And brought me in the visions of God into the land of Israel: For brought me, which is repeated from the end of verse 1, see the comments there. For in the visions of God, see 8.3. Revised English Bible says “In a vision from God.” Into the land of Israel makes explicit where God took Ezekiel. For this whole clause New International Reader’s Version has “In visions God gave me, he brought me to the land of Israel.”

And set me down upon a very high mountain does not mean God dropped Ezekiel from a height onto a mountain. Set me down may be rendered “put me down” (New Century Version). Although the only high mountain in the Jerusalem area was Mount Zion, on which Jerusalem was built, Ezekiel does not mention the name of the mountain, and translators will do well not to identify it either.

On which was a structure like a city before me: Ezekiel saw a large number of buildings that looked like a city on the same mountain where he was standing. Before me means these buildings were in front of him. However, the Hebrew actually says “to the south” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible), which refers to the direction that Ezekiel was looking. This is the better reading, and most modern translations follow it (compare 8.3, where God put Ezekiel down on the north side of the Temple). A model for this clause and the previous one is “and he put me down on a very high mountain, and [as I looked] toward the south there was a group of buildings that looked like a city.”

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 .