Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who slay you…?: This verse interrupts God’s statement of judgment with an ironic rhetorical question that makes fun of the king of Tyre. The question obviously expects the answer “No!,” but it is not clear how far it extends. Some translations think the question continues into the second half of the verse, repeating the same ideas as the first half (so Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, New English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). However, others stop the question after the first half of the verse and make the second half a statement (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, King James Version / New King James Version, Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Moffatt, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Either interpretation is acceptable, but it is preferable to take the whole verse as a question. For I am a god, see Ezek 28.2. Those who slay you renders a singular Hebrew word, which is literally “your murderer.” The difference between the singular and plural forms of this word is very small, so it is easy to confuse them. Since this word is parallel with those who wound you at the end of the verse, it must have a plural sense here. Most translations, along with many Hebrew manuscripts, understand it in this way. Translators will do well to render it as plural as well. The first two lines of this verse may be rendered “When they come to kill you, will you still claim that you are a god who cannot die?” (similarly Good News Translation). They may also be expressed as a strong statement, for example, “When they about to kill you, then you won’t be able to still say, ‘I am a god’ ” (similarly New Century Version; see also the second model below).

Though you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those who wound you: For though you are but a man, and no god, see Ezek 28.2. In the hands of those who wound you has almost exactly the same meaning as in the presence of those who slay you. Both phrases refer to when they are on the point of killing the king. In the hands of means “in the power of.” Wound renders the Hebrew word chalal again, and carries the same two possible meanings (see the comments on verses 7 and 8). If this second half of the verse is not treated as part of the rhetorical question, it may be rendered “But when you are in the power of those about to kill you, you will be just a human being [who can die], not a god [who is immortal].”

A model that treats the whole verse as a rhetorical question is:

• When they come to kill you and your murderers prove you are just a man and not a god, then will you still say that you are a god?

In some languages it may be easier to change the question into two statements as follows:

• You will not still claim to be a god when you are face-to-face with those who come to kill you. No, when you are in the clutches of those who will murder [or, disgrace] you, you will just be a man, not a god.

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 .