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 .