And he said to me: The pronoun he refers to God, the same speaker as in verses 7-12 (see the comments on Ezek 43.6). For clarity this clause may be rendered “God continued to speak to me.”

For Son of man, see Ezek 43.7.

Thus says the Lord GOD: Lord renders the Hebrew word ʾadonai, and GOD renders “Yahweh” (YHWH in Hebrew). Since God is speaking of himself in the third person here, many languages will have to make sure there is no contradiction; for example, this clause may be rendered “This is what I, the Lord Yahweh, am saying.” Good News Translation avoids a contradiction by beginning this verse with “The Sovereign LORD said to me, ‘Mortal man, listen to what I tell you.’ ”

These are the ordinances for the altar: This clause introduces the fixed laws with respect to the Temple’s main altar in verses 18b 27. For the Hebrew word rendered ordinances, see the comments on 5.6, where it is translated “statutes.” Here it may be expressed as “rules” (New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version) or “regulations” (New International Version, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible, Complete Jewish Bible). A model for this clause is “This is what you must do when the altar is built.”

On the day when it is erected: In the Hebrew text this clause goes with the previous one; for example, King James Version renders both clauses as “These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it,” and Revised English Bible has “Here are the regulations for the altar when it has been made” (similarly New English Bible). Another possible model is “These are the regulations for the people to follow on the day when they build the altar.”

For offering burnt offerings upon it and for throwing blood against it: These clauses give a summary of the purpose of the altar, what the altar is for. They do not go with when it is erected. For burnt offerings, which will be burned on top of the altar, see 40.38. Throwing blood against it refers to the way the priests will take some of the blood from the sacrificed animals and “splash” (Complete Jewish Bible) it on the sides of the altar to make it ritually clean. Although most translations render the Hebrew word for throwing as “sprinkle” (New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version) or “sprinkling” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation), the word implies a larger amount of blood than the scattered drops that “sprinkle” suggests. To make this clear, translators may express these clauses as “They should follow these rules when the priests burn offerings on the altar and splash on it the blood of the animals they sacrifice.”

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 .