Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version begin this verse with the quote frame “The LORD said,” since a new unit begins here. Other languages may find this helpful.

On that day may refer to the same specific day on which Gog will arrive in Israel and die (compare 38.18), or it may be a reference to the general time that this will happen (compare Good News Translation “When all this happens” and Contemporary English Version “After Gog has been destroyed”). The latter interpretation is preferable.

I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel: God will give Gog a burial place in Israel. Translators may say “I will give Gog a place in Israel where people can bury him.” Contemporary English Version says “I will bury him [Gog] … in Israel” (similarly New International Reader’s Version), but this rendering is incorrect in the light of the next few verses, which say that the people of Israel will bury Gog and his army. Some translations describe the burial place as “well-known” (New American Bible, Christian Community Bible) or “famous” (Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). This reading follows the Septuagint and Vulgate , but it involves a slight change to the Hebrew text. This change is unnecessary because the Hebrew clause here make perfectly good sense. It reads literally “I will appoint for Gog a place there as a graveyard in Israel.” In Israel stresses that Gog and his army will be buried in the land of Israel, perhaps in the same place where they died, although there is not enough evidence for this.

The place where they will be buried is the Valley of the Travelers east of the sea, but no one knows where it is. Revised English Bible transliterates the Hebrew word for Travelers, saying “the valley of Abarim” (so also the footnotes in Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version and Contemporary English Version), but the only places with that name that we know of are in Galilee and in Moab, neither of which is in Israel. Many translations take east of the sea to mean “east of the Dead Sea” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, Moffatt, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, New International Version, New English Bible footnote), but this area is not within the borders of Israel either. So the sea most likely refers to the Mediterranean Sea, and Gog’s graveyard must be somewhere between the Mediterranean Sea on the west and the Dead Sea or the Jordan River on the east. However, the Hebrew phrase here may mean “east toward the sea” (so New International Version). If so, the sea could be the Dead Sea, but this does not change our conclusion that the burial place is between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea. We cannot be more specific than that. Rather than try to pinpoint an exact location, translators may render this whole phrase as “in the Valley of the Travelers, which is east of the ocean [or, sea].”

It will block the travelers: The burial place will be so large that it will block the way of anyone trying to travel through the valley. Good News Translation omits this clause, which we do not recommend. Contemporary English Version has “That graveyard will be so large that it will block the way of anyone who tries to walk through the valley.”

For there Gog and all his multitude will be buried gives the reason why the burial place will block the way through the valley. It is because of the large number of dead bodies from Gog’s army that will be buried there. The Hebrew expression for all his multitude stresses the huge size of his army. For the Hebrew word rendered multitude, see the comments on 30.10, where it is translated “wealth.”

It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog: After Gog and his army are buried there, the place will receive a new name. Hamon transliterates the Hebrew word for multitude, and some translations reflect this meaning, for example, “the Valley of the Multitude of Gog” (Christian Community Bible), “the Valley of Gog’s Horde” (Revised English Bible), “The Valley of Gog-mob” (Moffatt), and “The Valley of Gog’s Army” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version). Translators may choose to retain the Hebrew name, or to give the meaning of the name (but see the comments on verse 16).

One way to translate the last half of this verse is:

• When Gog and all his army are buried there, travelers will not have room to pass. People will name that place the Valley of Gog’s Army [or, the Valley of Hamon-gog].

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 .