Ezekiel 1 — with JFB Commentary
The King James text with the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary (1871, public domain) directly beneath the verses it explains. Verses without a JFB note stand alone.
THY WORD IS TRUTH
The Law
History
Poetry & Wisdom
The Prophets
The Gospels & Acts
The Letters
Prophecy
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” — John 5:39
Ezekiel 1
The Heavens Opened: Ezekiel's Call
1Now 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
INTRODUCTION
The name Ezekiel means "(whom) God will strengthen" [Gesenius]; or, "God will prevail" [Rosenmuller]. His father was Buzi (Eze 1:3), a priest, and he probably exercised the priestly office himself at Jerusalem, previous to his captivity, as appears from the matured priestly character to be seen in his prophecies, a circumstance which much increased his influence with his captive fellow countrymen at Babylon. Tradition represents Sarera as the land of his nativity. His call to prophesy was in the fifth year from the date of his being carried away with Jehoiachin (see 2Ki 24:11-15) by Nebuchadnezzar, 599 B.C. The best portions of the people seem to have been among the first carried away (Eze 11:16; Jr 24:2-7, 8, 10). The ungodly were willing to do anything to remain in their native land; whereas the godly believed the prophets and obeyed the first summons to surrender, as the only path of safety. These latter, as adhering to the theocratic principle, were among the earliest to be removed by the Chaldeans, who believed that, if they were out of the way, the nation would fall to pieces of itself. They were despised by their brethren in the Holy Land not yet captives, as having no share in the temple sacrifices. Thus Ezekiel's sphere of labor was one happier and less impeded by his countrymen than that of Jeremiah at home. The vicinity of the river Chebar, which flows into the Euphrates near Circeslum, was the first scene of his prophecies (Eze 1:1). Tel-Abib there (now Thallaba) was his place of residence (Eze 3:15), whither the elders used to come to inquire as to God's messages through him. They were eager to return to Jerusalem, but he taught them that they must first return to their God. He continued to prophesy for at least twenty-two years, that is, to the twenty-seventh year of the captivity (Eze 29:17), and probably remained with the captives by the Chebar the rest of his life. A treatise, falsely attributed to Epiphanius, states a tradition that he was killed at Babylon by a prince of his people whom he had reproved for idolatry.
He was contemporary with Jeremiah and Daniel. The former had prophesied for thirty-four years before Ezekiel, and continued to do so for six or seven years after him. The call of Ezekiel followed the very next year after the communication of Jeremiah's predictions to Babylon (Jr 51:59), and was divinely intended as a sequel to them. Daniel's predictions are mostly later than Ezekiel's but his piety and wisdom had become proverbial in the early part of Ezekiel's ministry (Eze 14:14, 16; 28:3). They much resemble one another, especially in the visions and grotesque images. It is a remarkable proof of genuineness that in Ezekiel no prophecies against Babylon occur among those directed against the enemies of the covenant-people. Probably he desired not to give needless offence to the government under which he lived. The effect of his labors is to be seen in the improved character of the people towards the close of the captivity, and their general cessation from idolatry and a return to the law. It was little more than thirty years after the close of his labors when the decree of the Jews' restoration was issued. His leading characteristic is realizing, determined energy; this admirably adapted him for opposing the "rebellious house" "of stubborn front and hard heart," and for maintaining the cause of God's Church among his countrymen in a foreign land, when the external framework had fallen to pieces. His style is plain and simple. His conceptions are definite, and the details even of the symbolical and enigmatical parts are given with lifelike minuteness. The obscurity lies in the substance, not in the form, of his communications. The priestly element predominates in his prophecies, arising from his previous training as a priest. He delights to linger about the temple and to find in its symbolical forms the imagery for conveying his instructions. This was divinely ordered to satisfy the spiritual want felt by the people in the absence of the outward temple and its sacrifices. In his images he is magnificent, though austere and somewhat harsh. He abounds in repetitions, not for ornament, but for force and weight. Poetical parallelism is not found except in a few portions, as in the seventh, twenty-first, twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth through thirty-first chapters. His great aim was to stimulate the dormant minds of the Jews. For this end nothing was better suited than the use of mysterious symbols expressed in the plainest words. The superficial, volatile, and wilfully unbelieving would thereby be left to judicial blindness (Is 6:10; Mt 13:11-13, &c.); whereas the better-disposed would be awakened to a deeper search into the things of God by the very obscurity of the symbols. Inattention to this divine purpose has led the modern Jews so to magnify this obscurity as to ordain that no one shall read this book till he has passed his thirtieth year.
