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Ezekiel 1

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Setting the Scene: Ezekiel's Call 1–3

1
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. ​
2
In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity, ​
3
The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him. ​

The Storm and the Living Creatures 4–14

4
And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. ​
5
Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. ​
6
And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
7
And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. ​
8
And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
9
Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. ​
10
As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. ​
11
Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
12
And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. ​
13
As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.
14
And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. ​

The Wheels and Their Movement 15–21

15
Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. ​
16
The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. ​
17
When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.
18
As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four. ​
19
And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
20
Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. ​
21
When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

The Firmament Above the Creatures 22–25

22
And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. ​
23
And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.
24
And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings. ​
25
And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.

The Throne and the Glory of God 26–28

26
And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. ​
27
And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. ​
28
As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 1

Verse 1

the heavens were opened — Opened heavens attend later revelations: the Spirit descending on Christ (Matt 3:16) and Stephen’s sight of ‘the Son of man standing on the right hand of God’ (Acts 7:56). ‘Visions’ is mar’ah; ‘visions of God’ returns at Ezek 8:3 and 40:2. The ‘thirtieth year’ is not explained here; v.2 dates the same day another way.

Verse 2

Jehoiachin’s captivity — Ezekiel counts from the exile of King Jehoiachin, who ‘went out to the king of Babylon’ and was carried to Babylon with ‘the mighty of the land’ (2 Kgs 24:12–15). The same count dates later visions, ‘the twelfth year of our captivity’ (Ezek 33:21; also 40:1), and the king’s release in ‘the seven and thirtieth year’ (2 Kgs 25:27).

Verse 3

the hand of the LORD — Ezekiel is named only here and in 24:24; the name (Yechezqel) means ‘God will strengthen’. He is ‘the priest, the son of Buzi’, and the word comes to him ‘in the land of the Chaldeans’. ‘The hand of the LORD’ is on him again at 3:14, 3:22, 37:1 and 40:1, and ‘the hand of the Lord GOD’ at 8:1, each time before a vision.

Verse 4

a whirlwind — The Hebrew joins ruach, wind, to sa’ar, storm: the kind out of which ‘the LORD answered Job’ (Job 38:1). It comes ‘out of the north’, with a great cloud and a ‘fire infolding itself’. ‘Amber’ is chashmal, a gleaming metal, which the KJV has only here, in v.27 and in 8:2.

Verse 5

four living creatures — Chayyot, living ones. Ezekiel later names them: ‘This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims’ (Ezek 10:20). Their appearance is first ‘the likeness of a man’; the verses that follow add wings, hands and faces.

Verse 7

burnished brass — ‘Straight’ is yashar, upright; the sole is ‘like the sole of a calf’s foot’. ‘Burnished’ is qalal, polished, which the KJV has only here and in Dan 10:6, where the man’s arms and feet are ‘like in colour to polished brass’. The feet ‘sparkled’ (natsats), giving back light like metal.

Verse 9

turned not when they went — Sabab, to turn about. Their wings are ‘joined one to another’ (chabar), and the creatures go ‘straight forward’ in whichever direction they move. The same words recur in v.12 and v.17, where they ‘went upon their four sides’, so none has to turn to change course.

Verse 10

the face of an ox — Each creature has the faces of a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle. When the vision returns, the list reads ‘the face of a cherub’, a man, a lion and an eagle (Ezek 10:14), so a cherub’s face stands where the ox stood. Rev 4:7 gives four beasts like a lion, a calf, a man and a flying eagle.

Verse 12

whither the spirit was to go — Ruach, spirit or wind, the word of the ‘whirlwind’ in v.4 and of the ‘spirit of the living creature’ in vv.20–21. The creatures go wherever it leads and do not turn. The same word names the spirit who ‘entered into me’ (2:2) and who ‘took me up’ (3:12).

Verse 14

ran and returned — ‘Ran’ (ratsa) and ‘lightning’ (bazaq) each occur only here in the KJV. ‘Returned’ is shub, to go back: the creatures dart out and come back, quick as lightning, ‘as the appearance of a flash of lightning’. Lightning also issues from the throne in the vision of Rev 4:5, ‘out of the throne proceeded lightnings’.

Verse 15

one wheel upon the earth — Ophan, wheel, the word for these wheels in Ezekiel (1:15–21; 3:13; 10:6–19; 11:22). This wheel stands ‘upon the earth’, while the creatures are ‘lifted up from the earth’ (v.19). At 10:9 Ezekiel counts ‘four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub’.

Verse 16

the colour of a beryl — Tarshish, a gem, the stone of the breastplate (Ex 28:20); Dan 10:6 says of the man in linen, ‘His body also was like the beryl’. The ‘wheel in the middle of a wheel’ is repeated in 10:10, ‘as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel’. Their ‘work’ (ma’aseh) is how they are made.

Verse 18

full of eyes — ‘Rings’ is gab, the curved rim of the wheel, ‘so high that they were dreadful’ (yirah, awe). The eyes appear again at 10:12, where the creatures’ whole body, backs, hands and wings are also ‘full of eyes round about’. In Rev 4:6 the four beasts are ‘full of eyes before and behind’.

Verse 20

the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels — The singular ‘living creature’ (chayah) treats the four as one. Wheels and creatures move together: vv.19 and 21 say the wheels ‘went by them’ and ‘were lifted up’ when they were lifted from the earth. ‘Spirit’ is ruach, as in v.12, so the wheels share the creature’s direction.

Verse 22

the firmament — Raqia, the word of Gen 1:6–8, where God made the firmament to divide the waters and called it Heaven. Here it is ‘as the colour of the terrible crystal’ (qerach, ice or rock crystal; ‘terrible’ is yare, to be feared), stretched over the creatures’ heads, with the throne above it in v.26.

Verse 24

the voice of the Almighty — Shaddai, the name God gave Abraham: ‘I am the Almighty God’ (Gen 17:1). In Ezekiel it occurs only here and at 10:5. The wings sound like ‘great waters’, as the glory’s voice is ‘like a noise of many waters’ in 43:2. When they stood, they ‘let down their wings’ (raphah), and a voice follows from the firmament (v.25).

Verse 26

a sapphire stone — Sappir, the stone beneath his feet at Sinai: ‘a paved work of a sapphire stone’ (Ex 24:10). Ezek 10:1 sees it again. ‘Likeness’ (demuth) occurs three times in this verse: Ezekiel reports a throne’s likeness and ‘the appearance of a man’, and he does not claim to see more.

Verse 27

the colour of amber — Chashmal again (v.4; 8:2). The figure is seen only as fire and brightness, from the loins upward and downward alike. Ezek 8:2 gives the same vision with the order reversed: fire from the loins downward, and from the loins upward ‘brightness, as the colour of amber’.

Verse 28

the bow that is in the cloud — The rainbow recalls the sign God set after the flood: ‘I do set my bow in the cloud’ (Gen 9:13). Rev 4:3 has ‘a rainbow round about the throne’. Ezekiel says it is ‘the likeness of the glory of the LORD’, falls on his face, and hears the voice that begins, ‘Son of man, stand upon thy feet’ (2:1).