Their wings touched one another: Translators must take care not to give the impression that each creature spread out all four wings. In verse 11 it is clear that two wings were extended and two wings were used to cover the creature’s body. Many languages will have to follow Good News Translation and make this clear already in verse 9. But others will simply follow the text here, saying “They touched one another with their wings,” “Their wings were touching,” or even “The tips of their wings were touching each other.”

Each creature had its wings extended, touching the tips of the wings of the creature on each side with its wing tips. But the creatures were not standing in a straight line. They were standing with their backs to each other, and when they spread out their wings, they formed a square. We cannot tell exactly how the square was formed. Perhaps the creatures were standing in the four corners of the square with their wings extended partly backwards to form the sides of the square. Or perhaps the creatures were standing on the sides of the square with their wings extended sideways, so that their wing tips touched each other at the corners of the square. It is this shape that Good News Translation is trying to make clear by saying “Two wings of each creature were spread out so that the creatures formed a square, with their wing tips touching.” But since we cannot know for sure whether the creatures were positioned on the sides or at the corners of the square, and both formats fit equally well with what is described in the rest of the chapter, translators can choose the diagram that makes most sense to them for their language.

They went every one straight forward, without turning as they went means the four creatures moved as a group without turning their bodies to face the direction the group was going. Each creature was facing in a different direction. Therefore, whichever direction the group went, one of the creatures was facing that direction, and the other three creatures did not need to turn around to enable them to go in that direction. Contemporary English Version has a helpful model here, saying “They moved together in every direction, without turning their bodies.”

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 .