And I will cast you forth into the wilderness: After pulling the creature out of the Nile River, God threatens to throw it into the desert. The Hebrew here actually says “And I will leave/abandon you in the desert” (similarly New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible). This implies that God will take the creature out into the desert and leave it there, so many translations use verbs that have the sense of “throwing away” (for example, “throw” [Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version], “cast” [Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, New American Bible], “fling” [New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Moffatt], and “drop” [Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible]). If possible, it is best for translators to choose verbs that mean both “abandon” and “throw away.” They may render this clause as “I will carry you out into the desert and leave you there.” The wilderness refers to the desert area of Egypt, where no rain falls, where nothing grows and no one lives (see 6.14).

You and all the fish of your streams refers to the creature and all the fish that are sticking to it (see the previous verse). Good News Translation combines this line with the previous one, saying “I will throw you and all those fish into the desert.” Other languages may find this model helpful.

You shall fall upon the open field does not mean that God will drop the creature from high in the air, nor that it will stumble and fall down to the ground. Rather, this clause refers to the way it will die. It will die in the open. Good News Translation says “Your body will fall on the ground,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “You shall be left lying in the open.” Another possible model is “I will leave you lying [to die] on the ground [or, in the open].”

And not be gathered and buried: Because the creature will die in the open, no one will come to pick up the body and bury it. To die unburied was considered one of the worst things that could happen to a person. For languages that do not use passive verbs, this line may be rendered “and no one will come take your body to bury it.” Instead of not be gathered and buried, the Hebrew text has “not be collected and gathered” (Anchor Bible). The focus of the two synonymous Hebrew verbs here is clearly for burial in this context, so the second one may be rendered “buried.”

To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the air I have given you as food: Since the body of the creature will not be buried, it will lie in the open until animals and birds come and eat it. The beasts of the earth refers to the animals that live on the ground, and the birds of the air refers to the birds that fly in the sky. Translators need not be so specific, but should use the normal words in their language for “animals” and “birds” (so Good News Translation). Some translations usefully specify beasts of the earth as “wild animals” (Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible), but this distinction should only be made if the language demands it. Good News Translation helpfully reorders this sentence by saying “I will give it [your body] to the birds and animals for food.”

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 .