Ezekiel 16:24-25

16:24 you built yourself a chamber ¹  and put up a pavilion ²  in every public square. 16:25 At the head of every street you erected your pavilion and you disgraced ³  your beauty when you spread ⁴  your legs to every passerby and multiplied your promiscuity.

Ezekiel 16:31

16:31 When you built your chamber at the head of every street and put up your pavilion in every public square, you were not like a prostitute, because you scoffed at payment. ⁵ 

¹ tn The Hebrew גֶּב (gev) may represent more than one word, each rare in the Old Testament. It may refer to a “mound” or to “rafters.” The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate interpret this as a brothel.

² tn Or “lofty place” (NRSV). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:229, and B. Lang, Frau Weisheit, 137.

³ tn Heb “treated as if abominable,” i.e., repudiated.

⁴ tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew root is found in Prov 13:3 in reference to the talkative person who habitually “opens wide” his lips.

⁵ tn The Hebrew term, which also occurs in vv. 34 and 41 of this chapter, always refers to the payment of a prostitute (Deut 23:19; Isa 23:17; Hos 9:1; Mic 1:7).