complete verse (Ezekiel 23:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 23:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then the Babylonians came to (her) and the desire/greed made (her) be defiled on the bed. When those people had defiled her, (she) got up and went away so that (she) did not go near those people (she disgusted them).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore they came to her and had-sex with her. In their sex with her, they defiled her. But some-time-later she was-bored and separated from them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then the soldiers from Babylonia came to her, they lay in bed with her, and they had sex with her. Then she became disgusted with them and turned away from them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 23:17

And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love means they came to Jerusalem and “had sex with her” (Contemporary English Version). Bed of love is a euphemism for having sex. If any cultures have another vivid way of referring to this, it will be good to use it.

And they defiled her with their lust means they made her ritually unclean, with their sexual “immorality” (New King James Version ). Some translators understand this clause to refer to frequent sex (for example, Good News Translation has “They used her and defiled her so much”; similarly Contemporary English Version), but such a specific emphasis is not likely. The Hebrew word translated lust is actually the same one that is usually rendered “harlotry” (see, for example, verses 7, 8, 11, 14). Therefore it is best to render this clause as a general statement of immoral sexual activity. One possible model is “They made her unfit for my presence with their immoral [or, bad] sexual behavior.”

And after she was polluted by them: This passive clause may be rendered “But after they [or, the Babylonians] made her unclean [or, unfit to worship me].”

She turned from them in disgust: After a time of immoral sexual activity with the Babylonians, Oholibah refused to have sex with them any more. Most translations use a strong emotional term like disgust to describe Oholibah’s change of attitude here, but there is no reason to assume that her action was influenced by any such feeling. The Hebrew clause here implies only that she decided to take her love away from the Babylonians, and verses 19-21 say she gave it to the Egyptians. Historically this probably reflects one instance where the king of Judah changed his political allegiance from the Babylonians to the Egyptians. This type of political maneuvering happened frequently in the last years of the southern kingdom. New Jerusalem Bible renders this clause well with “she withdrew her affection from them.”

A model for this verse is:

• The Babylonians came and had sex with her. Because of their immoral sexual activity, they made her ritually unclean. After they made her ritually unclean, she turned away from them and did not have sex with them anymore.

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 .