complete verse (Ezekiel 10:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 10:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “When the cherubs stood/stopped, the wheels did not move. But when they got up to fly, they got up with those wheels because the cherubs were controlling/ruling them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When they stopped, the wheels stopped too, and when they went-up, the wheels went-up too, for their spirit was in the wheels.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When the winged creatures stopped, the wheels stopped. When the winged creatures started to fly, the wheels flew with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 10:17

When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: This verse is almost identical to 1.21 (see the comments there). The only major difference is that the verb mounted up instead of “rose” is used to describe how the living creatures and the wheels went up in the air, but the meaning is the same. However, care must be taken to keep straight what the pronouns they, these, and them refer to. A model that does this for this sentence is “When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stopped moving too. When the cherubim rose into the air, the wheels went up with them.”

For the spirit of the living creatures was in them: Translators should use the same expression for this clause they did in 1.21. It is worth noting that Ezekiel uses the expression living creatures, not “cherubim.” The pronoun them refers to the wheels.

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 .