Therefore …: The horrible punishment described here is due to God’s decision to punish the people very severely. Therefore may be rendered “This is why.”

Fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you, and sons shall eat their fathers: Parents will eat their own children, and children will eat their own parents in the besieged city of Jerusalem. This depicts the horrible suffering that will happen in the city when it is being attacked by the Babylonians. The Hebrew text has fathers and sons. Nothing is said about mothers and daughters, but it seems logical that both sexes are intended, so translators may say “parents” and “children,” as in Good News Translation. But even if the translation is left in the masculine, the picture is still a horrible one. Contemporary English Version makes explicit the reason why the people will eat their own family members—they will be “so desperate for food.” This cannibalism will happen in the midst of you, that is, in Jerusalem. Translators may say “in the city.” The first part of this verse may be rendered “As a result, parents in the city will eat their own children, and children will eat their own parents.”

And I will execute judgments on you means God will punish the people of Jerusalem through cannibalism. For I will execute judgments, see 5.8. This clause may be rendered “This is the way I will carry out your punishment” or “That is how it will be when I will punish you.”

And any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds: This clause explains the meaning of what Ezekiel did to his third pile of hair (see Ezek 5.2). Any of you who survive refers to anybody from Jerusalem who does not die during the siege. I will scatter to all the winds means God will send the remaining population of Jerusalem into exile in many neighboring countries. This clause may be rendered “And if any of you survive, then I will drive you away in every direction to other countries.”

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 .

In Hebrew this verse reads literally “Injustice has stood up into a stick of wickedness; not from them, and not from their multitude, and not from them, and there is not eminence in them.” Most scholars give up hope of discovering its meaning, and New Jerusalem Bible does not even attempt to translate the second half of the verse.

Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness: The Hebrew word rendered Violence really refers to social injustice, the unfair treatment of the poor by the rich and powerful members of society. Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness may mean it has grown like a plant to become very wicked. Good News Translation expresses this sense with “Violence produces more wickedness,” and so does Contemporary English Version with “violent criminals run free.” Or the rod might be the stick that God uses to punish those who are doing wrong, so that they are now suffering the results of what they did (so Greenberg); for example, New International Version has “Violence has grown into a rod to punish wickedness,” and New Century Version says “Violence has grown into a weapon for punishing wickedness.” This clause could also mean that the people who have criminally mistreated the poor have obtained the rod of authority, that is, they have become the rulers of society (so New International Version footnote). A model that follows this interpretation is “Those who mistreat others have become wicked rulers.”

None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be pre-eminence among them: This second part of the verse seems to describe what will happen to those who mistreat others. None of them shall remain, nor their abundance may mean they will all die, even though there are a great number of them. But it is better to follow Good News Translation‘s rendering here, which implies that they will lose all they possess, even the great “wealth” that they have amassed. The Hebrew word for abundance can mean “many people” or “many possessions.” The Hebrew expression rendered nor their wealth (literally “and not from them” is difficult to understand, but like Revised Standard Version, some versions assume from the context that it refers to “wealth” (New International Version, New Century Version) or “splendor” (Good News Translation). Parole de Vie gives this expression a different sense, saying “none of your number.” Neither shall there be pre-eminence among them may suggest that these people will also lose their positions of privilege and power in society. Instead of pre-eminence, King James Version has “wailing” and New English Bible says “restless ways,” which both change the Hebrew text. We recommend the reading in Revised Standard Version, which follows the Hebrew text (so also Hebrew Old Testament Text Project).

In view of the difficulty and uncertainty of this verse, all the translator can do is to try to give an idea of what the message seems to be, namely, wickedness has increased in society to such an extent that those who are involved in it and have benefited from it will soon lose all they have. One possible model for this verse is:

• More and more people are acting unjustly [or, treating others unfairly], and they have been growing rich and famous in the process. None of them will survive, nor their great wealth, nor any of their number. They will lose their privileged positions.

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 he brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD: The connector And is better rendered “Next” or “Then” (New Century Version). The verb brought is better translated “carried” or “took” (Good News Translation), as in verse 7 (see the comments there). Next God took Ezekiel into the inner court of the house of the LORD, that is, the courtyard in which the Temple stood (see Ezek 8.3). Ezekiel was now standing in the inner courtyard outside the door of the north gateway. For the house of the LORD, see verse 14.

And behold: See Ezek 8.4.

At the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men …: Ezekiel saw about twenty-five men in front of the Temple. The door of the temple of the LORD refers to the Temple entrance. The temple of the LORD may be rendered “the holy place where Yahweh dwelt.” The men were standing between the porch and the altar, that is, in front of the Temple in the holy area set aside for worship. They were not inside the Temple, so they could easily see the sun in the east. The porch was a small entrance room to the Temple itself. Porch may be rendered “foyer,” “vestibule” (New American Bible), or “portico” (New International Version). The altar was the main sacrificial altar that stood to the east of the front door of the Temple. It is not the same altar as the one Ezekiel saw with the statue of the false goddess in verse 5.

With their backs to the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east: The men were standing in front of the Temple, but instead of facing the Temple to worship God, they had their backs to the sanctuary. They were facing the opposite direction, worshiping the sun toward the east. Their worship probably involved bowing low toward the sun, and as a result their backsides were exposed toward God’s sanctuary.

