Over the heads of the living creatures: In some languages it may be more natural to say “Above the living creatures” (Contemporary English Version).

There was the likeness of a firmament above the creatures. Again Ezekiel cannot not describe what he saw exactly, but it “looked like a dome” (Good News Translation). The Hebrew word for firmament (raqiʾa) is the same one used in Gen 1.6, and it means something that is hammered flat, such as a plate or a sheet of metal. New Jerusalem Bible renders it “solid surface,” and La Bible Pléiade has “platform,” on which the throne of God stood. The platform was probably almost flat or slightly convex (that is, higher in the center and sloping down toward the edges), so that Ezekiel could see both the creatures underneath it and the throne of God above it. In choosing a term for the Hebrew word raqiʾa, most translations seem to have been influenced by the Genesis passage (for example, “dome” in New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version; “vault” in Revised English Bible, Bible de Jérusalem; “expanse” in New International Version, New American Standard Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). All of these renderings remind us of the sky in Gen 1 and do not fit well here. What is needed here is a word that gives the impression of a solid, flat platform above the creatures, something like a flat roof, upon which the throne of God stood. “Platform,” “roof” (Parole de Vie), and “solid surface” are all possibilities. Ezekiel says he saw the likeness of this solid surface or platform, so a good model for this clause is “I saw something that looked like a platform.”

This platform was shining like crystal. Crystal is sparkling glass, and this term is used by most translations, following the Septuagint. But the Hebrew word here clearly means “ice” (Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, Anchor Bible; see Gen 31.40; Job 6.16; 37.10; 38.29; Psa 147.17; Jer 36.30). People in cold climates know what a brilliant sheet of sparkling ice looks like, and they will find it easy to translate this verse when it compares the platform of God’s throne to such ice. It will not be so easy for translators in tropical countries. They will need to describe the platform in such a way to show that it was bright and sparkling, perhaps semi-transparent so that it let some light through. For them “sparkling glass” or “glass that blinds you if you look at it” may be the best rendering.

There is a word in Hebrew that describes the ice. Revised Standard Version leaves it out of the text, but mentions it in a footnote, where it is rendered “awesome.” This word probably comes from the root meaning “to fear,” so it may be rendered “frightening” (New Century Version), “awesome” (New International Version, New American Standard Bible), “awe-inspiring” (Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), or “astonishing.” King James Version uses the archaic word “terrible.” Another alternative is that this Hebrew word comes from the root meaning “to see,” in which case it would mean “transparent” (Brownlee). As noted in the comments on verse 18, the Hebrew words for “fear” and “see” are very similar. We recommend that translators retain the word omitted by Revised Standard Version and render it “awesome” or “frightening to see.”

The platform was spread out above their heads. It was stretched taut like a sheet of canvas above the creatures. It was not resting on their heads, and their wings were not supporting it. Ezekiel does not say how it stayed up, but it was probably something to do with the power of God. Good News Translation omits this clause as unnecessarily repetitious.

A model for this verse is:

• Something that looked like a platform was stretched out above the heads of the creatures. The platform was bright and sparkling like ice, and it was frightening [or, astonishing/awe-inspiring].

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 .