But there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage: At this point in the story, another great eagle appeared. This eagle was large and impressive, but not as impressive as the first eagle (see the comments on Ezek 17.3). This sentence may be rendered “Then another giant eagle with large wings and many feathers around its head appeared [or, came].” Instead of another great eagle, which follows the Septuagint, the Hebrew text has “one great eagle.” The Hebrew words for another and “one” look very similar and scribes often confused them (see the comments on 11.19). Another great eagle fits this context best.

And behold: The Hebrew word hinneh rendered behold draws the attention of the hearer/reader away from the second eagle to the vine. Here it also shows the speaker’s surprise at the response of the vine. Good News Translation renders this phrase “And now,” and New Century Version uses “then.” Contemporary English Version is also good with “soon.”

This vine bent its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him that he might water it: Instead of keeping its roots and branches under the protection of the first eagle, the vine chose to turn toward the second eagle for water. The exact meaning of the Hebrew word rendered bent is not certain, but it seems to have the idea of bending and turning, so one can easily imagine a picture of gnarled roots, facing in an unusual direction. The reason why the vine shot forth its branches toward the second eagle, namely, that he might water it, is a little strange because branches normally seek the light, and vines do not absorb water through their leaves and branches. Because of that, some scholars have suggested that these branches are “suckers” or “rootlets,” but this suggestion goes beyond the Hebrew. It is best to retain the Hebrew text, however unnatural it may be, and explain the strangeness as part of the imaginary story.

From the bed where it was planted: Revised Standard Version takes this clause with the following verse to imply that the second eagle transplanted the vine to another place (so also New Revised Standard Version). This is unlikely and there are two other interpretations that are more likely. One interpretation is to take this clause with the action of watering the vine, so that the vine hoped to receive its water (or possibly more water) in some other place than the place where it had been planted; for example, Good News Translation renders this clause and the previous one as “in the hope that it would give it more water than there was in the garden where it was growing” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). The second interpretation is to take this clause with the action of the vine sending out its roots and branches toward the second eagle away “from the area where it was planted” (New Century Version; similarly New International Version, New King James Version , New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt footnote). This is the most straightforward way of interpreting the clause.

Instead of bed, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project notes that the Hebrew text reads a plural word, that is, “rows” or “furrows.” However, some Hebrew manuscripts, the Septuagint, and many modern translations read a singular word, for example, “bed” (Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Anchor Bible), “garden” (Good News Translation), or “plot” (New International Version). Since most garden beds, or plots, have many rows or furrows, there is no real difference between the meaning, and translators may render it in the most natural way for their own language.

A good model for this verse is:

• “Then another giant eagle with large wings and many feathers around its head appeared. And soon the vine twisted its roots and sent out its branches toward this eagle from the place where it was planted, so that this eagle could water it.

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 .