You sat upon a stately couch …: In this context the Hebrew word for couch does not refer to a bed for sleeping (as New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch imply), but a sofa or long seat that guests at a meal sat on as they ate. If there is no real equivalent piece of furniture in an area, translators may use a descriptive phrase, such as “a long seat people used when eating.” Often guests would lie on the couch, propped up on one elbow. The Hebrew word for stately is related to the word meaning “glory” or “riches.” It may be rendered “beautiful” (Good News Translation), “magnificent” (Allen), “splendid” (New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible), or “elegant” (New International Version).

With a table spread before it: The couch was not in a bedroom since there was a table spread before it, which means the table was prepared for a feast, with dishes and possibly food already on it. Translators may say “on the table in front of the couch were dishes of food” or “they had put out food to eat on the table in front of the couch.” Some translations imply that the table was in front of the sisters; for example, Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version render before it as “in front of them” (similarly New Living Translation). There is some textual basis for this reading, but it is better for translators to say the table was in front of the couch.

On which you had placed my incense and my oil: On the table the sisters had put God’s incense and oil, that is, the sacred incense and olive oil that was used in the Temple in the worship of God. It was wrong for them to use these sacred things in this way, because it involved worshiping false gods instead of God. For incense see 8.11; for olive oil, see 16.9. Translators may render this clause as “and you had put on the table the incense [or, powder with a sweet smell] and olive oil that were for my worship.”

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 .