In this verse God continues to describe how he will punish the Egyptian Pharaoh.

I will put hooks in your jaws: In the ancient world soldiers used to put hooks through the cheeks of prisoners of war they had captured (see the comments on 19.4). Then they tied the hooks together with ropes so that they could lead the prisoners away in a long column without the prisoners escaping. These hooks were probably incomplete metal rings with a sharp point so that they could be threaded sideways through a person’s cheeks. But such a hook can’t be attached to a crocodile in the same way as to a person, so if the creature looked like a crocodile, the hooks may have been pushed upward through its jaws (at least the lower jaw, and probably the upper jaw or snout as well to keep the crocodile’s jaws shut). However, since this is picture language, describing both Pharaoh and the monster or crocodile, translators may use terms that describe either method of inserting the hooks. Translators may need to make the function of the hooks clear by saying “I will put hooks [or, metal rings] through your jaws so I can pull you along.”

And make the fish of your streams stick to your scales: The fish of your streams refers to the fish in the Nile River and all the waterways of the Nile Delta. God will cause them to stick to the scales of the monster or crocodile. The text does not say how the fish will stick to the creature, but it is clear that they will not do so voluntarily. It will be as if they are stuck there with glue, unable to get away. The reference to scales shows that the prophecy does not refer to a real crocodile. Although crocodile skin is segmented and may look a bit like scales, crocodiles do not have scales like fish. However, if translators have previously described the creature as a “monster,” it is quite acceptable to use scales because they are not describing a real animal. If scales are unknown, translators may use the term “skin.” For your streams, see the previous verse. Translators may render this clause as “and I will attach the fish of your streams to your scales” (similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) or “and I will make the fish of your streams stick to your scales.”

And I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams, with all the fish of your streams which stick to your scales: This second half of the verse simply repeats the ideas of the first half. I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams means God will “drag … out” (New Living Translation), “haul … up” (Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Moffatt), “pull … out” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible) the monster from the Nile River and the waterways of its delta. This clause pictures God dragging the creature out of the water by pulling on a rope tied to the hooks in its jaws. One model for this last half of the verse is “I will pull you and all the fish attached to your scales out from the streams.”

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 .