In verses 16-21 God answers the false argument in verse 15 of those who were still in Jerusalem. Except for verse 17 (which uses the pronoun “you” to refer to the exiles), the prophecy in these verses is addressed to those in Jerusalem and talks about the exiles in the third person. However, some translations change the pronouns to harmonize this prophecy; for example, Good News Translation uses third person throughout for the exiles, and Contemporary English Version uses second person for them. It is better to avoid doing this, and to treat verse 17 as a slight interruption to the flow of the prophecy.
Therefore say: God commands Ezekiel to respond to the false argument of those living in Jerusalem.
Thus says the Lord GOD: Concerning this traditional formula for a prophet delivering a message from God, see Ezek 11.5. For the Lord GOD, see Ezek 11.7.
Though I removed them far off among the nations: God acknowledges that he was the one who made the exiles go far away and live among foreign nations. The armies of Assyria and Babylonia were those who actually took them away from Israel, but God was the one who caused it.
And though I scattered them among the countries: The exiles had been taken to so many different places that it seemed they had been scattered like seeds on the ground. The Hebrew particle ki rendered though (similarly New International Version, King James Version) in this clause and the previous one rarely has this meaning. Here it is an emphatic particle that is better translated “certainly,” “indeed,” or “yes.” Some translations omit this particle (so Good News Translation, New Century Version), but others express it accurately; for example, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh renders these two clauses as “I have indeed removed them far among the nations and have scattered them among the countries,” and New Jerusalem Bible says “Yes, I have sent them far away from among the nations and I have dispersed them to foreign countries.” Some languages will not make a distinction between nations and countries. If so, a possible model is “Yes, I am the one who sent them to live in distant countries and scattered them all over the earth.”
Yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone: Because the exiles were a long way from Jerusalem, they were unable to worship God in the Temple. But God says he is a sanctuary to them, so that they can worship him wherever they are, even in Babylonia. A sanctuary is a holy place where people can worship God. I have been a sanctuary to them may be rendered “I have been with them so that they can worship me” (similarly Contemporary English Version). Like Revised Standard Version, most translations understand the Hebrew word rendered for a while to refer to time—the short time that God will allow the exiles to worship him away from the Temple. But many scholars and some translations take it to refer to the sort of sanctuary that God is for the exiles. He is “a little sanctuary for them” (New King James Version ; similarly King James Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). It is not the same as if they were at the Temple, but at least they can worship God as if they were in the Temple. God is “a sanctuary to them to some extent” (New Revised Standard Version footnote). Although few translations follow this interpretation, we prefer it in the context. Therefore a good model for this whole clause is “But I have been with them so they can worship me at least a little bit [or, at least to some extent] in the countries where they have gone.”
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 .