And the vision I saw was like the vision which I had seen when he came to destroy the city …: Ezekiel compares this vision, that is, what he was seeing, with the earlier visions that he recorded in chapters 1–3 and 8–11. In all three visions Ezekiel saw the glory of God moving about, although in each case it was moving in a different place or in a different direction. The vision which I had seen when he came to destroy the city refers to the vision in chapters 8–11, where Ezekiel saw people practicing idolatry in the Temple (chapter 8) and God punishing Jerusalem and leaving the city (chapters 9–11). The city refers to “Jerusalem” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation). Ezekiel does not name it here; translators do not need to either unless doing so will help their readers. The pronoun he refers to God, which Good News Translation makes clear. However, instead of when he came to destroy the city, the Hebrew text actually reads “when I came to destroy the city” (King James Version / New King James Version, Complete Jewish Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; similarly Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible). It is hard to see how Ezekiel destroyed the city, but he may have thought that, just by being there in the vision, he was part of the destruction. Although Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends keeping the pronoun I, it is acceptable for translators to follow the majority of translations and change the reference to God.

And like the vision which I had seen by the river Chebar: This vision refers to the vision at the beginning of the book (chapters 1–3). The Hebrew here is literally “and the visions were like the vision that I had seen by the river Chebar” (similarly King James Version, New American Standard Bible, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). This is a cumbersome expression, and the plural word “visions” probably is a strong form that means “great and wonderful vision,” as in 8.3 (see the comments there). For the river Chebar, see the comments on 1.1. A model for this clause is “and [it was] a great vision that was like the vision I saw by the canal called Chebar.”

And I fell upon my face: See the comments on 1.28.

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 .