complete verse (Ezekiel 28:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 28:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “(They) shall kill you and put you into the world of the dead in the ocean.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Your death is painful; they will-throw you into the depths of the sea.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They will bring you down to your grave;
    you will die violently
    like those who died in the sea.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 28:8

They shall thrust you down into the Pit: This line is a vivid way of saying the foreign enemies will kill the king of Tyre. The Pit is an alternate expression for Sheol, the place where people go when they die (see the comments on 26.20 even though a different Hebrew word is used there). Many readers will not know this, so translators may render this line as “They will kill you” (New Century Version).

And you shall die the death of the slain means the king will die a “violent” (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt) or “terrible” (New Century Version) death like murder, or it may mean he will die in a way that brings “disgrace” (New English Bible) like execution. The Hebrew word for slain (chalal) is the same one rendered “defile” in verse 7, and here it carries the same two possible meanings (see the comments there). Most translations take this line in the sense of a violent death (that is, the Babylonians will come and kill the king and smash the city of Tyre to pieces), but there is a sense in which the fall of Tyre and the death of its king is an execution (that is, God will punish the king for his boasting and thinking that he was a god). Translators who follow the latter interpretation may say “and you will die a disgraceful death.” Translators may take either approach.

Although in the heart of the seas may mean simply “surrounded by water” (compare verse 2), here it probably means “at the bottom of the sea” (compare 27.27).

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 .