prostitute

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The Greek, Latin, and Hebrew that is typically translated as “prostitute” in English (in some, mostly earlier translation also as “harlot” or “whore”) is translated in the 2024 revision of the inter-confessional Latvian Jauna Pārstrādāta latviešu Bībele as netikle or “hussy.” This replaced the previous translation mauka or “whore.” Nikita Andrejevs, editor of the Bible explains the previous and current translations: “The translators at the time felt that this strong word best described the thought contained in the main text. Many had objections, as it seemed that this word would not be the most appropriate for public reading in church.” (Source: Updated Bible published in Latvia ).

Other translations include:

  • Bariai: “a woman of the road” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “a woman who sells her body” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Uma: “a woman whose behavior is not appropriate” or “a loose woman” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “a bad woman” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a woman who make money through their reputation” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “a woman who makes money with her body” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “a woman whose womanhood is repeatedly-bought” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

See also Translation commentary on Genesis 34:31, Rahab, and prostitute oneself / play the prostitute.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Prostitution in the Bible .

complete verse (Judges 11:1)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Judges 11:1:

  • Kupsabiny: “Gilead had his wife who bore him many sons. He had one son who was called Jephthah whom he bore with a prostitute. When the sons of the woman of the home (proper wife) had grown up, they chased Jephthah from that home. They said, ‘He shall not inherit anything in this home because he belongs to another wife/woman.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “There was a man named Jephthah, he was a Gileadite and brave soldier. He was a son of Gilead, who was born of a prostitute.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Jefta who comes-from-Gilead was a good soldier. His father was-particularly Gilead and his mother was a woman who sells her body.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “There was a man from the Gilead region named Jephthah. He was a great warrior. His father was also named Gilead. But his mother was a prostitute.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Judges 11:1

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior: Now renders the Hebrew waw conjunction, which here signals a new episode and introduces a new character, Jephthah. Translators should use a transition that is appropriate to this introductory material. Some languages may prefer a temporal expression, such as “At that time” or “During that time.” Jephthah is described as a Gileadite, which means he came from the region of Gilead (see verse 5.17). He was also a mighty warrior (literally “warrior of might”). A similar expression is used to describe Gideon in verse 6.12 (see comments there). Before Jephthah was chosen to lead Israel, he was already an important military leader. The narrator seems to have highlighted this fact, since there was an impending military threat in the land.

But he was the son of a harlot: But renders the Hebrew waw conjunction, which introduces an unexpected fact here. Heroes in Israel are usually described through an impressive ancestry, but here Jephthah is described as having a lowly birth. A harlot (literally “woman prostitute”) is a person who has illicit sexual relations, often in exchange for money. In Canaan there were both secular and religious prostitutes, but here the narrator does not specify what kind of prostitute was Jephthah’s mother. In most languages there are expressions or euphemisms for this kind of behavior. However, the language here is direct, and if possible, this style should be preserved. If prostitution is not known, translators can use terms for men and women who have illicit sexual relations. It must be clear that Jephthah’s mother was not the wife of his father.

Gilead was the father of Jephthah: Though this clause begins with a Hebrew waw conjunction, most versions omit it. Translators could use a transition word that can introduce background material. This clause is a very unusual and ambiguous statement. The name Gilead could refer to an individual named Gilead (the son of Makir, and the grandson of Manasseh, who is mentioned in Num 26.29), but many take it to refer to the region of Gilead. Scholars point out that Jephthah, being the son of a prostitute, was “fatherless” and “a son of the land of Gilead.” In what follows his “brothers” rise against him and want to disinherit him. Thus the ambiguity of the passage continues through several verses. Probably it is best for translators to render the text as it stands and explain in a footnote that Gilead could be the name of a person or a region.

Translation models for this verse are:

• Now Jephthah of Gilead was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was his father.*
* This may mean that no one knew who Jephthah’s father really was. He was simply “a son of the region of Gilead.”

• Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave fighter, but his mother was a prostitute. He was [fatherless,] simply a son of the land of Gilead.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .