Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 23:18:
Kupsabiny: “And when (she) went ahead in her prostitution until she opened self to stay naked, I turned the back to her being angry as I was angry with her sister.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘I despised and turn-(my)-back Oholiba like what I did to her sibling because she continued to sell her body openly.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “But when she continued to openly/boldly act like a prostitute , I became disgusted with her, and I rejected her like I had rejected herolder sister.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
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 .
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