For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare: For the Hebrew word rendered jealousy, see 36.5; for my blazing wrath, which is literally “the fire of my wrath,” see 21.31. A good model for these two expressions is “my great and burning anger.” The Hebrew verb translated declare is past tense (compare New King James Version “have spoken” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “have decreed”). The past tense does not mean that God said it previously, but rather it emphasizes the definiteness of his statement. English speakers can use the present tense in this way, and the tone of the voice will show the emphasis. But such emphasis cannot be shown in writing, so some translations have used verbs such as “promise” (New Living Translation) and “swear” (Revised English Bible, New American Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) to reflect the emphasis. “Swear” (as in swear an oath) is a particularly good rendering here because the next word in Hebrew is a normal part of an oath formula. King James Version and New King James Version render this next word “Surely,” but Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation omit it. A good model for the beginning of this verse that reflects this word is “In my extreme hot anger I say it: I swear that on that day…” (similarly Jerusalem Bible). Contemporary English Version omits the word declare by saying simply “and in my anger I will send….” Contemporary English Version relies on the reader to put in the appropriate emphasis. However, this approach carries a danger of the meaning not being clear and is therefore undesirable.

On that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel: On that day refers to the same day as that mentioned in verse 18. The Hebrew expression for a great shaking is better rendered “a great earthquake” (New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version), as in 3.12, or “a severe earthquake” (Good News Translation). An “earthquake” is when the ground shakes so much that it causes buildings to fall down and landslides to occur on hillsides. Most languages will have terms for this. It seems the earthquake will be restricted to the land of Israel, but the next verse implies that people in other countries all over the world will feel it too.

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 .