For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a harlot: For (literally “And”) renders the Hebrew waw conjunction. Here it is better rendered “But” (New American Standard Bible) or “Yet” (New Jerusalem Bible) to show the contrast between the sisters being so exhausted and yet still continuing to have sex with the men. They have gone in to her, as men go in to a harlot means that the men continued to have sex with the sisters as if they were prostitutes. Some translations understand this reference to prostitutes to imply that they had sex very many times (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version), but it does not necessarily have that sense. This sentence may be rendered “But the men continued to have sex with them as they do with a prostitute.”

Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah to commit lewdness: This sentence is a summary statement stressing the sexual immorality of Oholah and Oholibah. As elsewhere, the Hebrew expression for went in to means “had sex with.” Revised Standard Version follows the Septuagint by saying to commit lewdness. Most other translations retain the Hebrew, which has “the women of lewdness”; for example, Good News Translation has “those immoral women,” Contemporary English Version says “the two sinful sisters,” and Osty translates “those lost women.” For lewdness see verse 21. Parole de Vie renders this sentence clearly, saying “Like going to the house of prostitutes, the men went to the place of Oholah and Oholibah, those women who sleep with just anybody!”

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 .