complete verse (Ezekiel 17:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 17:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “It took the top of that tree and brought it to the land of trading and placed it in the city where merchants were.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “and it cut-off the new-growth of the topmost branch. Then he brought it to a place of the merchants and planted there.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “and broke it off. Then the eagle carried it away to Babylonia, a country that had many merchants/businessmen, and planted it in one of the cities there.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 17:4

He broke off the topmost of its young twigs: This clause expresses the same meaning as the last clause of verse 3. This is an instance of Hebrew poetic parallelism in which the same meaning is repeated in two lines with slightly different words. Such repetition is cumbersome in some languages. As a result, some translations omit the repetition (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version), which is acceptable. Others interpret the clauses to apply to two different actions; for example, New International Version says “Taking hold of the top of a cedar, 4 he broke off its topmost shoot,” which implies that the eagle first grasped the top of the tree and then took off only the highest branch. Although this interpretation is possible, it is preferable to retain the parallelism of the Hebrew text; for example, the first clause of this verse may be rendered “It [or, The eagle] broke off the new twig that was at the very top of the tree.” Although Revised Standard Version and some other translations use the pronoun he to refer to the eagle, we prefer the English practice of referring to animals and birds as “it.” The Hebrew word rendered young twigs refers to small new branches.

And carried it to a land of trade: The eagle carried the highest branch of the cedar tree that it had broken off to a country of commerce. For the Hebrew expression rendered land of trade, see 16.29, where it is translated “trading land.”

And set it in a city of merchants: This clause is parallel to the previous one. Here a land of trade is restricted to a city of merchants, where the eagle set, that is, “planted” (New International Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, Revised English Bible), the branch.

A model for this verse is:

• The eagle broke off the new branch at the top of the tree and carried it to a land of traders. It planted that branch in a city full of merchants.

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 .