Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden?: This prophecy began with a rhetorical question to the king of Egypt in verse 2 (see the comments there), and that question is repeated and expanded here. Glory refers to the honor, power and importance of a person, although here the picture of the trees still applies. For the trees of Eden, see Ezek 31.9. In many languages it will be necessary to make it clear that God is addressing the Egyptian king here. One model that does this is “So, Pharaoh, as far as honor and greatness are concerned, which of the trees from the garden of Eden are you like?”

You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the nether world: This sentence and the next one summarize the punishment described in verses 15-17. You shall be brought down is literally “you will be caused to go down.” For those languages that do not have passive verbs, it is acceptable to have God as the subject here by saying “I will cause you to go down,” or translators may say “you will go down” (New Century Version). For the nether world, see verse 14.

You shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword: The Egyptian king will be in the lowest part of the underworld, where the uncircumcised people who have died are located. Lie reflects the position of a corpse. For the significance of being uncircumcised, see the comments on 28.10. In this context possible renderings for this term are “ungodly” (Good News Translation), “godless” (Contemporary English Version), “outcasts” (New Living Translation), “[ritually] unclean” (New Century Version), and “most shameful.” Those who are slain by the sword (see the previous verse) refers to a group that is different from the uncircumcised, and most translations will link the two groups with the conjunction “and” by rendering this sentence as “Your body will lie there among the most shameful people and those who have died in war.”

This is Pharaoh and all his multitude: Up to this point, the prophecy has maintained the picture of the cedar tree, although at some points, as we have seen, the picture is strained, and God talks about the tree as if it were a human being. In verse 3 the tree was identified as the nation of Assyria, but here in the dramatic climax of the prophecy, God changes the application of the picture by focusing on Egypt. Translators will do well if they can keep this dramatic climax. Models that do this are “All these things that happened to Assyria will happen to the Egyptian king and his people” and “All these things that happened to Assyria I will do to the king of Egypt and his people.” Good News Translation is also good by beginning the verse with “The tree is the king of Egypt and all his people.” New Century Version is similar with “This is about the king of Egypt and all his people.” For Pharaoh and all his multitude, see Ezek 31.2.

Says the Lord GOD: This solemn pronouncement emphasizes that God speaks these words. For the Lord GOD, see verse 10. This clause may be rendered “The Lord Yahweh says this.”

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 .