In Hebrew this verse reads literally “Injustice has stood up into a stick of wickedness; not from them, and not from their multitude, and not from them, and there is not eminence in them.” Most scholars give up hope of discovering its meaning, and New Jerusalem Bible does not even attempt to translate the second half of the verse.

Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness: The Hebrew word rendered Violence really refers to social injustice, the unfair treatment of the poor by the rich and powerful members of society. Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness may mean it has grown like a plant to become very wicked. Good News Translation expresses this sense with “Violence produces more wickedness,” and so does Contemporary English Version with “violent criminals run free.” Or the rod might be the stick that God uses to punish those who are doing wrong, so that they are now suffering the results of what they did (so Greenberg); for example, New International Version has “Violence has grown into a rod to punish wickedness,” and New Century Version says “Violence has grown into a weapon for punishing wickedness.” This clause could also mean that the people who have criminally mistreated the poor have obtained the rod of authority, that is, they have become the rulers of society (so New International Version footnote). A model that follows this interpretation is “Those who mistreat others have become wicked rulers.”

None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be pre-eminence among them: This second part of the verse seems to describe what will happen to those who mistreat others. None of them shall remain, nor their abundance may mean they will all die, even though there are a great number of them. But it is better to follow Good News Translation‘s rendering here, which implies that they will lose all they possess, even the great “wealth” that they have amassed. The Hebrew word for abundance can mean “many people” or “many possessions.” The Hebrew expression rendered nor their wealth (literally “and not from them” is difficult to understand, but like Revised Standard Version, some versions assume from the context that it refers to “wealth” (New International Version, New Century Version) or “splendor” (Good News Translation). Parole de Vie gives this expression a different sense, saying “none of your number.” Neither shall there be pre-eminence among them may suggest that these people will also lose their positions of privilege and power in society. Instead of pre-eminence, King James Version has “wailing” and New English Bible says “restless ways,” which both change the Hebrew text. We recommend the reading in Revised Standard Version, which follows the Hebrew text (so also Hebrew Old Testament Text Project).

In view of the difficulty and uncertainty of this verse, all the translator can do is to try to give an idea of what the message seems to be, namely, wickedness has increased in society to such an extent that those who are involved in it and have benefited from it will soon lose all they have. One possible model for this verse is:

• More and more people are acting unjustly [or, treating others unfairly], and they have been growing rich and famous in the process. None of them will survive, nor their great wealth, nor any of their number. They will lose their privileged positions.

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 .