Rabbi Hananias is said to have satisfactorily solved the difficulties (Mischna) which were alleged against its canonicity. Ecclesiasticus 49:8 refers to it, and Josephus [Antiquities, 10.5.1]. It is mentioned as part of the canon in Melito's catalogue [Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 4.26]; also in Origen, Jerome, and the Talmud. The oneness of tone throughout and the repetition of favorite expressions exclude the suspicion that separate portions are not genuine. The earlier portion, the first through the thirty-second chapters, which mainly treats of sin and judgment, is a key to interpret the latter portion, which is more hopeful and joyous, but remote in date. Thus a unity and an orderly progressive character are imparted to the whole. The destruction of Jerusalem is the central point. Previous to this he calls to repentance and warns against blind confidence in Egypt (Eze 17:15-17; compare Jr 37:7) or other human stay. After it he consoles the captives by promising them future deliverance and restoration. His prophecies against foreign nations stand between these two great divisions, and were uttered in the interval between the intimation that Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem and the arrival of the news that he had taken it (Eze 33:21). Havernick marks out nine sections:--(1) Ezekiel's call to prophesy (Eze 1:1-3:15). (2) Symbolical predictions of the destruction of Jerusalem (Eze 3:16-7:27). (3) A year and two months later a vision of the temple polluted by Tammuz or Adonis worship; God's consequent scattering of fire over the city and forsaking of the temple to reveal Himself to an inquiring people in exile; happier and purer times to follow (Eze 8:1-11:25). (4) Exposure of the particular sins prevalent in the several classes--priests, prophets, and princes (Eze 12:1-19:14). (5) A year later the warning of judgment for national guilt repeated with greater distinctness as the time drew nearer (Eze 20:1-23:49). (6) Two years and five months later--the very day on which Ezekiel speaks--is announced as the day of the beginning of the siege; Jerusalem shall be overthrown (Eze 24:1-27). (7) Predictions against foreign nations during the interval of his silence towards his own people; if judgment begins at the house of God, much more will it visit the ungodly world (Eze 25:1-32:32). Some of these were uttered much later than others, but they all began to be given after the fall of Jerusalem. (8) In the twelfth year of the captivity, when the fugitives from Jerusalem (Eze 33:21) had appeared in Chaldea, he foretells better times and the re-establishment of Israel and the triumph of God's kingdom on earth over its enemies, Seir, the heathen, and Gog (Eze 33:1-39:29). (9) After an interval of thirteen years the closing vision of the order and beauty of the restored kingdom (Eze 40:1-48:35). The particularity of details as to the temple and its offerings rather discountenances the view of this vision being only symbolical, and not at all literal. The event alone can clear it up. At all events it has not yet been fulfilled; it must be future. Ezekiel was the only prophet (in the strict sense) among the Jews at Babylon. Daniel was rather a seer than a prophet, for the spirit of prophecy was given him to qualify him, not for a spiritual office, but for disclosing future events. His position in a heathen king's palace fitted him for revelations of the outward relations of God's kingdom to the kingdoms of the world, so that his book is ranked by the Jews among the Hagiographa or "Sacred Writings," not among the prophetical Scriptures. On the other hand, Ezekiel was distinctively a prophet, and one who had to do with the inward concerns of the divine kingdom. As a priest, when sent into exile, his service was but transferred from the visible temple at Jerusalem to the spiritual temple in Chaldea.
CHAPTER 1
Eze 1:1-28. Ezekiel's Vision by the Chebar. Four Cherubim and Wheels.
