Yehezkiel 23:9-10

23:9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians ¹  for whom she lusted. 23:10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became notorious ²  among women, and they executed judgments against her.

Yehezkiel 23:22-30

23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ³  I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side: 23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, ⁴  Shoa, ⁵  and Koa, ⁶  and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, all of them governors and officials, officers and nobles, all of them riding on horses. 23:24 They will attack ⁷  you with weapons, ⁸  chariots, wagons, and with a huge army; ⁹  they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment; ¹⁰  they will punish you according to their laws. 23:25 I will direct ¹¹  my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in rage. They will cut off your nose and your ears, ¹²  and your survivors will die ¹³  by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your survivors will be consumed by fire. 23:26 They will strip your clothes off you and take away your beautiful jewelry. 23:27 So I will put an end to your obscene conduct and your prostitution which you have practiced in the land of Egypt. ¹⁴  You will not seek their help ¹⁵  or remember Egypt anymore.

23:28 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ¹⁶  I am about to deliver you over to ¹⁷  those whom you hate, to those with whom you were disgusted. 23:29 They will treat you with hatred, take away all you have labored for, ¹⁸  and leave you naked and bare. Your nakedness will be exposed, just as when you engaged in prostitution and obscene conduct. ¹⁹  23:30 I will do these things to you ²⁰  because you engaged in prostitution with the nations, polluting yourself with their idols.

Yeremia 4:30

4:30 And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction, ²¹ 

you accomplish nothing ²²  by wearing a beautiful dress, ²³ 

decking yourself out in jewels of gold,

and putting on eye shadow! ²⁴ 

You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.

Your lovers spurn you.

They want to kill you. ²⁵ 

Yeremia 13:22

13:22 You will probably ask yourself, ²⁶ 

‘Why have these things happened to me?

Why have I been treated like a disgraced adulteress

whose skirt has been torn off and her limbs exposed?’ ²⁷ 

It is because you have sinned so much. ²⁸ 

Yeremia 13:26

13:26 So I will pull your skirt up over your face

and expose you to shame like a disgraced adulteress! ²⁹ 

Yeremia 22:20

Warning to Jerusalem

22:20 People of Jerusalem, ³⁰  go up to Lebanon and cry out in mourning.

Go to the land of Bashan and cry out loudly.

Cry out in mourning from the mountains of Moab. ³¹ 

For your allies ³²  have all been defeated.

Ratapan 1:8

ח (Khet)

1:8 Jerusalem committed terrible sin; ³³ 

therefore she became an object of scorn. ³⁴ 

All who admired ³⁵  her have despised her ³⁶ 

because they have seen her nakedness. ³⁷ 

She groans aloud ³⁸ 

and turns away in shame. ³⁹ 

Ratapan 1:19

ק (Qof)

1:19 I called for my lovers, ⁴⁰ 

but they had deceived me.

My priests and my elders

perished in the city.

Truly they had ⁴¹  searched for food

to ⁴²  keep themselves ⁴³  alive. ⁴⁴ 

Hosea 2:3

2:3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked,

and expose her like she was when she was born.

I will turn her land into a wilderness

and make her country a parched land,

so that I might kill ⁴⁵  her with thirst.

Hosea 2:10

2:10 Soon ⁴⁶  I will expose her lewd nakedness ⁴⁷  in front of her lovers,

and no one will be able to rescue her from me! ⁴⁸ 

Hosea 8:10

8:10 Even though they have hired lovers among the nations, ⁴⁹ 

I will soon gather them together for judgment. ⁵⁰ 

Then ⁵¹  they will begin to waste away

under the oppression of a mighty king. ⁵² 

Nahum 3:5-6

3:5 I am against you,” declares the Lord who commands armies. ⁵³ 

“I will strip off your clothes! ⁵⁴ 

I will show your nakedness to the nations

and your shame to the kingdoms;

3:6 I will pelt you with filth; ⁵⁵ 

I will treat you with contempt;

I will make you a public spectacle.

Wahyu 17:16

17:16 The ⁵⁶  ten horns that you saw, and the beast – these will hate the prostitute and make her desolate and naked. They ⁵⁷  will consume her flesh and burn her up with fire. ⁵⁸ 

[23:9]  ¹ tn Heb “I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Assyria.”

[23:10]  ² tn Heb “name.”

[23:22]  ³ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[23:23]  ⁴ sn Pekod was the name of an Aramean tribe (known as Puqudu in Mesopotamian texts) that lived in the region of the Tigris River.

[23:23]  ⁵ sn Shoa was the name of a nomadic people (the Sutu) that lived in Mesopotamia.

[23:23]  ⁶ sn Koa was the name of another Mesopotamian people group (the Qutu).

[23:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “come against.”

[23:24]  ⁸ tn This is the only occurrence of this term in the OT. The precise meaning is uncertain.

[23:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

[23:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will place before them judgment.”

[23:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “give.”

[23:25]  ¹² tn Heb “they will remove.”

