Broke down: In many languages this expression may be better translated “tore down” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New American Bible, New International Version, New Century Version), “demolished” (Hobbs), or perhaps more accurately, “caused to be demolished” (Bible en français courant, La Bible du Semeur).
Houses: This is a rather literal rendering of the Hebrew, but since these living places were inside the Temple, it may be better to translate “cubicles” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “apartments” (New American Bible), or “rooms.”
Male cult prostitutes: The Hebrew term rendered here is translated “sodomites” by King James Version and Jewish Publication Version. Since the English word “prostitute” is generally taken to refer to women when it is not further qualified, Good News Translation and La Bible du Semeur lose sight of the fact that this group included men, although Good News Translation reveals this in a footnote. A number of versions and commentators follow Revised Standard Version in indicating that the prostitutes of the shrine were exclusively male (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, Contemporary English Version, American Bible, Hobbs). A related noun in Ugaritic texts refers to males only, but it is not clear whether the Hebrew is limited to males only. See the comments on this expression at 1 Kgs 14.24.
Where the women wove hangings for the Asherah: This clause is rightly taken as a parenthetical expression by Good News Translation since it merely adds precision regarding the apartments within the Temple where the prostitutes lived. The Hebrew has the definite article with the noun women, but since the text does not seem to be referring to women mentioned earlier, it will be more natural in some languages to simply say “women” instead of “the women.”
The Hebrew word rendered hangings may be a form of the word meaning “house” or “dwelling.” Some interpreters, however, assume that this Hebrew noun is related to a similar Arabic noun that means “a [coarse] garment.” Other interpreters, on the basis of various translations in the Septuagint manuscripts, propose that the Hebrew word be corrected to read “tunics” or “robes” (so Gray). Its meaning in this context is uncertain. Possibly it refers to “vestments” (Revised English Bible), “garments” (New American Bible), or “robes” (Good News Translation, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Osty-Trinquet, Peregrino, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) that were placed on the idol of Asherah itself or that were somehow used in the worship of this goddess. American Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translate the Hebrew noun as “coverings,” as the context seems to require. There is evidence that statues of gods in Mesopotamia were sometimes covered with woven garments. But it is also possible that what is intended is material that was woven to be used as curtains or panels in order to conceal the immoral acts practiced by the temple prostitutes. Possibly it may be translated “tent shrines” or “tent coverings” (Hobbs). There is simply no way of knowing what the correct meaning of the Hebrew is here, so translators may simply choose among the various suggestions listed above.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .