In the midst of the four living creatures there was something that looked like burning coals of fire: Instead of In the midst of, the Hebrew has “And the likeness of.” Revised Standard Version follows the Septuagint here (so also New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New American Standard Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible). This change is not necessary. In Hebrew this whole clause reads literally “And the likeness of the creatures, their appearance [was] like burning coals of fire.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh treats the first phrase as a summary of the previous verses, saying “Such then was the appearance of the creatures. With them was something that looked like burning coals of fire.” In King James Version it introduces the rest of the verse as follows: “As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire.” The use of both “likeness” and “appearance” in the Hebrew text simply reflects how hard it was for Ezekiel to describe adequately what he saw. If possible, translations should emphasize strongly the vagueness of what Ezekiel saw. Nevertheless, it would be satisfactory to follow New Century Version here, which says “The living creatures looked like burning coals of fire,” although Revised English Bible captures the vagueness a little better with “The appearance of the creatures was as if fire from burning coals.” The idea that there was something In the midst of the four creatures arose as a result of some translators reading the wrong word in the Hebrew text. In fact, it was the four creatures themselves that looked like burning coals of fire, not something in the middle of them. The creatures reminded Ezekiel of red hot coals, glowing brightly, with flames still coming from the coals.

Like torches: The creatures also reminded him of torches or fire sticks. These are long poles with pitch on the end, or rags soaked in oil wrapped around the top. When set alight on a dark night, the flames shoot up brightly. It was this brightness and flashing of flames that impressed Ezekiel as he saw the creatures.

According to the Hebrew text, the fire, not the torches, was moving to and fro among the living creatures. It was like sparks flying between them. The flames were “darting to and fro” (Revised English Bible), “darting backwards and forwards” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “zigzagging” (Brownlee) among the creatures. And the fire was bright or “radiant” (Revised English Bible) all the time, not just when it blazed up, as Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version imply. And this fire was as bright as lightning, because out of the fire went forth lightning, that is, lightning flashed from it.

A possible model for this verse is:

• In appearance, the creatures looked fiery, like glowing, red hot coals, like fire sticks. Fire was darting to and fro among the creatures. It was very bright and lightning was flashing out of it.

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 .

Behold renders the Hebrew word hinneh, which is here used as an attention-getter.

I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads: The Hebrew has a play on words here between verse 7 and this verse. The Israelites are described as having “a hard forehead” in verse 7, and now God promises to make Ezekiel’s face hard and his forehead hard, so that he can stand up against them. Translations of this verse need to contain some of the same words that were used in verse 7 to describe the Israelites. Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and New Century Version use “stubborn” in both verses, New International Version has “hardened” in both verses, and New Jerusalem Bible uses both “obstinate” and “defiant” in both verses. It is important to connect the two verses together in this way.

It is also important that the word or words chosen do not only have a bad sense. That would make it sound as if God was punishing Ezekiel by making him as bad as the other Israelites. The word or words must have a bad sense when used of the Israelites in verse 7, but have a neutral or good sense when used of Ezekiel in this verse. If that is not possible, it is appropriate to use a positive word with a similar meaning, as Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (1982) has done by rendering verses 7b-8 as follows: “They are obstinate and stubborn. 8 But I am making you tough and uncompromising like them.” In such a case, it would be important to include words such as “like them” or “as they are” (Good News Translation) to make sure that there is a close connection. Or translators may render this verse as follows:

• Look, I am going to make your stubbornness and toughness equal to 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 .

Then he said to me …: In response to Ezekiel’s protest in verse 14, God responds here with a small concession.

See does not carry its full semantic weight of “look at,” and some versions omit it (so Contemporary English Version). However, many render it as “Very well” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) or “Good” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch; similarly Bible en français courant) to show that God agreed to Ezekiel’s request not to bake the bread in the ashes of human manure. “All right,” “Well then,” and “Okay” are other possible renderings. For the sake of naturalness, languages with particles that indicate assent should use them here.

I will let you have cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread: God allows Ezekiel to use cow’s dung, that is, cow manure, to bake the bread. God makes no other concession, and Ezekiel must still cook the bread in the ashes of the cow manure. Cooking the food in this way would not make Ezekiel ritually unclean, so Ezekiel does not protest any further. Translators may say “I will let you use cow manure instead of human manure to use for fuel for baking your bread.”

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 .

And you shall know that I am the LORD: The theme of the recognition and acknowledgment of God because of what he does appears once again (compare verses 7 and 10). The Hebrew pronoun for you is plural, referring to the mountains and other areas of Israel that were addressed at the beginning of the chapter. God continues to speak as if the land of Israel can see and understand what was happening. However, Good News Translation renders this pronoun as “everyone.”

When their slain lie among their idols round about their altars …: The mountains and other areas of Israel will acknowledge God when he has punished the Israelites, as described in verses 4-7. Their slain refers to the corpses of the unfaithful Israelites (see Ezek 6.7). For idols and altars, see the comments on Ezek 6.4.

