Translation commentary on Ezekiel 37:20

When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes: Revised Standard Version takes this verse as a temporal clause (so also New Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), but most translations take it as another command from God; for example, Contemporary English Version has “Hold these two sticks where they can be seen by everyone” (similarly Good News Translation, New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Moffatt, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). It is best to take it as a command. Before their eyes may be rendered “so the people can see them” (New Century Version). New International Reader’s Version provides a helpful model for this verse, saying “Show them the sticks you wrote on.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 39:1

God continues to speak here from the end of chapter 38. Some languages may need to identify the speaker at this point; for example, Contemporary English Version begins this verse with “The LORD said,” even though the Hebrew does not do so.

And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog: God addresses Ezekiel again, giving him another message for Gog. The inclusion of And you adds some emphasis to God’s address to the prophet, but most translations do not bother to reflect it (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). For son of man (International Children’s Bible “Human being”), Prophesy against Gog means Ezekiel must give God’s message of warning to Gog (see 4.7). Contemporary English Version renders this clause as “Ezekiel, son of man, condemn Gog,” and Good News Translation says “Mortal man, denounce Gog.”

And say is still part of God’s command to Ezekiel. It may be rendered “and this is what you must say.”

Thus says the Lord GOD: This prophetic formula gives weight to the following words by stressing that they are the words of God. Lord renders the Hebrew word ʾadonai, and GOD renders “Yahweh” (YHWH in Hebrew).

Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: Behold renders the emphatic Hebrew word hinneh. Here it highlights the following message concerning God’s defeat of Gog. I am against you is a common expression in Ezekiel when God is about to judge people (see the comments on 5.8). Here it may be rendered “I am your enemy” (New Living Translation). For O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, see the comments on 38.2-3. As in chapter 38, Good News Translation changes to indirect speech here.

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 .

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 40:4

And the man said to me: In the vision the man shining like polished metal spoke to Ezekiel.

For Son of man (International Children’s Bible “Human being”),

Look with your eyes, and hear with your ears is an emphatic way of saying “watch and listen” (compare 12.2). Translators should not follow the Hebrew idioms here too closely, since these idioms can sound absurd if rendered literally, but they should try to find appropriately emphatic terms in their own languages. Revised English Bible has “look closely and listen carefully.”

And set your mind upon all that I shall show you: Set your mind upon may be rendered “pay close attention to” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation) or “note well” (Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). All that I shall show you refers to everything that the man shows to Ezekiel in the Temple area, as it is described in the next few chapters.

For you were brought here in order that I might show it to you: God brought Ezekiel to Jerusalem, so that the man could show him the new Temple. New Century Version renders this clause simply as “that’s why you have been brought here” (similarly Contemporary English Version), and New International Reader’s Version has “That is why the LORD brought you here.”

Declare all that you see to the house of Israel: After seeing everything, Ezekiel must describe it all to the people of Israel. For the house of Israel, that is, “the people of Israel” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version), see the comments on 3.1. This sentence may be rendered “Tell the people of Israel everything you see.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 40:39 - 40:40

And in the vestibule of the gate were two tables on either side … And on the outside of the vestibule at the entrance of the north gate were two tables; and on the other side of the vestibule of the gate were two tables: Here Ezekiel refers to eight tables. There were four tables in the vestibule of the gate, that is, in the porch of the north gatehouse. Two tables on either side means there were two tables on the left and two tables on the right as Ezekiel entered the porch through the doorway from the outer courtyard. On the outside of the vestibule at the entrance … were two tables; and on the other side of the vestibule … were two tables means that outside the porch in the outer courtyard, there were two tables on either side of the doorway. Ezekiel does not say what these tables were made of. It is most likely that they were made of wood.

In verse 40 the first occurrence of the word vestibule is not in the Hebrew text (see Revised Standard Version footnote). Those translations that read vestibule or “porch” (New Century Version) have changed the Hebrew slightly to get that meaning. The Hebrew actually reads “to the one going up” or “as one goes up,” which reflects the way Ezekiel approached the gateway. The vestibule at the entrance of the north gate may be rendered “as one goes up to the entrance of the north gate” or “as I went up to the entrance of the north gate.” Some translations understand the Hebrew here to refer to the “steps” (Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New International Reader’s Version) or “stairs” (New Living Translation, Moffatt) that were mentioned in verse 37 and led from the outer courtyard up to the north gatehouse; for example, New International Version says “near the steps at the entrance to the north gateway.” This is an acceptable model.

In these verses Ezekiel focuses again on the north gate, even though, as we have suggested, all the inner gates were the same. Unless it is awkward in their language to do so, translators will probably find it easier to do the same. It may be necessary in some languages to include a phrase to make this clear, for example, “as I was looking at the north gateway.”

On which the burnt offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering were to be slaughtered is the purpose of the eight tables. They were the places where the priests prepared the animals that they were about to sacrifice to God on the altar. In verses 42-43 Ezekiel describes four stone tables, which were probably the tables on which the animals were actually killed (see the comments on those verses). What happened on the eight tables in verses 40-41 was still part of the slaughtering process, but since the actual killing of the animals took place on the stone tables, it is better to refer to what the priests did on these tables as “preparing” the sacrifices. Were to be slaughtered is a passive verb that in some languages will need to be active with an agent, as in “the tables where they [or, the priests] prepared the animals that they were sacrificing to God.”

