Ezekiel 23:15
Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity: Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:
The verse depicts Babylonian princes as conspicuous and impressive to look at, girded with girdles upon their loins and clothed in richly dyed, brightly colored clothing with distinctive headwear. The Hebrew word behind the dyed attire means dyeing or coloring, an act usually done by dipping the material into the dye. The appearance and manner of the Chaldeans is presented as the likeness or pattern characteristic of the Babylonians of Chaldea.
The description fits the Babylon of Ezekiel's time and its splendor under Nebuchadnezzar. Unlike Assyria, Babylon used painted plaster and colored enameled brick for interior decoration because stone was scarce, and its walls were famed for brilliant coloring. That artistic custom ended with conquest by the Medes and Persians, so the detail places the book in its own time. Ancient palace reliefs and inscriptions illustrate the description of their splendid attire.
The chapter portrays Samaria and Jerusalem as adulterous women because they turned from their covenant with God and sought relations with foreign nations. The verse shows their attraction to Babylonian power and appearance as part of portraying Judah as becoming like the surrounding heathen. That adultery is spiritual fornication meaning apostasy, turning from God's law and worship to an unlawful connection with idolatrous or false religious groups. The chapter's lesson is that Israel's unfaithfulness to God, in forsaking God and seeking help from Egypt, is rebellion, a pattern like churches seeking union with civil power.
The corrupt woman presented in the chapter shows that a corrupt woman is a symbol of a corrupt church. The description is part of the portrayal of backsliding Israel and Judah, and Babylon and her daughters, as harlots who ensnared souls and corrupted the nations of the earth. The verse belongs to the prophecy of Babylon's coming against Jerusalem, connected with the removal of the diadem from Israel's profane wicked prince and the overturning of the kingdom until the one with the right to rule comes, dated to 593 BC.