complete verse (Ezekiel 28:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 28:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “You take yourself to be wise more than Daniel and you think that you know everything.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You think that you-are wiser than Daniel, that there is no secret that you do not know.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You think that you are wiser than Daniel was,
    and you think that you can understand every secret.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 28:3

Verses 3-5 interrupt the pattern of the prophecies in this major part and describe how great the king of Tyre was.

You are indeed wiser than Daniel means the king was very wise, wiser in fact than the wisest person Ezekiel knew of. Despite what Revised Standard Version and many other translations have here, this person was not Daniel, the young man who was in exile with Ezekiel, but he was the ancient Near Eastern hero called “Danel” (Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible), who was famous for his righteous life and wisdom. As in 14.14, we recommend that translators use the name “Danel.” Indeed renders the Hebrew word hinneh, which highlights this statement.

No secret is hidden from you is literally “no secrets are dark from you,” which means the king knows every secret. This is just another way of saying that he was very wise. Translators may render this line as an active sentence by saying “You know every secret.” Contemporary English Version has “[you] know everything.”

However, some translations do not take the lines of this verse as positive statements of the king’s wisdom. Some translate them as rhetorical questions that expect the answer “No”; for example, Revised English Bible has “What, are you wiser than Daniel? Is no secret beyond your grasp?” (similarly New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New English Bible, Septuagint). These rhetorical questions imply that he was not really wise after all. Other translations imply the same thing by making the statements ironic or sarcastic; for example, New Jerusalem Bible says “So, you are wiser than Daniel; no sage as wise as you!” (similarly New American Bible, Moffatt). Still others add some words to make it clear that God does not think that the king was really wise; for example, Good News Translation translates “You think you are wiser than Danel, that no secret can be kept from you” (similarly Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version). Although these are possible interpretations, it is better to take the lines of verse 3 as simple statements that the king of Tyre was very wise, because God goes on to give evidence of his wisdom in verses 4-5. A model for this verse is:

• Yes, you are wiser than Danel. You know every secret.

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 .