For Son of man, International Children’s Bible “Human being”).

Because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem …: The people of Tyre sinned by gloating over the downfall of Jerusalem. They expressed the same malicious glee as the Ammonites (see 25.3), but the reason for their joy was commercial and economic. For Tyre see the introductory comments on this section. Translators may say “the city of Tyre.” However, to understand the rest of this passage, readers need to know that the city of Tyre was on an island, so another possible model is “the island city of Tyre.”

Aha renders a Hebrew exclamation that expresses satisfaction (see 25.3). It may be combined with the previous clause by saying “the people of [the island city of] Tyre were happy at [or, took pleasure in] what happened to Jerusalem.”

The gate of the peoples is broken: The gate of the peoples refers to Jerusalem as a “center of trade” (Contemporary English Version), possibly because Jerusalem controlled the rich trading routes to Egypt and Arabia. New Jerusalem Bible says “the Gateway to the Nations” (similarly New Living Translation). New Century Version expresses this whole clause as “The city that traded with the nations is destroyed.” Translators may also say “Our barrier to trading with other nations is destroyed.”

It has swung open to me: This figurative expression refers to the possession of the rich trade routes passing from Jerusalem to Tyre. When Jerusalem was defeated, these routes were now open to Tyre, and the people of Tyre had the opportunity to grow rich. New Century Version expresses this clause well, saying “Now we can be the trading center.” Another good model is “Now we are the ones to trade with all the nations.”

I shall be replenished (literally “I will become full”) means Tyre will become rich. New Century Version says “we can make money.”

Now that she is laid waste: In contrast to the wealth of Tyre, Jerusalem was “destroyed” (New International Reader’s Version). For the Hebrew verb rendered is laid waste, see the comments on 12.20. In languages where passive verbs are not natural, translators may render this clause as “now that an enemy has destroyed Jerusalem.”

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 .