And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: In the same way that Edom’s sin consisted of revenge against Judah, so God’s punishment will consist of him taking revenge on the Edomites. This is a clear case of the punishment matching the crime. For God taking vengeance, see 24.8. By the hand of my people Israel means God will use the Israelites to do it. New International Reader’s Version renders this whole clause as “I will use my people Israel to pay Edom back,” and New Century Version has “I will use my people Israel to take revenge on Edom.”
And they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath: The Israelites will act on God’s behalf and do what his anger wants them to do to the Edomites. For the Hebrew words rendered anger and wrath, see 5.13, where they are translated “anger” and “fury.” Contemporary English Version combines these two terms, saying “fierce anger,” and so does Good News Translation with “furious anger.” New Century Version provides a good model for this whole clause, saying “So the Israelites will do to Edom what my hot anger demands.”
And they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord GOD: This recognition formula is slightly different from the previous ones in this chapter (see verses 5, 7, 11). It includes the idea of vengeance, which is very important in the prophecy against Edom. Although they shall know my vengeance could mean “they will experience my vengeance” (similarly Revised English Bible, Moffatt), in this context it means they will recognize that God is the one punishing them; for example, New Living Translation has “and Edom will know that this vengeance is from me,” and New International Reader’s Version says “They will know how I pay my enemies back.” This formula does not include the words “they will know that I am the LORD” (so Contemporary English Version, which is wrong here). Instead the formula ends with the solemn formal declaration says the Lord GOD (see 5.11). For the Lord GOD, see Ezek 25.3. This whole sentence may be rendered “They will recognize that I have taken revenge on them, says I, the Lord 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 .