Oholah played the harlot while she was mine: This subsection of the parable focuses on Oholah, the northern kingdom of Israel, which was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. New Century Version uses “Samaria” here instead of the name Oholah. We do not recommend this. It is better to keep the names of the sisters used in this parable. For played the harlot, see Ezek 23.3. New Century Version says “had sexual relations with other men.” While she was mine means while she was still God’s wife. Translators may render this whole sentence as “While she was still my wife, Oholah acted like a prostitute [or, slept with other men].”

And she doted on her lovers the Assyrians: The Hebrew verb rendered doted on means “have a great sexual desire for” (so New Century Version). Contemporary English Version says “chased after.” Her lovers are the men Oholah had sex with instead of her husband. For the Assyrians, see 16.28. This sentence may be rendered “She had great desire for her lovers [or, the men she had sex with], the Assyrians.”

The Hebrew text has one more word at the end of this verse, which Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and Contemporary English Version place at the beginning of verse 6. Most other translations keep it in verse 5; for example, New International Version renders verses 5b-6a as “and she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—warriors 6 clothed in blue.” Since there is no change of meaning involved, translators may choose for themselves where to place the verse break to make the text easy to read.

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 .