Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you: Javan is the Hebrew term for the Greeks. Normally it refers only to the Greeks who lived on the Ionian coast (that is, present-day Turkey) and the Aegean islands, so it is a little misleading to say “Greece” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version). A better rendering is “The Greeks” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Tubal and Meshech, which are often connected with Javan in the Bible, were nations in the center of Asia Minor. Together these three nations probably refer to the whole of Asia Minor, that is, most of modern Turkey. For the Hebrew verb rendered traded, see the introductory comments on this subunit.

They exchanged the persons of men and vessels of bronze for your merchandise: The goods they traded for Tyre’s products were persons of men, that is, “slaves” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) and vessels of bronze, which may be rendered “articles of bronze” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New American Bible), “items of bronze” (New Century Version), “bronze utensils” (Revised English Bible), “things made of bronze” (Contemporary English Version), or “bronze dishes” (New Living Translation [1996]). If bronze (which is a mixture of copper and tin) is unknown, a general term for “metal” is acceptable (see 9.2). For the Hebrew word rendered merchandise, see the introductory comments on this subunit.

A model for this verse is:

• The Greeks [or, Greek people] and the nations of Tubal and Meshech did business with you by selling you slaves and metal utensils in exchange for the things you had to sell.

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 .