I will make you a perpetual desolation: Having used the terms desolation and “waste” six times already in this chapter (see Ezek 35.3), God now says that the desolation of Edom will last forever. New International Reader’s Version renders this clause as “I will make your land empty forever,” and Contemporary English Version has “and your land will be in ruins forever.”

And your cities shall not be inhabited may be rendered “No one will live in your towns ever again” (Contemporary English Version). Some translations prefer an alternate reading that is found in the margin of the Hebrew text, which is “and your towns shall not be restored” (Anchor Bible; similarly King James Version). This reading is due to the fact that the spelling of the word in the text is very unusual, but a strange spelling does not justify changing a word that makes perfectly good sense.

Then you will know that I am the LORD: For this recognition formula, see Ezek 35.4. It is difficult to decide to whom the pronoun you refers. It may refer to the mountains of Seir/Edom, but here the Hebrew pronoun for you is plural, whereas all the previous references to Mount Seir have been singular. The plural may suggest that it refers to the people of Edom (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “You Edomites”), even though all the people have been killed and there is no one left in the land. Most commentators think it refers to the people, despite the logical inconsistency.

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 .