And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel: Egypt will never be strong enough again so that Israel can rely on it for help. New International Version renders reliance as “source of confidence,” but most translations use a verb such as “trust [in]” (New International Reader’s Version, Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible), “depend on” (Good News Translation), or “rely on” (Moffatt). For the house of Israel, see Ezek 29.6. In the past Israel used to turn to Egypt for help against its enemies, even though Egypt failed them (see verses 6-7). From now on, “Israel will no longer be tempted to trust in Egypt for help” (New Living Translation; similarly Christian Community Bible). Other possible models for this clause are “Israel will never turn to Egypt for help again” and “Never again will Egypt be the country that Israel asks for help.”

Recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid means that the fate of Egypt “will be a reminder of their [the Israelites’] sin in turning to her [Egypt] for help” (New International Version), that is, when Egypt is weak and powerless, it “will remind Israel how wrong it was to rely on them [the Egyptians]” (Good News Translation). When they turn to them for aid is literally “in their turning after them.” The Hebrew clause here probably refers to the past times when Israel wanted Egypt to help (so New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, New King James Version , New American Standard Bible, New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). So New Revised Standard Version provides a better model with “when they turned to them for aid.” However, the Hebrew clause here could refer to the future when Israel is again tempted to turn to Egypt for assistance (so Revised Standard Version, King James Version, English Standard Version, Christian Community Bible). Translators can follow either interpretation, but the first one is preferable. As in verse 15, this verse uses the pronoun it for Egypt, and the pronoun them for the Egyptians. Translators need to be careful to make sure that the identity of the participants is clear in their translations. New Century Version renders the first half of this verse clearly, saying “The Israelites will never again depend on Egypt. Instead, Egypt’s punishment will remind the Israelites of their sin in turning to Egypt for help.”

Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD: The third round of prophecy against Egypt and the prophecy as a whole ends with this familiar recognition formula (compare verse 9). It is uncertain to whom the pronoun they refers. There are two third person pronouns immediately before this clause, one referring to the Israelites, the other referring to the Egyptians. Many English translations leave the identity of the pronoun they ambiguous (so Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version). A few make it clear that it refers to the people of Egypt (so New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), but others make explicit their understanding that it refers to the Israelites (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, Christian Community Bible, Allen). It is impossible to decide this matter for sure, but in the context we think it refers to the Egyptians.

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 .