Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain: The bright light surrounding the figure on the throne was not just a pure white light. Ezekiel compares it to a rainbow here. Good News Translation says that it “had in it all the colors of the rainbow,” but it is not wise to stress the different colors. Translators may be somewhat literal by saying “It looked like a rainbow on a rainy day,” or simply “It looked like a rainbow.” It is not clear how the bright light and the rainbow were mixed. In fact, Ezekiel describes it only as like the appearance of a rainbow, so again we must not try to be too specific.

So was the appearance of the brightness round about: See the comments on verse 27.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD: Ezekiel identifies the figure that he saw in the vision as the LORD, that is, Yahweh (see the comments on Ezek 1.3). But he does not describe God directly, and we must also be sure that our description of God is no more explicit than the original text. As elsewhere in this chapter, the description of God is qualified with the expression the appearance of the likeness. In addition, Ezekiel does not even specify that he actually saw God’s body. Rather he saw the glory (kabod in Hebrew) of God. The word kabod is difficult to translate, because it literally means “weight” or “heaviness.” When it is used of God, it refers to his splendor, power, or impressive presence. It does not have the sense of dazzling bright light that the English word glory usually has. However, in Ezekiel it is usually used in the context of the vision of God on his throne (see 1.28; 3.12, 23; 8.4; 9.3; 10.4, 18-19; 11.22-23; 43.2, 4-5; 44.4) and, as we have seen, bright light is a characteristic of this vision. Most translations render kabod here as glory, but other renderings are “Majesty” (Anchor Bible) and “presence” (Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Translators will do well to include something of the impressive presence of God in this verse. Possible models for this sentence are “That is what the great [or, magnificent] presence of Yahweh appeared like to me” and “This is how the great and powerful LORD appeared so to me.”

Good News Translation begins a new paragraph at this point. This is appropriate because this part of verse 28 goes closely with 2.1.

And when I saw it: And, which renders the Hebrew waw conjunction, continues the narration. In many languages this conjunction is not natural here, so it is dropped (so Good News Translation). When I saw it, that is, when Ezekiel saw the wonderful vision of God up close.

I fell upon my face means he lay face down on the ground. The word fell does not mean that he tripped and fell, or that he was pushed over. Rather, he knelt down and stretched himself out on the ground. It was a voluntary act of submission and worship. In some languages where this act would not be understood, translators may say “I lay face down on the ground out of respect [or, to worship].” Parole de Vie has “I got on my knees, with my forehead to the ground.”

And I heard the voice of one speaking: The translations are fairly evenly divided over whether Ezekiel heard someone speaking (so Revised Standard Version, New International Version, King James Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), or whether he just heard a voice (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible). Both are possible in the Hebrew text. Since he was face down on the ground, he may not have seen the speaker, so Good News Translation‘s rendering is valid. But many languages cannot have a disembodied voice speaking, and they will have to specify the speaker. The Hebrew does not tell us who the speaker was, but in chapter 2 it appears that the speaker was either God or an angel. It would be best to leave the speaker unidentified in this verse if possible, saying “I heard the voice of someone speaking.” However, for those languages that must be explicit, the speaker may be identified as God.

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 .