complete verse (Ezekiel 3:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 3:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “I heard the wings of the animals flapping, the legs/wheels squeaked and made noise.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And I also heard the sound of the wings of the living creatures that were-brushing-against-each-other, and the noise of the wheels beside it as-if it thundering.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I heard the sound of the wings of the four living creatures brushing against each other, andI also heard the sound of the wheels that were beside them. It was a loud rumbling sound.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 3:13

It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another …: Ezekiel goes on to describe another sound that was loud like an earthquake. It was the same sound he had heard earlier, the sound of the wings of the living creatures when they moved (see the comments on 1.24). There he described it as a very loud noise, like a flooding river or a noisy crowd of people. Ezekiel uses an obscure Hebrew word to describe the wings as they touched one another. The word for touched seems to come from the Hebrew root meaning “to kiss,” and this is the reason why some translations use the verb “brushing [or, brushed] against” (New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible). But this action is not strong enough to cause the loud noise that came from the wings. “Beating together” (Good News Translation) and “beating against” (Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) are much better verbs here.

And the sound of the wheels beside them: Previously Ezekiel only described what the wheels looked like and how they moved (see 1.15-21). Now he says that they too made a loud noise like the wings of the creatures.

That sounded like a great earthquake is literally “and a sound of great rumbling.” As in the previous verse, the Hebrew word for earthquake refers to the “loud rumbling sound” (New International Version) made by an earthquake. It does not imply that there actually was an earthquake. This is not another sound, but rather Ezekiel is saying that the sound of the creatures’ wings beating against each other and the noise from the wheels beside them together sounded like an earthquake.

A model for this verse is:

• I also heard the sound of the wings of the living creatures beating against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them. Their sound too was as loud as a big earthquake.

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 .