What follows is a radical new translation of Ezekiel 1:1-28. It is radical and new in a number of respects. Firstly, it is one of the few English translations which treats the actual Hebrew grammar and syntax as it exists and doesn’t retreat to the Septuagint to arrive at its content or meaning. Secondly, it is the first English translation that attempts to scrupulously match the text’s erratic gender and number oscillations with their most syntactically appropriate referents. Third and most radically, I have offered a translation and interpretation of Ezek 1:27 which dramatically veers away from every English translation extent to suggest a truly new understanding of the climax of Ezekiel’s throne vision. Although the translation has been simplified by stripping the copious footnotes that originally accompanied it, a few have been retained where I felt this was necessary. The translation is very literal. It attempts to give a precise sense of each and every Hebrew verb, follows repetitions or explanations in the Hebrew with repetitions or explanations in the English, and seeks to closely mimic the style, form, and arrangement of the language. Thus, for instance, King Jehoiachin is spelled Joiachin in v. 2 and v. 27 has the form like such and such was the house
instead of the house was like such and such
because this is how the text presents them. Part three will feature a defense and explanation for my translation of v. 27.
Go to Ezekiel’s Throne Vision – P2: A Radical New Translation.