Good News Translation provides a helpful model for this verse. Another possible one is:

• Then God brought [or, took] me to the inner courtyard of the Temple. There, near the entrance to the holy place where Yahweh dwelt, between the entrance room to that holy place and the altar, there were about twenty-five men standing with their backs to the holy place of Yahweh. They were facing east and bowing down to worship the rising sun.

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 .

These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar: This sentence repeats the second part of verse 15 (see the comments there). It adds the information that the living creatures were underneath the God of Israel. This phrase that may be rendered literally, or in some languages it may be better to say “who were holding up [or, carrying] the God of Israel.” Despite the minor differences in the description of the creatures here with those in chapter 1, Ezekiel was convinced they were the same creatures.

And I knew that they were cherubim: In verse 2 God called the living creatures that Ezekiel was looking at cherubim. Some scholars claim that was how he knew they were called cherubim. It is also possible that he did not fully recognize them in the first vision, and it was only when he saw them again, perhaps from closer up, that he recognized what the creatures actually were. Translations that use the same term for the cherubim in this chapter as they used for the “living creatures” in chapter 1 (for example, Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version) tend to obscure this element of recognition. Consequently, even where the same term is used, it is advisable to retain the term cherubim in this verse (either in its Hebrew plural form “cherubim,” or in an appropriate plural form, such as “cherubs”). Here the translation “living creatures called cherubim” fits well (see 9.3).

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 gives more reasons for the punishment of the false prophets.

Because, yea, because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace: The unusual repetition of the conjunction Because gives solemn emphasis to God’s words here. Because, yea, because … may be rendered “Yes, I will punish the false prophets because….” Revised English Bible is similar with “This they deserve, for….” They have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace means they deceived God’s people by saying everything was fine when it was not fine. In this context the Hebrew word for peace means not just an absence of war, but more significantly the security and well-being of the community. The false prophets were saying that Jerusalem was safe from further attacks by the Babylonians, and that the people were not in any danger. Good News Translation provides a more accurate rendering here, saying “The prophets mislead my people by saying that all is well.”

And because, when the people build a wall, these prophets daub it with whitewash: This clause pictures the deceptive action of the false prophets. It uses the picture of the prophets painting a shaky wall to make it strong. The foolishness of this action is captured well by Contemporary English Version, which says “They are like workers who think they can fix a shaky wall by covering it with paint.” The Hebrew word for wall refers to a boundary wall or fence made of loose stones, so it is not very strong. Daub means to cover roughly with paint or mud. Whitewash is a mixture of lime and water that is spread on a surface like paint to make it look good. For those cultures where whitewash is unknown, a local substitute may be used, such as clay, mud, or even paint. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh uses “plaster.”

Something that is covered with whitewash looks good on the surface, but underneath it can be old, bad or ugly. The picture of the whitewashed wall is a picture of the way the false prophets were deceiving the people. The false prophets were not telling the people of Jerusalem of the danger they were in. By hiding this fact, the false prophets were making the situation look better than it was, just like a newly-whitewashed wall looks good and strong, but in fact is not strong at all. Many languages will have to use a simile here (so Contemporary English Version). One possible model that does this is “These false prophets are deceiving the people. It is like when someone has built a wall of loose stones and they come and paint its sides with clay paint to make it appear strong, even though it is not strong at all.” Another model that is not as explicit is “It’s as if when the people make a wall, they are satisfied if the prophets cover it with whitewash for 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 .

Or if I send a pestilence into that land …: For the fourth time the same pattern appears in verses 19-20 as in the previous verses. Here God’s punishment for the sinful nation is pestilence (see 5.12), which may be rendered “disease” (New Century Version), “deadly disease” (Contemporary English Version), “epidemic” (Good News Translation), or “plague” (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible).

And pour out my wrath upon it with blood means God will kill many people and animals in his anger. For the imagery of God pouring out his anger as if it were a boiling hot liquid, see the comments on 7.8 and 9.8. With blood should not be translated as if God were pouring out blood and his anger from the same container. The blood is the means through which God will show his anger, so New International Version says “through bloodshed.” Blood refers to the people and animals dying from disease. Good News Translation expresses the sense of this clause by saying “and in my anger take many lives.”

To cut off from it man and beast: See verses 13 and 17. This clause may be combined with the previous one by saying “and in my anger I kill all the people and animals in the land.”

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 in all your abominations and your harlotries you did not remember the days of your youth …: Child sacrifice was the worst of Jerusalem’s sins, and in this parable it was especially bad because the girl (who stands for Jerusalem and Judah in the story) was abandoned by her parents as an infant and on the point of death before she was rescued. She, of all people, should have remembered that and treated her own children better, but God says you did not remember. She was so engrossed in her abominations (see Ezek 16.2) and harlotries (see verse 15) that she forgot about her origins. The days of your youth (“your childhood” in Good News Translation) refers to the time when she was a baby and a young girl; this was the time described in verses 3-6. Contemporary English Version renders this whole clause as “You were so busy sinning and being a prostitute that you refused to think about the days when you were young.”

For you were naked and bare, see Ezek 16.7; for weltering in your blood, see Ezek 16.6.

One model for this verse is:

• While you were doing the things I hate and behaving like a prostitute, you did not remember how you were when you were young, when you were naked and exposed and squirming in your own blood.

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 .