1. Now it came to pass--rather, "And it came," &c. As this formula in Jos 1:1 has reference to the written history of previous times, so here (and in Ru 1:1, and Es 1:1), it refers to the unwritten history which was before the mind of the writer. The prophet by it, as it were, continues the history of the preceding times. In the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign (Jr 51:59), Jeremiah sent by Seraiah a message to the captives (Jr 29:1-32) to submit themselves to God and lay aside their flattering hopes of a speedy restoration. This communication was in the next year, the fifth, and the fourth month of the same king (for Jehoiachin's captivity and Zedekiah's accession coincide in time), followed up by a prophet raised up among the captives themselves, the energetic Ezekiel.
thirtieth year--that is, counting from the beginning of the reign of Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, the era of the Babylonian empire, 625 B.C., which epoch coincides with the eighteenth year of Josiah, that in which the book of the law was found, and the consequent reformation began [Scaliger]; or the thirtieth year of Ezekiel's life. As the Lord was about to be a "little sanctuary" (Eze 11:16) to the exiles on the Chebar, so Ezekiel was to be the ministering priest; therefore he marks his priestly relation to God and the people at the outset; the close, which describes the future temple, thus answering to the beginning. By designating himself expressly as "the priest" (Eze 1:3), and as having reached his thirtieth year (the regular year of priests commencing their office), he marks his office as the priest among the prophets. Thus the opening vision follows naturally as the formal institution of that spiritual temple in which he was to minister [Fairbairn].
Chebar--the same as Chabor or Habor, whither the ten tribes had been transported by Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser (2Ki 17:6; 1Ch 5:26). It flows into the Euphrates near Carchemish or Circesium, two hundred miles north of Babylon.
visions of God--Four expressions are used as to the revelation granted to Ezekiel, the three first having respect to what was presented from without, to assure him of its reality, the fourth to his being internally made fit to receive the revelation; "the heavens were opened" (so Mt 3:16; Ac 7:56; 10:11; Re 19:11); "he saw visions of God"; "the word of Jehovah came verily (as the meaning is rather than 'expressly, English Version, Eze 1:3) unto him" (it was no unreal hallucination); and "the hand of Jehovah was upon him" (Is 8:11; Da 10:10, 18; Re 1:17; the Lord by His touch strengthening him for his high and arduous ministry, that he might be able to witness and report aright the revelations made to him).
INTRODUCTION
The name Ezekiel means "(whom) God will strengthen" [Gesenius]; or, "God will prevail" [Rosenmuller]. His father was Buzi (Eze 1:3), a priest, and he probably exercised the priestly office himself at Jerusalem, previous to his captivity, as appears from the matured priestly character to be seen in his prophecies, a circumstance which much increased his influence with his captive fellow countrymen at Babylon. Tradition represents Sarera as the land of his nativity. His call to prophesy was in the fifth year from the date of his being carried away with Jehoiachin (see 2Ki 24:11-15) by Nebuchadnezzar, 599 B.C. The best portions of the people seem to have been among the first carried away (Eze 11:16; Jr 24:2-7, 8, 10). The ungodly were willing to do anything to remain in their native land; whereas the godly believed the prophets and obeyed the first summons to surrender, as the only path of safety. These latter, as adhering to the theocratic principle, were among the earliest to be removed by the Chaldeans, who believed that, if they were out of the way, the nation would fall to pieces of itself. They were despised by their brethren in the Holy Land not yet captives, as having no share in the temple sacrifices. Thus Ezekiel's sphere of labor was one happier and less impeded by his countrymen than that of Jeremiah at home. The vicinity of the river Chebar, which flows into the Euphrates near Circeslum, was the first scene of his prophecies (Eze 1:1). Tel-Abib there (now Thallaba) was his place of residence (Eze 3:15), whither the elders used to come to inquire as to God's messages through him. They were eager to return to Jerusalem, but he taught them that they must first return to their God. He continued to prophesy for at least twenty-two years, that is, to the twenty-seventh year of the captivity (Eze 29:17), and probably remained with the captives by the Chebar the rest of his life. A treatise, falsely attributed to Epiphanius, states a tradition that he was killed at Babylon by a prince of his people whom he had reproved for idolatry.
