Now it is transplanted in the wilderness: The adverb Now points to the time Ezekiel was speaking, the time when the people were in exile in Babylonia. The vine, like the nation, was no longer in its own land—it had been transplanted, that is, planted again, in a hostile country. Translators may replace this passive verb with an active one by rendering this line as “Now they have transplanted [or, planted again] that vine in the desert.” For wilderness see 6.14.

In a dry and thirsty land means there was not enough water to allow the vine to grow in the desert. This line may be rendered “in a dry land with no water.”

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 .