And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And simply connects this clause to the previous one. In many languages it may be omitted here (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). Although the living creatures carrying the throne of God were not moving, Ezekiel heard the same loud sound from them as he did when they were flying (see 1.24). The sound of the wings of the cherubim was a supernatural sound, not caused by the flapping of their wings. It was so loud that it could be heard even in the outer court, that is, the Temple’s outer courtyard. For cherubim see Ezek 10.1. The passive construction was heard will not be possible or natural in many languages. If so, this clause may be rendered “Even as far as the outer courtyard, people [or, I] could hear the sound of the wings of the living creatures.”
The sound of the creatures’ wings was like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks. Almighty renders the Hebrew word Shaddai, which is an ancient name for God that emphasizes how powerful and strong God is (see the comments on 1.24). Translators may begin a new sentence here by saying “The sound [of the creatures’ wings] was as loud as [or, sounded like] the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.”
The Hebrew has a play on words in this verse. The words for both sound and voice are the same in Hebrew. Many languages will not be able to reflect this in translation. Contemporary English Version has restructured the verse for naturalness, saying “The sound of the creatures’ wings was as loud as the voice of God All-Powerful and could even be heard in the outer courtyard.” This may be a useful model for other languages. Another possibility is:
• The sound of the creatures’ wings was as loud as the voice of God Almighty, and people could even hear it in the outer courtyard.
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 .