When she saw that she was baffled, that her hope was lost: As the Revised Standard Version footnote here shows, the Hebrew verb rendered baffled usually means “wait” (so Good News Translation), but in order to make sense of this verb, some translations extend its meaning to “wait in vain”; for example, New American Bible renders the first line of this verse as “Then she saw that in vain she had waited” (similarly Contemporary English Version). This rendering produces the meaning that the mother waited for her son to return from Egypt, but when he did not return, her hope was lost, that is, she lost hope that he would ever return and take his place as king in Jerusalem. But it is unclear whether the verb can mean “wait in vain.” If not, it is still possible to make sense of these two lines by taking the verb as a participle, saying “While she waited [for him to return], she saw that all hope [of that] was gone” (similarly Good News Translation, New Century Version, New American Standard Bible). This rendering fits the Hebrew grammar better than the other interpretation. But it is also possible that the Hebrew verb for baffled means “to despair,” which results in the following model for these two lines: “When she saw [that he would not return], she despaired and gave up all hope.” This model gives an equally good meaning as the second alternative, and translators may choose either of these.

She took another of her whelps and made him a young lion: Compare verse 3. After the lioness realized that her first cub would not return from exile in Egypt, she chose another of her cubs to take his place. Verse 3 refers to the natural process of a lion cub growing to maturity, but here the mother seems to have a more active role, that is, she took another cub and made him a mature lion. This points to the historical situation behind the parable, and translators will need to retain the unnaturalness of the parable. New Century Version provides a good model for these two lines, saying “So she took another one of her cubs and made him a strong lion.” Instead of another of her whelps, the Hebrew text reads “one of her whelps.” The idea of “another” cub fits this context better. For the confusion between the Hebrew word for another and the word for “one,” see the comments on 11.19.

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 .