Faced with the danger of the Babylonian army and the lack of guidance from God, all the Israelites will be in distress.
The king mourns: The king of Judah will mourn, because his land will be destroyed and he will lose his position and perhaps even his life. New Century Version says “The king will cry greatly.”
The prince is wrapped in despair: It is not certain who the prince is because Ezekiel normally uses the Hebrew word for prince to refer to the king. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch takes it in this way and applies the first two clauses of this verse to the same person. Other translators think that the first clause about the king is an explanation included by a later scribe and omit it (so New American Bible). However, it is best to understand the Hebrew word for prince to mean the king’s “officials” (Contemporary English Version) here. The prince probably does not refer to one specific official, but to all the king’s officials, so translators may say “the officials” or “an official.” They will be wrapped in despair, which pictures them as wearing despair like a coat. They will give up hope. Contemporary English Version provides a helpful model for the first two clauses of this verse, saying “Even your king and his officials will lose hope and cry in despair.”
And the hands of the people of the land are palsied by terror: Many translations take the hands of the people literally and render the Hebrew verb here as palsied, “paralyzed” (English Standard Version), “tremble” (Contemporary English Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), or “shake” (New Century Version). Although the phrase by terror is not in the Hebrew text, Revised Standard Version adds it as the reason for the paralysis. New Century Version adds “with fear” as the reason for the trembling. This clause depicts a situation where the people will be so afraid that they will not be able to move or they will be shaking. But the hands of the people is a figure of speech for “the strength of the people” or simply “the people” (Good News Translation). The people of the land may refer to “the country people” (New Jerusalem Bible), that is, those who lived in the country areas and not in the city, or it may refer more generally to “the common people” (New American Bible), that is, those who were not included in the group of the king and his officials. Either interpretation is acceptable. This clause may be rendered “and the common [or, country] people will shake with fear.”
According to their way I will do to them, and according to their own judgments I will judge them: God threatens to punish the Israelites in the same way that they have treated others. He will judge and condemn them with the same sort of judgments that they used to get rid of their opponents. As a result, they cannot claim that God is being unfair toward them. New Century Version provides a good model here, saying “I will punish them for the way they have lived. The way they have judged others is the way I will judge them.”
And they shall know that I am the LORD: See Ezek 7.4. For the LORD, which renders God’s name “Yahweh” (New Jerusalem Bible), see Ezek 7.1.
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 .