا"]
Related Senses
H0376 1. man, person, human male (2130×)H0251 1. brother (blood sibling) (573×)H0120 1. man, human being (individual/generic) (527×)H0802 1. woman, female person (519×)H0802 2. wife, spouse (255×)H0517 1. mother, female parent (217×)G0435 1. man, male person (202×)G1135 1. woman, adult female (190×)H2233 1. offspring, descendants (172×)H0001 2. ancestor, forefather (146×)H5288 1. Youth, young man (122×)H0269 1. sister (female sibling) (113×)H1755 1. generation, contemporaries (96×)G5043 1. child, offspring (89×)G0444 2. people, humankind (86×)H3206 1. child, boy, youth (86×)H2145 1. male (human being) (79×)G3384 1. mother (77×)H6485a 1. Qal passive participle: numbered ones, enrollment (76×)H1397 1. man (strong/mighty) (65×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† זִרְמָה n.f. issue (of semen virile), in fig. of the paramours of Jerusalem וְזִרְמַת סוּסִים זִרְמָתָם Ez 23:20.