וָאֹמַ֕ר לַבָּלָ֖ה נִֽאוּפִ֑ים עֵת יִזְנֶ֖ה תַזְנוּתֶ֖הָ וָהִֽיא׃
And I said concerning the one worn out with adulteries: ‘At the time her fornication will commit fornication, and she is.’
Morphology
- וָאֹמַר (va-ʾomar) – Root: אמר (ʾamar); Form: Qal wayyiqtol (narrative past) 1st common singular; Translation: “And I said”; Notes: Prophet Ezekiel speaking in narrative continuation.
- לַבָּלָה (la-ballāh) – Root: בלה (balah); Form: Preposition ל + noun feminine singular with article; Translation: “to the one worn out”; Notes: Refers metaphorically to being consumed or worn out by adulteries.
- נִאוּפִים (niʾūfim) – Root: נאף (naʾaf); Form: Noun masculine plural; Translation: “adulteries”; Notes: Plural intensifies the sense of repeated unfaithfulness.
- עֵת (ʿēt) – Root: עת (ʿet); Form: Noun feminine singular; Translation: “time”; Notes: Indicates a specific point in time.
- יִזְנֶה (yizneh) – Root: זנה (zanah); Form: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular; Translation: “will commit fornication”; Notes: Highlights the active sense of immorality.
- תַזְנוּתֶהָ (taznutehā) – Root: זנה (zanah); Form: Noun feminine singular construct + 3rd feminine singular suffix; Translation: “her fornication”; Notes: Personified fornication as her defining act.
- וָהִיא (va-hīʾ) – Root: הוא (huʾ); Form: Conjunction + independent pronoun feminine singular; Translation: “and she is”; Notes: Emphatic conclusion: she remains in her degraded state.
Why the Literal Translation of Ezekiel 23:43 Sounds Awkward
The verse in Hebrew reads:
וָאֹמַ֕ר לַבָּלָ֖ה נִֽאוּפִ֑ים עֵת יִזְנֶ֖ה תַזְנוּתֶ֖הָ וָהִֽיא׃
A strict word-for-word rendering is:
And I said to the one worn out with adulteries: ‘At the time her fornication will fornicate, and she is.’
Why It Sounds Strange
- Cognate Construction: Hebrew often repeats a root for emphasis (e.g., “her fornication will fornicate”). This is normal in Hebrew but clumsy in English.
- Elliptical Ending: The phrase וָהִיא (“and she is”) is abrupt. It stresses that she continues unchanged, but in English it feels incomplete.
- Metaphor: לַבָּלָה נִאוּפִים means “the one worn out with adulteries.” The metaphor is compressed and requires unpacking in English.
The Sense in English
The prophet remarks that even though she is exhausted and degraded by her adulteries, she still keeps going. A clearer rendering is:
- “And I said of the woman worn out with adulteries: Even now, in her time of harlotry, she continues as she is.”
- Or more bluntly: “Even when worn out from adultery, she still commits it.”
Thus the awkward literal translation is not meaningless — it reflects Hebrew’s compact, repetitive style. To capture the sense in English, some smoothing is required while preserving the force of the original idiom.