Then they will know that I am the LORD: The total destruction of Egypt and her allies who supported her will make the Egyptians recognize and acknowledge God. It will be helpful in some languages to make it explicit that the pronoun they refers to the Egyptians by rendering this clause as “Then the people of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh.”

When I have set fire to Egypt, and all her helpers are broken: These two clauses summarize the destruction of Egypt and her allies. The prophets often saw fire as the way God judges and punishes wicked nations (compare 20.47-48; 39.6; Amos 1.4). Although fire may refer to the way conquering armies burned the houses and crops of the people they defeated, I have set fire to Egypt is more likely a picture of God’s complete destruction of Egypt. All her helpers are the allies who came to help Egypt. The Hebrew word for broken can refer to breaking sticks or bones. Here it describes Egypt’s allies being “crushed” (New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version, Christian Community Bible), “shattered” (Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt), “destroyed” (King James Version / New King James Version). For languages that cannot use a passive construction here, all her helpers are broken may be rendered “I have destroyed all those who came to help her.”

Good News Translation and Bible en français courant reorder this verse by placing the first clause at the end. This is more natural in many languages. Another model that does this is:

• When I have set fire to Egypt and have destroyed all those who came to help her, then the people of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh.

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 .