These altars were on prominent landmarks throughout the land: upon every high hill, on all the mountain tops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak. Such places were often chosen for worship in ancient times. Every green tree refers to all the healthy sacred trees full of leaves, and every leafy oak refers to one type of these trees. The Hebrew word for oak probably refers to the terebinth tree (so Revised English Bible), which resembles the oak tree. The terebinth is a large strong tree. If this tree is not known, translators may render every leafy oak as “every large sacred tree full of leaves” or “every large lush tree called terebinth [or, oak].” These four phrases may be translated “on the top of every high hill and mountain and under every terebinth tree and every other sacred tree full of leaves.”

Wherever they offered pleasing odor to all their idols: In these sacred places the people burnt food and animal sacrifices and incense as a satisfying aroma for their false gods. The Hebrew word for pleasing can mean “restful,” “soothing,” or “relaxing.” In this context it refers to the sacrifices as “soothing” the gods so that they would not be angry with the people.

Good News Translation reorders this verse for naturalness in English, which other languages may find helpful. Another model that does this is:

• Their dead bodies will be lying around their idols and altars on all the high hills and mountaintops and under every terebinth tree and other leafy tree where they worshiped and where they burned sacrifices to please their idols. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

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 .

And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there: Here behold may express surprise that the divine figure that had come to Ezekiel in Babylonia in verse 2 was in the Temple. And behold may be translated “When I looked in through the gate, I saw.” For the glory of the God of Israel, see the comments on 1.28. Here it refers to the majestic, awe-inspiring presence of God. The first half of this verse may be rendered “There I saw the glorious presence of Israel’s God.”

Like the vision that I saw in the plain: Ezekiel recognized this vision of the glory of God as the same as he had seen in the Euphrates Valley (see 3.22-23). Plain may be rendered “valley” (New Jerusalem Bible, Parole de Vie, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Osty). Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version render the plain as “the Chebar River,” but strictly speaking, Ezekiel had left the settlement at the Chebar River and was in the Euphrates Valley when he saw the vision of God for the second time (see the comments on 3.22-23).

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 .

And a cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it, and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen: Up to this point we may have expected that the man clothed in linen would reach into the brazier and take out a handful of coals. Instead a cherub, that is, “One of the creatures” (Good News Translation; see Ezek 10.1), reached into the fire, took out some coals and gave them to the man. The Hebrew says “the cherub,” which probably refers to the living creature that the man was standing close to. But the text says that the hand came out from between the cherubim, which seems to indicate that Ezekiel was not absolutely sure which creature’s hand it was. Although this verse does not mention burning coals, as in verse 2, it is reasonable to assume the fire refers to them. Translators may render the first part of this verse as “Then one of the living creatures reached out its hand from the middle of the group to the fire among them, and it took some of the burning coals, and it placed them in the cupped hands of the man in linen.”

Who took it and went out renders two independent clauses in Hebrew, which are literally “and he took [it] and he went out.” As soon as the man received the coals, he left the space under God’s throne. An independent sentence may be used here by saying “The man took the coals [or, fire] and went out from among the wheels.”

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 .

And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them …: The connector And marks a continuation of the prophecy, but in many languages it is more natural to omit it (so New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). Here God promises to remake internally the exiles who return, so that they obey and follow him properly in the future. I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh means he will remove their stubborn, disobedient nature, and make them compliant and obedient. The theme here is found elsewhere in Ezekiel (18.31; 36.26) and in Jer 32.39.

In Hebrew culture the heart was the organ with which a person thought and made decisions; it was not just a person’s emotional center (see the comments on 3.7). Care must be taken in translation to avoid the impression of a physical heart transplant here. Heart is used in a figurative sense in this verse. Therefore some translations have left out any reference to the heart; for example, Contemporary English Version renders this verse as “Then I will take away your stubbornness and make you eager to be completely faithful to me. You will want to obey me.” This is a good model for those languages in which the term “heart” may conjure up an image of the physical organ. But for those languages that have comparable idioms to the Hebrew (for example, liver, kidneys or neck as the seat of thinking and the will), the image of a metaphorical transplant is very powerful. A person’s spirit is very similar to the heart in Hebrew culture. It refers to the mind and will, and is the means by which someone makes decisions (see the comments on 1.12).

In Revised Standard Version and most other translations God promises to give the returning exiles one heart. This means an undivided heart, totally and completely obedient and devoted to God. Good News Translation, New American Bible, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch follow a different reading by saying “a new heart.” The similar passages of 18.31 and 36.26 refer to “a new heart,” and some Hebrew manuscripts read “a new heart” here also. New English Bible, on the other hand, reads “a different heart.” The Hebrew word for new (ʾechad) is very similar to the word for “different” (ʾacher) The only difference in consonants is between the Hebrew letters for “d” and “r.” Scribes often confused these two letters when they were copying texts (see the comments on 6.14). Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends this third alternative. It is impossible to be sure which of these readings is best, so translators will need to decide for themselves which one is most appropriate in the context.

Instead of and put a new spirit within them, the Hebrew actually has “and put a new spirit within you.” This change from third person to second person occurs frequently in the Bible and is used to make the discourse more vivid. In most languages it is confusing to make a change like this, so it is better to retain the third person, as some Hebrew manuscripts and many early versions do, as well as most modern translations. This is the best way to make the translation clear.

A model for this verse is:

• I will give them a different [or, new] way of thinking and they will want to live in a new way. I will take away their stubborn nature [which is hard like stone] and make them obedient [or, willing to obey 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 .

Again the word of the LORD came to me: See Ezek 12.1.

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 .