[23:25]  sn This method of punishment is attested among ancient Egyptian and Hittite civilizations. See W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:489.

[23:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “fall.”

[23:27]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will cause your obscene conduct to cease from you and your harlotry from the land of Egypt.”

[23:27]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lift your eyes to them.”

[23:28]  ¹⁶ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[23:28]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I am giving you into the hand of.”

[23:29]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew term means “labor,” but by extension it can also refer to that for which one works.

[23:29]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “The nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, and your obscene conduct and your harlotry.”

[23:30]  ²⁰ tn The infinitive absolute continues the sequence begun in v. 28: “Look here, I am about to deliver you.” See Joüon 2:430 §123.w.

[4:30]  ²¹ tn Heb “And you that are doomed to destruction.” The referent is supplied from the following context and the fact that Zion/Jerusalem represents the leadership which was continually making overtures to foreign nations for help.

[4:30]  ²² tn Heb “What are you accomplishing…?” The rhetorical question assumes a negative answer, made clear by the translation in the indicative.

[4:30]  ²³ tn Heb “clothing yourself in scarlet.”

[4:30]  ²⁴ tn Heb “enlarging your eyes with antimony.” Antimony was a black powder used by women as eyeliner to make their eyes look larger.

[4:30]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they seek your life.”

[13:22]  ²⁶ tn Heb “say in your heart.”

[13:22]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Your skirt has been uncovered and your heels have been treated with violence.” This is the generally accepted interpretation of these phrases. See, e.g., BDB 784 s.v. עָקֵב a and HALOT 329 s.v. I חָמַס Nif. The significance of the actions here are part of the metaphor (i.e., personification) of Jerusalem as an adulteress having left her husband and have been explained in the translation for the sake of readers unfamiliar with the metaphor.

[13:22]  sn The actions here were part of the treatment of an adulteress by her husband, intended to shame her. See Hos 2:3, 10 (2:5, 12 HT); Isa 47:4.

[13:22]  ²⁸ tn The translation has been restructured to break up a long sentence involving a conditional clause and an elliptical consequential clause. It has also been restructured to define more clearly what “these things” are. The Hebrew text reads: “And if you say, ‘Why have these things happened to me?’ Because of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts [= what your skirt covers] have been uncovered and your heels have been treated with violence.”

[13:26]  ²⁹ tn Heb “over your face and your shame will be seen.” The words “like a disgraced adulteress” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to explain the metaphor. See the notes on 13:22.

[22:20]  ³⁰ tn The words “people of Jerusalem” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to clarify the referent of the imperative. The imperative is feminine singular and it is generally agreed that personified Zion/Jerusalem is in view. The second feminine singular has commonly been applied to Jerusalem or the people of Judah throughout the book. The reference to allies (v. 20, 22) and to leaders (v. 22) make it very probable that this is the case here too.

[22:20]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[22:20]  ³¹ tn Heb “from Abarim.” This was the mountain range in Moab from which Moses viewed the promised land (cf. Deut 32:49).

[22:20]  ³² tn Heb “your lovers.” For the usage of this term to refer to allies see 30:14 and a semantically similar term in 4:30.

[22:20]  sn If the passages in this section are chronologically ordered, this refers to the help that Jehoiakim relied on when he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.

[1:8]  ³³ tc The MT reads חֵטְא (khet’, “sin”), but the BHS editors suggest the vocalization חָטֹא (khato’, “sin”), Qal infinitive absolute.

[1:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “she has become an object of head-nodding” (לְנִידָה הָיָתָה, lÿniydah hayatah). This reflects the ancient Near Eastern custom of shaking the head in scorn (e.g., Jer 18:16; Ps 44:15 [HT 14]), hence the translation “object of scorn.” There is debate whether נִידָה (nidah) means (1) “object of head-shaking” from נוּד (nud, “to shake,” BDB 626-27 s.v. נוּד); (2) “unclean thing” from נָדַה (nadah, “to be impure”); or (3) “wanderer” from נָדַד (nadad, “to wander,” BDB 622 s.v. I נָדַד). The LXX and Rashi connected it to נָדַד (nadad, “to wander”); however, several important early Greek recensions (Aquila and Symmachus) and Syriac translated it as “unclean thing.” The modern English versions are split: (1) “unclean thing” (NASB); “unclean” (NIV); (2) “a mockery” (NRSV).

[1:8]  ³⁵ sn The Piel participle of כָּבֵד (kaved) is infrequent and usually translated formulaically as those who honor someone. The feminine nuance may be best represented as “her admirers have despised her.”

[1:8]  ³⁶ tn The verb הִזִּילוּהָ (hizziluha) is generally understood as a rare form of Hiphil perfect 3rd person common plural + 3rd person feminine singular suffix from I זָלַל (zalal, “to despise”): “they despise her.” This follows the I nun (ן) pattern with daghesh (dot) in zayin (ז) rather than the expected geminate pattern הִזִילּוּהָ (hizilluha) with daghesh in lamed (ל) (GKC 178-79 §67.l).