He was contemporary with Jeremiah and Daniel. The former had prophesied for thirty-four years before Ezekiel, and continued to do so for six or seven years after him. The call of Ezekiel followed the very next year after the communication of Jeremiah's predictions to Babylon (Jr 51:59), and was divinely intended as a sequel to them. Daniel's predictions are mostly later than Ezekiel's but his piety and wisdom had become proverbial in the early part of Ezekiel's ministry (Eze 14:14, 16; 28:3). They much resemble one another, especially in the visions and grotesque images. It is a remarkable proof of genuineness that in Ezekiel no prophecies against Babylon occur among those directed against the enemies of the covenant-people. Probably he desired not to give needless offence to the government under which he lived. The effect of his labors is to be seen in the improved character of the people towards the close of the captivity, and their general cessation from idolatry and a return to the law. It was little more than thirty years after the close of his labors when the decree of the Jews' restoration was issued. His leading characteristic is realizing, determined energy; this admirably adapted him for opposing the "rebellious house" "of stubborn front and hard heart," and for maintaining the cause of God's Church among his countrymen in a foreign land, when the external framework had fallen to pieces. His style is plain and simple. His conceptions are definite, and the details even of the symbolical and enigmatical parts are given with lifelike minuteness. The obscurity lies in the substance, not in the form, of his communications. The priestly element predominates in his prophecies, arising from his previous training as a priest. He delights to linger about the temple and to find in its symbolical forms the imagery for conveying his instructions. This was divinely ordered to satisfy the spiritual want felt by the people in the absence of the outward temple and its sacrifices. In his images he is magnificent, though austere and somewhat harsh. He abounds in repetitions, not for ornament, but for force and weight. Poetical parallelism is not found except in a few portions, as in the seventh, twenty-first, twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth through thirty-first chapters. His great aim was to stimulate the dormant minds of the Jews. For this end nothing was better suited than the use of mysterious symbols expressed in the plainest words. The superficial, volatile, and wilfully unbelieving would thereby be left to judicial blindness (Is 6:10; Mt 13:11-13, &c.); whereas the better-disposed would be awakened to a deeper search into the things of God by the very obscurity of the symbols. Inattention to this divine purpose has led the modern Jews so to magnify this obscurity as to ordain that no one shall read this book till he has passed his thirtieth year.
Rabbi Hananias is said to have satisfactorily solved the difficulties (Mischna) which were alleged against its canonicity. Ecclesiasticus 49:8 refers to it, and Josephus [Antiquities, 10.5.1]. It is mentioned as part of the canon in Melito's catalogue [Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 4.26]; also in Origen, Jerome, and the Talmud. The oneness of tone throughout and the repetition of favorite expressions exclude the suspicion that separate portions are not genuine. The earlier portion, the first through the thirty-second chapters, which mainly treats of sin and judgment, is a key to interpret the latter portion, which is more hopeful and joyous, but remote in date. Thus a unity and an orderly progressive character are imparted to the whole. The destruction of Jerusalem is the central point. Previous to this he calls to repentance and warns against blind confidence in Egypt (Eze 17:15-17; compare Jr 37:7) or other human stay. After it he consoles the captives by promising them future deliverance and restoration. His prophecies against foreign nations stand between these two great divisions, and were uttered in the interval between the intimation that Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem and the arrival of the news that he had taken it (Eze 33:21). Havernick marks out nine sections:--(1) Ezekiel's call to prophesy (Eze 1:1-3:15). (2) Symbolical predictions of the destruction of Jerusalem (Eze 3:16-7:27). (3) A year and two months later a vision of the temple polluted by Tammuz or Adonis worship; God's consequent scattering of fire over the city and forsaking of the temple to reveal Himself to an inquiring people in exile; happier and purer times to follow (Eze 8:1-11:25). (4) Exposure of the particular sins prevalent in the several classes--priests, prophets, and princes (Eze 12:1-19:14). (5) A year later the warning of judgment for national guilt