And as for your birth, on the day you were born: These two phrases seem to say the same thing, and many of the more recent translations reflect only one of them; for example, Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have “When you were born,” while New International Version, New Living Translation, and New Century Version say “On the day you were born.” Combining these two phrases is acceptable, especially for those languages in which repetition is clumsy. But the phrase as for your birth has a specific function in this context. It sets the topic for the next two verses, showing that the next thing to be talked about is the circumstances surrounding the girl’s birth. So we recommend Revised English Bible‘s rendering here, which is “This is how you were treated when you were born.” Another possible model is “This is what happened when you were born.” In making a decision on whether to include both phrases, translators need to be guided by the discourse requirements of their own languages.

Your navel string was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor swathed with bands: These clauses refer to four things that someone normally did to a newborn baby in Ezekiel’s world. These are: (1) tie and cut the umbilical cord, (2) wash the baby with water, (3) rub it with salt and oil, and (4) wrap it tightly in long strips of cloth. The reasons for the first two things are obvious, but the third and fourth ones are not so clear. They rubbed a baby with salt and oil to harden its skin and because they believed it improved the baby’s character. And they wrapped the newborn baby tightly in strips of cloths, not to keep it warm, but to ensure that its limbs would grow straight. Some of these ideas may seem strange to many in the modern world, but these actions were basic childcare in the time of Ezekiel. In the case of this little girl, however, no one did these basic things for her. This shows that no one cared for her or looked after her, not even her mother. No one wanted her and she was left to die.

Translators need to decide whether to render all these details or simply note that the baby girl received none of the care that a newborn baby normally received. The second alternative may be attractive for many, especially where it is embarrassing to be explicit about the details of childbirth. If so, a general statement about the care of newborns may be appropriate; for example, translators may say simply “no one did for you the things that have to be done for newborn babies.” Those who decide to include the details need to be clear about their meaning and follow them closely, because this is not a situation where it is appropriate to introduce modern birth practices (so Contemporary English Version, which renders the last clause as “and wrapped you in warm blankets.” If translators include the details, they will also have to decide whether or not to explain the reasons why the people at that time did those things to babies. If they do not include the reasons, readers may find the text hard to follow because the actions described are strange. But if they do include the reasons, the explanations may be long and distracting, and readers may lose sight of the main point of the verse. In such cases translators can put the explanation in footnotes.

The verbs was … cut, were … washed, rubbed and swathed are passive, with no agent specified. For those languages that need to specify an agent, the midwife or the baby’s parents (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (1982)) are appropriate, but it is better to be quite general and impersonal by saying “no one” did these things.

The final Hebrew word in the clause rendered nor were you washed with water to cleanse you is very obscure, so Good News Translation omits it. It may be related to an Arabic word meaning “to clean,” and this is the way most translations have taken it (so Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Century Version, NJKV, New Jerusalem Bible). Others believe it is related to an Aramaic word meaning “to smear.” In this case it has the idea of rubbing oil on the baby’s skin to make it supple and smooth (so Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible). Although different words are used, the description in verse 9 of what happened to the girl later possibly supports this interpretation. But the Hebrew word rendered cleanse is so uncertain that it is impossible to recommend which of the above meanings translators should choose.

Swathed with bands refers to the practice of wrapping newborn babies in long strips of cloth (compare Luke 2.7). New International Version says “wrapped in cloths” (similarly Good News Translation).

A model for this verse is:

• This is what happened at your birth. When you were born, no one cut your umbilical cord, no one washed you with water to make you smooth, no one rubbed you with salt as they usually do for babies, and no one wrapped you in strips of cloth.

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 .