A sword shall come upon Egypt: Sword is used here to represent warfare (see the comments on 11.8), so Good News Translation renders this line as “There will be war in Egypt,” and New Century Version has “An enemy will attack Egypt.”
And anguish shall be in Ethiopia: The Hebrew word for anguish comes from a root meaning “writhe about.” It refers to extreme physical or emotional pain. In this context it is not clear which type of pain is meant. If the coming war will be confined to Egypt, the pain of the people of Ethiopia will be emotional, which the following translations express: “seized with trembling” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “tremble with fear” (New Century Version), “great distress” (Good News Translation), and “terror” (Jerusalem Bible). But verse 5 implies that the war will engulf Ethiopia as well, and many Ethiopians will be killed. In view of this it may be better to take anguish as physical pain, for example, New International Reader’s Version says “suffer terribly” (similarly Contemporary English Version), and New Living Translation has “be ravished.” For Ethiopia (“Cush” in Hebrew), which was just south of Egypt, see the comments on 29.10. In many languages it will not be natural to say that a country is suffering; only living beings can suffer. If so, translators may render this line as “and the people of Ethiopia will suffer terribly.”
When the slain fall in Egypt: The coming time of war will be a time when “Many in Egypt will be killed” (Good News Translation). Slain refers to people who are killed (compare 6.4).
And her wealth is carried away: During the war Egypt’s enemies will take away Egypt’s wealth, that is, everything of value. Some translations say “riches” (Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Christian Community Bible). However, it is possible that the Hebrew word for wealth does not refer to the valuable things in Egypt, but to the people (so King James Version with “multitude” and Moffatt with “teeming folk”; see also the comments on 29.19). Either interpretation is acceptable. If the receptor language requires an active clause with an agent, translators may say “and the enemies carry away her people [or, wealth].”
And her foundations are torn down means Egypt will be totally destroyed, “left in ruins” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). The term foundations is used figuratively here because the country of Egypt does not have literal foundations, and foundations are normally in the ground and so cannot be torn down. Translators may use a related image here, saying “and it will be torn down to its foundations,” or they may use a nonfigurative expression, such as “and it will be totally destroyed.”
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 .