The Edomites’ contempt extended further than the mountains and the land of Israel, but reached as far as God himself.

And you magnified yourselves against me with your mouth means they “spoke arrogantly” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “boasted proudly” (New Living Translation) against God. A good model for this clause is “You bragged that you were better than I am.”

And multiplied your words against me implies that they did not stop boasting like this and speaking against God. New International Reader’s Version says “You spoke against me. You did not hold anything back,” and Jerusalem Bible has “you have repeatedly slandered me.”

I heard it reinforces the fact that God knows what they said and has good reason to punish them.

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 .

I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant: Some scholars think the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field refer to fruit trees and other cultivated crops, but it is more likely that the Hebrew expressions here refer to food that grows in the wild, in contrast to the cultivated crops of verse 29. The increase of the field refers to any kind of food that grows wild in the bush.

That you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations: See the comments on verse 15 and 34.29. This clause may be rendered “So you will never again be ashamed in the eyes of other countries because you are starving to death.”

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 .

My servant David shall be king over them: For God’s promise to restore the Davidic kingship, see the comments on 34.23-24. In this verse God refers to David as king, but in 34.24 he used the term “prince.” In many languages it will not be possible to distinguish between these two terms. That is acceptable because the book of Ezekiel uses them almost interchangeably. Some translations make it clear that this clause does not refer to David literally returning from the dead to become king again; for example, Good News Translation says “A king like my servant David will be their king,” and Contemporary English Version has “Their king will always come from the family of my servant King David.”

And they shall all have one shepherd: For shepherd as a political leader, see the comments on 34.2. God stresses that there will be one king/shepherd for all the people, that is, the whole nation of Israel.

They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes: See the comments on 18.9. When the nation is fully restored under one king, the people will be able to obey Yahweh fully. Follow is literally “walk” (King James Version / New King James Version). Be careful to observe my statutes is better translated “obey my laws and do them.”

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 .

You shall fall in the open field repeats the threat that Gog and his armies will die. For fall see the previous verse. Here God adds the ominous detail that this will happen in the open field. Some languages say “in the bush.” This phrase carries the implied threat that no one will bury them. In the ancient world it was a very bad fate to remain unburied. Contemporary English Version renders this clause as “your dead bodies left lying in open fields.” Another possible model is “You will lie dead on the ground.”

For I have spoken, says the Lord GOD: This statement stresses that God himself has spoken the words of this prophecy. Says the Lord GOD is the solemn formal declaration that God is speaking. For the Lord GOD, see Ezek 39.1. Revised English Bible translates this whole statement as “for it is I who have spoken. This is the word of the Lord GOD.”

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 .

This verse summarizes the information in verse 7 (see the comments there) about the small rooms on each side of the east gatehouse and gives some additional information.

And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate: There were three small rooms on each side of the east gatehouse, making six in all.

The three were of the same size: All six rooms had the same size. According to verse 7, they were 3 meters (10 feet) by 3 meters (10 feet). This clause may be rendered “they were the same size as each other,” “each one was as big as the others,” or “all of the small rooms were 3 meters by 3 meters.”

And the jambs on either side were of the same size means the walls between the small rooms had the same thickness. According to verse 7, these walls were 2.5 meters (8 feet) thick. Good News Translation renders this clause as “and the walls between them were all of the same thickness,” and Contemporary English Version has “and the walls that separated them were the same thickness.”

If all of the information in this verse has been included in verse 7, it is acceptable not to repeat it here by combining the two verses. Good News Translation uses parentheses around this verse to indicate that it is not giving new information.

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 .

Then he said to me: Next Ezekiel’s angelic guide explained what the two buildings of rooms were used for.

The north chambers and the south chambers opposite the yard are the holy chambers: The north chambers and the south chambers refers to the blocks of rooms on each side of the Temple that Ezekiel has been describing in verses 1-12. The yard is the restricted area behind the Temple (see Ezek 42.1). The rooms were holy chambers, which may be translated “sacred rooms” (Contemporary English Version), “holy rooms” (New Century Version, Christian Community Bible, Complete Jewish Bible) “consecrated rooms” (Revised English Bible), or “rooms put aside for God.” Another way of rendering this phrase is “rooms of the sanctuary” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “sanctuary chambers” (New American Bible), where “sanctuary” refers to the Temple as a whole, not just its large main room or the Most Holy Place. For holy see the comments on 41.3-4.

