Moreover renders an emphatic Hebrew connector that adds something to the previous verse. Although Good News Translation omits this connector, it may be rendered “In addition,” “As well as that,” “even,” or “Also” (New International Version, New Century Version, New American Standard Bible, New American Bible).

I gave them my sabbaths: One of the laws that God gave to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai was the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy (see Exo 20.8-11; Deut 5.12-15). The sabbath is the seventh day of the week, Saturday. For all Jews it is a day of rest, on which they worship God and do no work. Keeping the Sabbath was one of the most distinctive characteristics of the Jews in the ancient world. Sabbaths is plural since it is an habitual day, but it may be rendered “Sabbath” (Good News Translation) for naturalness. However, sabbath can be difficult to translate, because it is sometimes used as the name of one of the days of the week. One common translation is “day of rest,” so a model for this whole clause is “I gave them the commandment about keeping the day of rest for me [or, to worship/honor me].”

As a sign between me and them: God identifies the Sabbath commandment as “a sign of the agreement” (Good News Translation) between the Israelites and him, reminding them that they belonged to him.

But God says that this commandment had another function: that they might know that I the LORD sanctify them. This means that God gave the Sabbath commandment so that the people would remember that he chose them and set them apart to be his people. The Hebrew word for sanctify has the sense of setting something apart for a special purpose. Translators have to be careful not to use a word that means taboo or something forbidden. This clause may be rendered “so that they would know that I, Yahweh, was the one who set them apart to be my people.”

A model for this verse is:

• In addition to that, I gave them the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy for me [or, keep the day of rest to honor me]. This commandment was the sign of our agreement, showing that they were my people. When they kept the commandment, they would know that I, Yahweh, was the one who made them holy [or, set them apart to be my people].

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 .