abomination

The Hebrew that is translated as “abomination” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “hated thing” and in Kwere as zitibusa which means “evil” but also something that causes horror or disgust and revolts people. (Source for both: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

in Ngambay it is nékɔb or “taboo.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also detestable in the sight of God and holy.

complete verse (Ezekiel 16:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 16:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “In all those days/time you were engrossed in dirty deeds and you did not even remember/think about how your childhood was when you were naked rolling in your own blood.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “In all your detestable doings and immorality you never remembered how much I took-good-care of you when you were still young, that time you were still naked and rolled in your blood.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “All during the time when you were acting like a prostitute and doing other detestable things, you did not think about the time when it was as though you were very young, naked , lying in your own blood and kicking.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 16:22

And in all your abominations and your harlotries you did not remember the days of your youth …: Child sacrifice was the worst of Jerusalem’s sins, and in this parable it was especially bad because the girl (who stands for Jerusalem and Judah in the story) was abandoned by her parents as an infant and on the point of death before she was rescued. She, of all people, should have remembered that and treated her own children better, but God says you did not remember. She was so engrossed in her abominations (see Ezek 16.2) and harlotries (see verse 15) that she forgot about her origins. The days of your youth (“your childhood” in Good News Translation) refers to the time when she was a baby and a young girl; this was the time described in verses 3-6. Contemporary English Version renders this whole clause as “You were so busy sinning and being a prostitute that you refused to think about the days when you were young.”

For you were naked and bare, see Ezek 16.7; for weltering in your blood, see Ezek 16.6.

One model for this verse is:

• While you were doing the things I hate and behaving like a prostitute, you did not remember how you were when you were young, when you were naked and exposed and squirming in your own blood.

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 .