repeated with greater distinctness as the time drew nearer (Eze 20:1-23:49). (6) Two years and five months later--the very day on which Ezekiel speaks--is announced as the day of the beginning of the siege; Jerusalem shall be overthrown (Eze 24:1-27). (7) Predictions against foreign nations during the interval of his silence towards his own people; if judgment begins at the house of God, much more will it visit the ungodly world (Eze 25:1-32:32). Some of these were uttered much later than others, but they all began to be given after the fall of Jerusalem. (8) In the twelfth year of the captivity, when the fugitives from Jerusalem (Eze 33:21) had appeared in Chaldea, he foretells better times and the re-establishment of Israel and the triumph of God's kingdom on earth over its enemies, Seir, the heathen, and Gog (Eze 33:1-39:29). (9) After an interval of thirteen years the closing vision of the order and beauty of the restored kingdom (Eze 40:1-48:35). The particularity of details as to the temple and its offerings rather discountenances the view of this vision being only symbolical, and not at all literal. The event alone can clear it up. At all events it has not yet been fulfilled; it must be future. Ezekiel was the only prophet (in the strict sense) among the Jews at Babylon. Daniel was rather a seer than a prophet, for the spirit of prophecy was given him to qualify him, not for a spiritual office, but for disclosing future events. His position in a heathen king's palace fitted him for revelations of the outward relations of God's kingdom to the kingdoms of the world, so that his book is ranked by the Jews among the Hagiographa or "Sacred Writings," not among the prophetical Scriptures. On the other hand, Ezekiel was distinctively a prophet, and one who had to do with the inward concerns of the divine kingdom. As a priest, when sent into exile, his service was but transferred from the visible temple at Jerusalem to the spiritual temple in Chaldea.
CHAPTER 1
Eze 1:1-28. Ezekiel's Vision by the Chebar. Four Cherubim and Wheels.
1. Now it came to pass--rather, "And it came," &c. As this formula in Jos 1:1 has reference to the written history of previous times, so here (and in Ru 1:1, and Es 1:1), it refers to the unwritten history which was before the mind of the writer. The prophet by it, as it were, continues the history of the preceding times. In the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign (Jr 51:59), Jeremiah sent by Seraiah a message to the captives (Jr 29:1-32) to submit themselves to God and lay aside their flattering hopes of a speedy restoration. This communication was in the next year, the fifth, and the fourth month of the same king (for Jehoiachin's captivity and Zedekiah's accession coincide in time), followed up by a prophet raised up among the captives themselves, the energetic Ezekiel.
thirtieth year--that is, counting from the beginning of the reign of Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, the era of the Babylonian empire, 625 B.C., which epoch coincides with the eighteenth year of Josiah, that in which the book of the law was found, and the consequent reformation began [Scaliger]; or the thirtieth year of Ezekiel's life. As the Lord was about to be a "little sanctuary" (Eze 11:16) to the exiles on the Chebar, so Ezekiel was to be the ministering priest; therefore he marks his priestly relation to God and the people at the outset; the close, which describes the future temple, thus answering to the beginning. By designating himself expressly as "the priest" (Eze 1:3), and as having reached his thirtieth year (the regular year of priests commencing their office), he marks his office as the priest among the prophets. Thus the opening vision follows naturally as the formal institution of that spiritual temple in which he was to minister [Fairbairn].
Chebar--the same as Chabor or Habor, whither the ten tribes had been transported by Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser (2Ki 17:6; 1Ch 5:26). It flows into the Euphrates near Carchemish or Circesium, two hundred miles north of Babylon.
visions of God--Four expressions are used as to the revelation granted to Ezekiel, the three first having respect to what was presented from without, to assure him of its reality, the fourth to his being internally made fit to receive the revelation; "the heavens were opened" (so Mt 3:16; Ac 7:56; 10:11; Re 19:11); "he saw visions of God"; "the word of Jehovah came verily (as the meaning is rather than 'expressly, English Version, Eze 1:3) unto him" (it was no unreal hallucination); and "the hand of Jehovah was upon him" (Is 8:11; Da 10:10, 18; Re 1:17; the Lord by His touch strengthening him for his high and arduous ministry, that he might be able to witness and report aright the revelations made to him).
