Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them …: This verse repeats the information in verse 12 about the creatures moving under the control of the spirit (see the comments there). It also repeats information from verse 19 about the wheels moving together with the creatures. At the end, however, Ezekiel adds the additional information that the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels, that is, the power that controlled the wheels was the same as that which controlled the creatures. That is how the creatures and wheels were able to move together. The Hebrew actually has “the spirit of the creature [was] in the wheels,” which uses the singular word “creature” instead of the plural. This need not change the translation, because the word “creature” has a collective sense here and refers to the creatures as a group. But the Hebrew expression for “the spirit of the creature” could also mean “the spirit of life” (compare Job 33.18, 20, 22, 28; 36.14; Psa 143.3; Ezek 7.13). If so, Ezekiel is saying that the wheels were alive. However, it is best to follow the traditional interpretation found in Revised Standard Version. Parole de Vie has “the will of the creatures caused the wheels to move.” Another possible model is “the wheels were under the power of the living creatures.”

Some versions have an extra clause in the first half of this verse; for example, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh begins with “Wherever the spirit impelled them to go, they went—wherever the spirit impelled them—and the wheels were borne alongside them,” and King James Version has “Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them.” It is easy to see why most translations omit the extra clause found in the Hebrew text; it seems to repeat the same words as a few words previously, and it is difficult to know what it means and how it fits. But no Hebrew manuscripts omit these words, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends that they be kept. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project suggests that this clause be translated as follows: “there the spirit to go.” This rendering differs slightly from those in King James Version and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and, unless the words are deleted, this rendering should be followed. The following models of the verse keep this clause:

• Now the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels, and wherever the spirit went, the creatures went. Wherever the spirit wanted to go, the creatures went there, and the wheels rose [from the ground and moved] along with the creatures.

• Now the wheels were under the power of the creatures, and wherever the creatures felt they should go, they went. Wherever they wanted to go, they went and the wheels rose from the ground and went with them.

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 .