Where the priests who approach the LORD shall eat the most holy offerings: These rooms were the places where the priests, that is, the people who conducted the sacred religious ceremonies (see 1.3), were to eat the most holy offerings. In the Jewish religious system of the Old Testament, people brought offerings of grain, birds, or animals to the Temple to ask God to forgive their sins or thank him for doing something for them. They burned some of these offerings on the altar, but sometimes the priests and the people were allowed to eat some of the food that the people brought. The book of Leviticus describes the rules for many of these offerings. The angelic guide describes the food that only the priests were allowed to eat as the most holy offerings, which may be rendered “the special offerings that people make to God.” He refers to the priests as those who approach the LORD, that is, they were allowed to “enter the LORD’s presence” (Good News Translation) in the Temple and “offer sacrifices to the LORD” (New Living Translation). They were the sons of Zadok who are mentioned in 40.45-46.

There they shall put the most holy offerings: The second function of these rooms was as storerooms where the priests put the offerings that the people brought before they offered them as sacrifices on the altar. The angelic guide gives the following list of the offerings:

1. The cereal offering (“grain offering” in New Revised Standard Version) was an offering of grain, not “meat” as King James Version says. It was mixed with incense and olive oil. This offering could be raw grain, finely ground grain, or grain made into cakes and then baked or fried. Instructions for this offering are found in Lev 2.1-16 and 6.14-23.
2. The sin offering was a sacrifice of a young bull, goat or sheep, or a pair of doves or pigeons (see the comments on 40.39).
3. The guilt offering was a sacrifice of a sheep or goat (see 40.39).

The Hebrew words for cereal offering, sin offering and guilt offering are singular, but they have a collective sense here, so they may be rendered “the offerings of grain [or, wheat] and flour, and the offerings of animals and birds that the people give so that God will forgive their sins and take away their guilt.”

For the place is holy: This verse ends by repeating that the rooms were holy. Since this has already been stated at the beginning of the verse, it is not necessary to say it again here (so Contemporary English Version).

A model for this verse is:

• Then he said to me, “The buildings of rooms on the north and south sides of the restricted area behind the Temple are rooms that are put aside for those who serve God. It is in them that the priests who go into God’s presence to offer sacrifices to God shall eat the special offerings that the people make to God. And there they will put [or, store] the offerings of grain and flour, and the offerings of animals and birds that the people give to God so that God will forgive their sins and take away their guilt. These buildings are for God’s service.

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 .

For verses 1-3 the Good News Translation heading is “The Use of the East Gate.” If translators prefer to follow the subsection breaks in Good News Translation, other possible titles are “Those who are allowed to use the east gate” and “Rules about the east gate.”

Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east: The pronoun he refers to Ezekiel’s angelic guide (see 40.3). Brought me back is literally “caused me to return.” The outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east refers to the east gateway of the Temple’s inner courtyard, where Ezekiel was when he saw the glory of the LORD come back into the Temple (43.1). In 43.5 God’s spirit had taken him into the inner courtyard to see the glory of the LORD in the Temple, and the phrase brought me back implies that he now returned to the same gate where he was before. The outer gate of the sanctuary does not refer to the doors of the Temple itself, but to the gateway into the inner courtyard around the Temple. The outer gate was the outer door of the gateway, the one that opened into the outer courtyard. Ezekiel was probably standing in the outer courtyard outside the east gateway to the inner courtyard. Contemporary English Version provides a helpful model for this clause, saying “The man took me back to the outer courtyard, near the east gate of the temple area.” Some translations follow a different interpretation and state that Ezekiel went back to “the east gateway in the outer wall of the Temple area” (New Living Translation; similarly New Century Version, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible), but we do not recommend this view.

And it was shut means the gateway was “closed” (Good News Translation), so that no one could go through it. This clause does not mean that the doors of the gateway were closed, because later we read that the leader of Israel was allowed to enter the gateway’s porch, but not go through the gateway to the inner courtyard (see Ezek 44.3 and 46.1-8). Ezekiel does not say how he knew it was shut; he never says that he saw that the doors were closed.

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 .