They make themselves bald for you: For this mourning rite see 7.18. They make themselves bald may be rendered “they cut off their hair” (Revised English Bible) or “They shave their heads” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version).
And gird themselves with sackcloth may be translated “and they put on rough cloth to show they are upset” (New Century Version). See the comments on 7.18.
The sailors from the other ships (that is, the people from the cities around Tyre) do these things to express their sorrow about what happens to Tyre. Many translators will find it helpful for readers if they make it clear why the sailors are behaving in this way; for example, they may render verses 30b-31a as “To show they are in mourning, they throw dust on their heads and roll around in ashes. 31 They shave their heads and put on very rough cloth to show how distressed they are.”
And they weep over you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning: Weep may be rendered “cry” (New Century Version). Bitterness of soul is a Hebrew idiom describing very deep sorrow. Soul (nefesh in Hebrew) should not be translated in a way that refers to a person’s immortal soul (see the comments on 3.19). Bitterness and bitter translate the same Hebrew word rendered “bitterly” in verse 30. The repetition of this word shows the extremely deep sorrow that these mourners are expressing over the fall of Tyre. Most languages will have various terms to express the way people cry and show deep sorrow when something bad has happened to them. Translators should choose the strongest terms they can find for this verse. Although the repetition in this verse is effective in stressing the great sorrow being shown, it is acceptable to use a single term if it is very strong; for example, Contemporary English Version renders these two lines as “as they cry in despair.” Another possible model is “They weep over you in deep sorrow. They mourn for you bitterly.”
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 .