Like adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead: This sentence continues the picture of stubbornness and toughness that is based on the Hebrew idiom rendered “hard forehead” in verse 7 and “forehead hard” in verse 8. As in those verses, it is not necessary to retain the image literally. It is better to use a natural equivalent, as Good News Translation has done by saying “I will make you as firm as a rock, as hard as a diamond.”

Both adamant and flint are stones that are known for their hardness. In fact, adamant was the hardest substance known at the time of Ezekiel. In this context they are used to show how strong and tough Ezekiel will have to be to complete his mission of telling the message of God to the Israelites. All cultures have some things that are considered extremely hard or strong that can be used as examples of hardness and strength. Translators may use such local equivalents in place of adamant and flint, as English translators have done, for example, “diamond” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), “rock” (Good News Translation), “stone” (New Century Version), and “hardest stone” (New Revised Standard Version). It is also acceptable to focus just on one very hard thing, especially if it is the hardest substance known in the culture, as Contemporary English Version has done by rendering this sentence as “I will make you hard like a diamond.” When translations use the word “diamond,” the focus is on how hard it is, and translators must not make reference to its value or that it is a sparkling gem. Translators may also say “I will make you as hard as the hardest stone.”

Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks: See the comments on 2.6.

For they are a rebellious house: See 2.5.

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 .