When she carried on her harlotry so openly and flaunted her nakedness is literally “And she exposed her harlotry and she exposed her genitals,” which means Oholibah exposed to full view her sexual immorality and she exposed to full view her naked body. There is a play on the Hebrew word for “expose” here. For the Hebrew word rendered nakedness (literally “genitals”), see 16.8. Contemporary English Version renders these two clauses as “She let everyone see her naked body and didn’t care if they knew she was a prostitute.” When renders the Hebrew waw conjunction, which has a wide range of meanings. Here it is better translated “because” (New Living Translation) since this summary of Oholibah’s actions gives the reason for God turning away from Oholibah, mentioned in the next clause. Contemporary English Version begins the next clause with “That’s why” to express this logical relationship.

I turned in disgust from her: God turned away from Oholibah (that is, Judah) just as she turned away from her Babylonian lovers in verse 17. Again, the strong negative emotion implied by the word disgust is not warranted.

As I had turned from her sister: These words recall God’s judgment on Oholah (that is, the northern kingdom of Israel), described in different words in verse 9.

Here is a model for the verse:

• She exposed her naked body to everyone and showed them openly that she was a prostitute. That is why I turned my back on her just as I had done with her sister.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .