Therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand against you …: In this verse God says he will punish the Ammonites for rejoicing over the downfall of Israel. The Hebrew particle hinneh rendered behold highlights this punishment (see Ezek 25.4). I have stretched out my hand against you means God has begun to use his power to punish the Ammonites (see 6.14 for this figurative expression). The past tense here shows that the punishment has already begun or will begin very soon. Translators may say “I have used my power against you” or “with all my strength I have taken action against you.” A model for this whole clause is “So pay attention, because I have begun to act.”

And will hand you over as spoil to the nations means God will give the Ammonites into the power of other nations (compare verse 4). The Hebrew word for spoil (“booty” in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; “plunder” in New International Version) refers to the things of value that soldiers take from the people they defeat in war. New Century Version renders this clause as “I will give you to the nations as if you were treasures taken in war.”

And I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you: These three clauses take the punishment of verses 4-5 further by predicting the total destruction of the Ammonite nation. I will cut you off from the peoples means God will remove or destroy them as a nation. Good News Translation says “I will destroy you so completely that you will not be a nation any more,” New Living Translation has “I will cut you off from being a nation,” New Jerusalem Bible uses “I shall … obliterate you as a nation,” and Allen translates “I will eliminate you as a people.” Make you perish out of the countries means they will never be an independent country again. Good News Translation says “you will not … have a country of your own,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “wipe you out as a country.” I will destroy you is an emphatic climax to the prophecy. The Hebrew verb rendered destroy is a very strong word that refers to total annihilation and destruction (see 14.9).

Then you will know that I am the LORD: For this recognition formula, see Ezek 25.5.

A model for verses 6-7 is:

• 6 “I the Lord Yahweh also say: You have clapped your hands and stamped your feet in joy. In your hatred for the land of Israel you have been happy at what has happened to it. 7 Because you have done this, look, I am acting strongly against you. I will give you to other nations, you will be the valuable things they take when they win in war. I will destroy you as a nation so you will not be a country again. I will destroy you completely. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”

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 .