The Pulpit Commentary
Now; literally, and. The use of the conjunction indicates here, as in Jon_1:1, that the narrative that follows links itself on to something that has gone before. In Exo_1:1 and 1Sa_1:1 it may point to a connection with the book that precedes it. Here the sequence is subjective. We may think of Ezekiel as retracing the years of his life till he comes to the thirtieth. Then, as it were, he pulls himself up. That must be the starting point of what he has to say. Our English use of "now" is nearly equivalent to this. In the thirtieth year. I incline, following Origen, Hengstenberg, Smend, and others, to refer the date to the prophet's own life. That year in Jewish reckoning was the age of full maturity. At that age the earlier Levites (Num_4:23, Num_4:20, Num_4:39, Num_4:43, Num_4:47) had entered on their duties. It is probable, though no written rule is found, that it was the normal age for the functions of the priesthood. In the case of our Lord (Luk_3:23) and of the Baptist it appears to have been recognized as the starting point of a prophet's work. Jeremiah's call as a "child" was obviously exceptional. Other theories are:
(1) That the years are reckoned from the era of Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, dating from his throwing off the sovereignty of Assyria, and giving here the date B.C. 595 (Michaelis, Rosenmuller, Ewald, and others); but against this it may be urged
(a) that there is no evidence that that era was in use in Ezekiel's time, and
(b) that he nowhere else uses a double historical chronology.
(2) That the years are reckoned from the discovery of the book of the Law in the reign of Josiah (2Ki_22:8; 2Ch_34:14), as a turning point or era in the history of Judah (Targum, Theodoret, Jerome, Havernick), which would again bring us to B.C. 595. This view is, however, open to the same objections as (1). We have no proof that the Jews ever reckoned from that event, and Ezekiel did not want, here or elsewhere, another point to reckon from, as far as his people's history was concerned, than the captivity of Jehoiachin. In the fourth month. Both here and in verse 2 the months are probably reckoned from Abib, or Nisan, the month of the Passover, with which the Jewish year began (Exo_12:2; Neh_2:1; Est_3:7), so that the fourth month, known by later Jews as Tammuz, would bring us to June or July. Among the captives (literally, the captivity) by the river of Chebar. By most earlier commentators the Chebar has been identified with the Chaboras of the Greeks (now the Khabour), which rises in Upper Mesopotamia, at Ras-el-Ain, and falls into the Euphrates at Carcesium, a city which modern geographers distinguish from the Carchemish of the Old Testament. Recent critics, however (Rawlinson, Smend, and others), have urged that this was too far north to be in the "land of the Chaldeans" (verse 3), or Babylon (2Ki_24:16), and have suggested that the Chebar of Ezekiel is the Nahr-Malcha, or Royal Canal of Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest of that king's irrigation works, to which, therefore, the name Chebar (i.e. uniting) would be appropriate. The identification of Chebar with the labor of 2Ki_17:6, to which the ten tribes had been deported (whether, with Rawlinson, we think of that river as identical with the Chaboras, or still further north, near an affluent of the Tigris of the same name), must, for like reasons, be rejected. The two names are, indeed, spelt differently, with initial letters that do not interchange. The heavens were opened. The phrase, not found elsewhere in the Old Testament, appears in Mat_3:16; Joh_1:51; Act_7:56; Act_10:11; Rev_4:1. Visions of God. The words admit of three interpretations:
(1) Great, or wonderful, visions; as in the "mountains of God" (Psa_36:6), the "cedars of God" (Psa_80:10), the "river of God" (Psa_65:9);
(2) visions sent from God; or
(3) actual theophanies or manifestations of the Divine glory, of these (3) is most in harmony with what follows, here and elsewhere, on the phrase (comp. Eze_8:3; Eze_40:2; Eze_43:3). Such a theophany constituted in his ease, as in that of Isaiah (Isa_6:1), Jeremiah (Jer_1:9), Zechariah (Zec_1:8-14), his call to the office of a prophet. The visions may be thought of as manifested to his waking consciousness in an ecstatic state, and are thus distinguished from the dreams of sleep (comp. Joe_2:28 for the distinction between the two—"visions" belonging to the young, and "dreams" to the old). The visions of Balaam, seen in a "trance," but with his "eyes open" (Num_24:3, Num_24:4), and of St. Paul, "whether in the body or out of the body" he could not tell (2Co_12:2, 2Co_12:3), present suggestive parallels.
