Because he despised the oath and broke the covenant, because he gave his hand and yet did all these things, he shall not escape: This verse summarizes the actions of Zedekiah and answers the questions in verse 15. Most of the terminology is the same as in verses 15-16 (see the comments there). One thing is added: he gave his hand. It is unlikely that this clause refers to anything like the modern Western practice of shaking hands to seal an agreement. It probably refers to part of the ritual of making an oath, perhaps where people raised their hands toward heaven in a gesture of calling God as a witness to the truth of their statements. Therefore many translations omit it (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version), or they replace it with a natural alternative; for example, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “he gave his word,” and New American Standard Bible has “he pledged his allegiance.” Another possibility is to retain the expression but add its significance, as in “he held up his hand to promise to obey.” Any rendering that strengthens the force of the promise Zedekiah made is appropriate. This clause begins with the Hebrew word hinneh, which is often translated “behold” (see Ezek 17.7). Here it highlights Zedekiah’s action of giving his hand.

A model for this verse is:

• The king of Judah will not take seriously the threats of the king of Babylonia, and he will break the agreement with him. Yes, he made the most solemn promise to obey him [or, he held up his hand to show he promised to obey], but still he will do all these things. So the king of Judah will not escape, he will be punished [or, the king of Babylonia will punish him].

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 .