complete verse (Ezekiel 24:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 24:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “I have been struggling with that pot to see that I could wash the dirt away but it was impossible, so/therefore, it deserves today that I put (it) on/in the fire.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But whatever you will-do, the rust will- never -be-taken-out by the fire.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “It is as though I tried to get rid of that rust,
    but I was not able to do it,
    not even by putting that pot in a fire.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 24:12

In vain I have wearied myself: The first clause of this verse is very obscure in Hebrew, which is literally “She wearied toils.” Some translations omit this clause (so Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Septuagint). Revised Standard Version and some other translations change the Hebrew text; for example, NJKV has “She has grown weary with lies” (similarly King James Version), and New American Standard Bible says “She has wearied Me with toil.” Most translations assume that the Hebrew clause here means “efforts to clean the pot have failed” (New Century Version); for example, New International Version has “It has frustrated all efforts” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project), and New International Reader’s Version says “But it can’t be cleaned up.” Because the clause is so obscure, translators would do well to follow this interpretation.

The difficulties do not stop in the first clause. The meaning of the rest of this verse depends on where the clause breaks occur. Its thick rust does not go out of it by fire takes it as a single clause, almost as a statement of despair that the scum can never be removed. There is such a thick layer of scum on the sides on the pot that not even burning by fire will be able to clean it (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Moffatt, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). This interpretation requires translators to omit the last word of the verse (so Good News Translation), which is literally “its scum/rust,” or to read that word with the next verse (so Revised Standard Version). It also contradicts verse 11, which implies that the fire will get rid of the scum. A better approach is to divide the second half of the verse into two clauses; for example, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “Its thick scum will not leave it—Into the fire with its scum!” and New Revised Standard Version says “its thick rust does not depart. To the fire with its rust!” This approach makes better sense in the context—ordinary cleaning cannot clean the pot of its baked-on residue, so the whole pot must go into the fire.

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 .