By your wisdom and your understanding you have gotten wealth for yourself: God refers to the king of Tyre’s wisdom again to stress that he (and Tyre) had become rich through ability and skill, not by accident. There is little difference in meaning between the Hebrew words for wisdom (here meaning “skill”) and understanding (here meaning “the ability to understand deep and difficult things”). If a language is unable to distinguish between these two words, it is acceptable to use a single term (so Contemporary English Version with “wisdom”). In this context the Hebrew word for wealth refers to any form of riches, anything that makes a person rich. You have gotten wealth for yourself may be rendered “you have made yourself very wealthy” or “you have been able to acquire [or, accumulate] a lot of wealth.” New Century Version renders these two lines as “Through your wisdom and understanding you have made yourself rich.” Some languages may prefer to reverse these lines, saying “You have become very rich because of your wisdom and skill.”

And have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries refers to specific riches of the king. Some translators keep the phrase gold and silver, but in other languages it is more natural to say “things made of gold and silver” or even “things made from the valuable metals gold and silver.” Gathered is a general word for getting property or making money (compare New American Bible “put”), but because the verse focuses on the king being very rich, most translations use a verb that implies getting a lot of gold and silver, for example, “amassed” (New International Version, New English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “piled up” (New International Reader’s Version). The Hebrew word for treasuries is literally “storerooms” or “warehouses,” places of storage where grain and all sorts of goods are stored. Here it may be translated “places where he kept his money and precious things.” However, it is not appropriate to use a modern term such as “bank.”

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 .