The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: The mighty chiefs are the great warriors who have died and are already in the place where the dead people are. They may be the leaders of the great countries listed in verses 22-30, or they may be the “mighty men” mentioned in verse 27, but apart from that there is no hint as to who they are. The mighty chiefs is literally “the rams the mighty ones” (see 17.13). New International Reader’s Version says “The mighty leaders,” and Good News Translation has “The greatest heroes.” These mighty leaders shall speak of them, that is, they will speak about the Egyptians who have come to the world of the dead. The Hebrew phrase rendered with their helpers is awkwardly connected to the rest of the sentence. Although their helpers could be allies of the mighty leaders, most translations take them to be Egypt’s “allies” (Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “those who fought on the Egyptian side” (Good News Translation). Thus the words spoken by the mighty leaders refer to these allies as well. Out of the midst of Sheol is literally “from within/inside Sheol,” so it is not necessary to specify that these mighty leaders are in the middle of the place of the dead. For Sheol, the place where the dead go, see 31.15. Here is one way to render this whole sentence: “The great leaders who are in the place of the dead will speak of the Egyptians and their allies.”

They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword: These words spoken by the mighty leaders are very similar to the words Ezekiel spoke to the Egyptians in verse 19 (see the comments there). Ezekiel’s words were foretelling what would happen, these words describe what has happened. They have come down means the Egyptians have come down to the underworld; they lie still means they are in their allotted spot in underworld. Whereas Ezekiel said that they will be “with the uncircumcised,” the mighty leaders identify them as the uncircumcised, slain by the sword (see the previous verse). Although uncircumcised is a common way to refer to people who were not Jewish, here this term is better rendered “godless” or “did not know God.” The other inhabitants of Sheol recognize the Egyptians as being part of the despised groups, making the fall and final destruction of Egypt complete.

Translators should make it clear that the words at the end of this verse are the words that the great leaders who are already dead are saying about the Egyptians (compare Good News Translation). A model that does this is:

• The greatest leaders who are in the place of the dead will say about the Egyptians and their allies, ‘These godless people who were killed in battle have come here, and they lie in their graves.’

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 .