[1:8]  ³⁷ sn The expression have seen her nakedness is a common metaphor to describe the plunder and looting of a city by a conquering army, probably drawn on the ignominious and heinous custom of raping the women of a conquered city as well.

[1:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “groan” or “sigh.” The verb אָנַח (’anakh, appearing only in Niphal) means “sigh” (BDB 58 s.v. 1) or “groan” (HALOT 70-71 s.v.) as an expression of grief (Prov 29:2; Isa 24:7; Lam 1:4, 8; Ezek 9:4; 21:11). The word גַּם (gam) is usually a particle meaning “also,” but has been shown from Ugaritic to have the meaning “aloud.” See T. McDaniel, “Philological Studies in Lamentations, I-II,” Bib 49 (1968): 31-32.

[1:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and turns backward.”

[1:19]  ⁴⁰ sn The term “lovers” is a figurative expression (hypocatastasis), comparing Jerusalem’s false gods and political alliance with Assyria to a woman’s immoral lovers. The prophet Hosea uses similar imagery (Hos 2:5, 7, 10, 13).

[1:19]  ⁴¹ tn Here the conjunction כּי (ki) functions in (1) a temporal sense in reference to a past event, following a perfect: “when” (BDB 473 s.v. 2.a; cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or (2) a concessive sense, following a perfect: “although” (Pss 21:12; 119:83; Mic 7:8; Nah 1:10; cf. BDB 473 s.v. 2.c.β) or (3) with an intensive force, introducing a statement with emphasis: “surely, certainly” (BDB 472 s.v. 1.e). The present translation follows the third option.

[1:19]  ⁴² tn The vav (ו) prefixed to וַיָשִׁיבוּ (vayashivu) introduces a purpose clause: “they sought food for themselves, in order to keep themselves alive.”

[1:19]  ⁴³ tn The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) functions as a metonymy (= soul) of association (= life) (e.g., Gen 44:30; Exod 21:23; 2 Sam 14:7; Jon 1:14). When used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), the Hiphil הָשִׁיב (hashiv) of שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn, return”) may mean “to preserve a person’s life,” that is, to keep a person alive (Lam 1:14, 19).

[1:19]  ⁴⁴ tc The LXX adds καὶ οὐχ εὗρον (kai ouc Jeuron, “but they did not find it”). This is probably an explanatory scribal gloss, indicated to explicate what appeared to be ambiguous. The LXX often adds explanatory glosses in many OT books.

[2:3]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and kill her with thirst.” The vav prefixed to the verb (וַהֲמִתִּיהָ, vahamittiha) introduces a purpose/result clause: “in order to make her die of thirst” (purpose) or “and thus make her die of thirst” (result).

[2:10]  ⁴⁶ tn The particle עַתָּה (’attah) often refers to the imminent or the impending future: “very soon” (BDB 774 s.v. עַתָּה 1.b). In Hosea it normally introduces imminent judgment (Hos 2:12; 4:16; 5:7; 8:8, 13; 10:2).

[2:10]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “her lewdness” (so KJV, NIV); NAB, NRSV “her shame.”

[2:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “out of my hand” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); TEV “save her from my power.”

[8:10]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “they have hired themselves out to lovers”; cf. NASB “they hire allies among the nations.”

[8:10]  ⁵⁰ tn The Piel stem of קָבַץ (qavats) is often used in a positive sense, meaning “to regather” a dispersed people (HALOT 1063 s.v. קבץ 3.a; BDB 868 s.v. קָבַץ 1.α). However, in Hosea 8:10 it is used in a negative sense, meaning “to assemble (people) for judgment” (e.g., Ezek 20:34; Hos 9:6; HALOT 1063 s.v. 3.e.i). Cf. JPS “I will hold them fast” (in judgment, see the parallel in 9:6).

[8:10]  ⁵¹ tn The vav consecutive + preterite וַיָּחֵלּוּ (vayyakhellu, Hiphil preterite 3rd person common plural from חָלַל, khalal, “to begin”]) denotes temporal subordination to the preceding clause: “then…” (so NLT); cf. TEV, CEV “Soon.”

[8:10]  ⁵² tn Heb “a king of princes” (cf. KJV, NASB); TEV “the emperor of Assyria.”

[3:5]  ⁵³ tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts.” See the note on the expression “the Lord who commands armies” in 2:13.

[3:5]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “I will uncover your skirts over your face.”

[3:5]  sn Strip off your clothes. In the ancient Near East, the typical punishment for a prostitute was to strip her of her clothes publicly to expose her to open shame, embarrassment, and public ridicule. Because Nineveh had acted like a prostitute, the Lord would punish her as a prostitute.

[3:6]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “detestable things”; KJV, ASV “abominable filth”; NCV “filthy garbage.”

[17:16]  ⁵⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ⁵⁷ tn A new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ⁵⁸ tn The final clause could also be turned into an adverbial clause of means: “They will consume her flesh by burning her with fire.”