complete verse (Ezekiel 32:24)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 32:24:

  • Kupsabiny: “Here is also the king of Elam. He is in the world of the dead together with all his soldiers who have been terrifying people. They are dead without believing in the true religion and (they are) shamed.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘There also is the king of Elam. His grave was surrounded by the graves of his people. They all died in battle. They went-down there in the place of the dead-ones together-with the others who did not believe in God. When they were still alive they caused- the people -to-become-afraid of them, but now they were put-to-shame together-with the others who died.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “A great number of the people of Elam will be there. They also were killed by their enemies’ swords. They had caused people in many places to be terrified. At that time they will lie there in that deep pit below the earth, and they, along with the others who have gone there, will be disgraced.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 32:24

Elam is there: Elam is the second country on the list of great nations who went to the underworld before Egypt. As a nation, the Elamites had existed since about 3000 B.C., but we do not know very much about them. The country they occupied was east of the Tigris River and is now part of modern Iran. Their main city was named Susa, which is where the story in the book of Esther took place. We do not know how much contact the Israelites had with the Elamites before that, or why Ezekiel included Elam in this prophecy (there is only one other prophecy against Elam in the Bible; see Jer 49.34-39). It may simply be due to the fact that Elam had been a great nation, which was destroyed. This happened in 640 B.C. when the Assyrians captured Susa and put an end to the Elamite kingdom.

And all her multitude about her grave: The Hebrew word for multitude has almost the same meaning as the word for “company” in verse 22 (see the comments there). Her multitude can refer to Elam’s “people” (Revised English Bible; similarly Moffatt), which we prefer, or to its “army” (New Century Version; similarly Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version). This whole phrase may be rendered “and the graves of all her people/soldiers are around her grave.”

All of them slain, fallen by the sword: See verse 22.

Who went down uncircumcised into the nether world: For uncircumcised, which is better rendered “godless” (Contemporary English Version) here, see verse 21; for the nether world, which is “the world of the dead” (Good News Translation), see verse 18. A model for this whole clause is “They went down to the land of the dead without knowing God.”

Who spread terror in the land of the living: See verse 23.

And they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit: The Elamites suffered shame when they died in war (see the comments on 31.17). Contemporary English Version renders they bear their shame as “they are disgraced and ashamed.” Those who go down to the Pit refers to those who went to the world of the dead before the Elamites. For the Pit, see verse 18. A model for this clause is “Their disgrace is like the disgrace of those who went to the world of the dead before them” (similarly New International Reader’s Version).

A model of this verse is given at the end of the discussion on the next verse.

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 .