Ezekiel mentions three types of sacrifice: burnt offering, sin offering, and guilt offering. For burnt offering, see verse 38. A sin offering was a sacrifice to cleanse people from unintentional sins, so that God would forgive them (see Lev 4.1–5.13). Translators may say “offering people made to God so he would forgive them for their sins.” A guilt offering was similar to a sin offering, but it involved an element of restitution, or repaying the debt a person had incurred (see Lev 5.14–6.7; 7.1-10). Guilt refers to a feeling or sense of responsibility or regret for having done something wrong. There are cultures where it is not known or where the concept of shame is more common. In these cultures translators may render guilt offering as “offering to show that people were sorry for what they had done.” Other possible renderings are “offering for the repayment of sins” and “offering to pay a penalty for sins.”

A model for the last half of verse 39 is:

• On these [tables] the priests prepared the animals that the people gave to God to be completely burnt on the altar, and those that they gave so that God would forgive their sins and take away their guilt [or, shame].

In those cultures where sacrifices are unknown, it may not be necessary to distinguish between these different types of offering. If so, translators may say simply “On these tables the priests prepared animal meat that the people were giving to God to honor him” or “On these tables the animals that were about to be sacrificed to God were made ready for the sacrifice.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 42:6

For they were in three stories, and they had no pillars …: Ezekiel explains why the building was narrower at the top than at the bottom. His argument is obscure, but he seems to be saying that the upper stories had to be set back from the lower ones, because the balconies of the upper stories had no pillars to support them. Normally, the balconies of a three-story building would overhang the wall of the building and would therefore need posts of some sort to hold them up. They were in three stories means the rooms were three stories high. This repeats the information of verse 3, but here it focuses attention on the architectural construction of the building. Since it was normal that multistory buildings with balconies had pillars, that is, “supporting columns” (New Living Translation), to hold up the balconies, Ezekiel notes the unusual feature of this building, namely, that it had no pillars. Pillars are stone columns or wooden posts that hold up a roof, veranda, or balcony.

Like the pillars of the outer court: Apparently the rooms that were against the wall around the outer courtyard had pillars that supported their roofs, even though Ezekiel did not mention them (see 40.17). But it was not just those rooms that had pillars, because the Hebrew here actually says “like the pillars/columns of the courts/courtyards” (New Century Version, New King James Version , New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version; similarly New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, King James Version, Revised English Bible, Complete Jewish Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). So we must assume that buildings in both courtyards of the Temple had pillars holding up their roofs or verandas. That may be why the lack of pillars on this building was unusual, and Ezekiel had to mention it specifically.

Hence the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones: This sentence repeats the conclusion of Ezekiel’s argument. Hence renders a strong Hebrew expression that may be rendered “therefore” (King James Version, New American Standard Bible) or “That is why” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones means the rooms on the top story were narrower than the rooms on the two stories below. The higher from the ground the rooms were, the narrower they were.

A model for this verse is:

• This [namely, the higher stories being narrower than the lower stories] was because the building had three stories, but there were no posts [holding up the balconies] like [the other buildings] in the courtyards. That was why the top story was narrower than the middle and bottom stories. The rooms became smaller the higher they went.

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 .

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 43:24

You shall present them before the LORD: God tells Ezekiel to bring the bull and ram to the Temple as an offering. For the Hebrew verb rendered present, which is literally “bring near,” see verse 22, where it is translated “offer.” Since the LORD is speaking here, it is appropriate to refer to him in the first person; for example, Good News Translation says “and bring them to me,” and Contemporary English Version has “and bring them to my temple.” Another possible model is “and bring them to me, Yahweh.”

And the priests shall sprinkle salt upon them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD: These two clauses make the role of the priests explicit (compare verse 22). In the ancient world people put salt on meat and other food to preserve it and stop it going bad, so salt became a symbol for something that will last for a very long time. The priests put it on the sacrifices to symbolize the unbreakable covenant between God and his people (see Lev 2.13; Num 18.19; 2 Chr 13.5). Here it seems that the priests put the salt on the animals before they kill them. Sprinkle renders a general Hebrew word, meaning “throw” (New Revised Standard Version, New Century Version, New King James Version , New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, Complete Jewish Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). This word probably indicates that they must throw handfuls of salt over the animals. For burnt offering, see 40.38. A model for these two clauses is “Then the priests must throw salt on the animals and burn them completely as sacrifices to please me.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 44:29

If the priests will not own any land on which to grow food, then how will they live? Verses 29-30 provide the answer to this question.

They shall eat the cereal offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering: The priests’ food will be all the food sacrifices that the people bring to offer to God. For cereal offering, sin offering and guilt offering, see the comments on 40.39 and 42.13.

And every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs: Every devoted thing refers to things that belong only to God and can never be used for any other purpose. In describing these things, translators may focus either on the fact that they are totally set apart for God, that is, they belong only to God, or the fact that no one else, apart from the priests, is allowed to use them (compare New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “Everything proscribed”).

A model for this verse is:

• They will eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the repayment offerings that people give to God. All the things the people have set aside for God will be theirs.

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 .

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 46:15

Thus the lamb and the meal offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering: This verse summarizes the previous two verses. Meal offering renders the same Hebrew term translated “cereal offering” in verse 14. A model for this verse is:

• Every morning they [or, the priests] will sacrifice a lamb, some flour, and some olive oil. They will burn them as a sacrifice to me [Yahweh] every day without fail.

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 .