Now; literally, and. The use of the conjunction indicates here, as in Jon_1:1, that the narrative that follows links itself on to something that has gone before. In Exo_1:1 and 1Sa_1:1 it may point to a connection with the book that precedes it. Here the sequence is subjective. We may think of Ezekiel as retracing the years of his life till he comes to the thirtieth. Then, as it were, he pulls himself up. That must be the starting point of what he has to say. Our English use of "now" is nearly equivalent to this. In the thirtieth year. I incline, following Origen, Hengstenberg, Smend, and others, to refer the date to the prophet's own life. That year in Jewish reckoning was the age of full maturity. At that age the earlier Levites (Num_4:23, Num_4:20, Num_4:39, Num_4:43, Num_4:47) had entered on their duties. It is probable, though no written rule is found, that it was the normal age for the functions of the priesthood. In the case of our Lord (Luk_3:23) and of the Baptist it appears to have been recognized as the starting point of a prophet's work. Jeremiah's call as a "child" was obviously exceptional. Other theories are:
(1) That the years are reckoned from the era of Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, dating from his throwing off the sovereignty of Assyria, and giving here the date B.C. 595 (Michaelis, Rosenmuller, Ewald, and others); but against this it may be urged
(a) that there is no evidence that that era was in use in Ezekiel's time, and
(b) that he nowhere else uses a double historical chronology.
(2) That the years are reckoned from the discovery of the book of the Law in the reign of Josiah (2Ki_22:8; 2Ch_34:14), as a turning point or era in the history of Judah (Targum, Theodoret, Jerome, Havernick), which would again bring us to B.C. 595. This view is, however, open to the same objections as (1). We have no proof that the Jews ever reckoned from that event, and Ezekiel did not want, here or elsewhere, another point to reckon from, as far as his people's history was concerned, than the captivity of Jehoiachin. In the fourth month. Both here and in verse 2 the months are probably reckoned from Abib, or Nisan, the month of the Passover, with which the Jewish year began (Exo_12:2; Neh_2:1; Est_3:7), so that the fourth month, known by later Jews as Tammuz, would bring us to June or July. Among the captives (literally, the captivity) by the river of Chebar. By most earlier commentators the Chebar has been identified with the Chaboras of the Greeks (now the Khabour), which rises in Upper Mesopotamia, at Ras-el-Ain, and falls into the Euphrates at Carcesium, a city which modern geographers distinguish from the Carchemish of the Old Testament. Recent critics, however (Rawlinson, Smend, and others), have urged that this was too far north to be in the "land of the Chaldeans" (verse 3), or Babylon (2Ki_24:16), and have suggested that the Chebar of Ezekiel is the Nahr-Malcha, or Royal Canal of Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest of that king's irrigation works, to which, therefore, the name Chebar (i.e. uniting) would be appropriate. The identification of Chebar with the labor of 2Ki_17:6, to which the ten tribes had been deported (whether, with Rawlinson, we think of that river as identical with the Chaboras, or still further north, near an affluent of the Tigris of the same name), must, for like reasons, be rejected. The two names are, indeed, spelt differently, with initial letters that do not interchange. The heavens were opened. The phrase, not found elsewhere in the Old Testament, appears in Mat_3:16; Joh_1:51; Act_7:56; Act_10:11; Rev_4:1. Visions of God. The words admit of three interpretations:
(1) Great, or wonderful, visions; as in the "mountains of God" (Psa_36:6), the "cedars of God" (Psa_80:10), the "river of God" (Psa_65:9);
(2) visions sent from God; or
(3) actual theophanies or manifestations of the Divine glory, of these (3) is most in harmony with what follows, here and elsewhere, on the phrase (comp. Eze_8:3; Eze_40:2; Eze_43:3). Such a theophany constituted in his ease, as in that of Isaiah (Isa_6:1), Jeremiah (Jer_1:9), Zechariah (Zec_1:8-14), his call to the office of a prophet. The visions may be thought of as manifested to his waking consciousness in an ecstatic state, and are thus distinguished from the dreams of sleep (comp. Joe_2:28 for the distinction between the two—"visions" belonging to the young, and "dreams" to the old). The visions of Balaam, seen in a "trance," but with his "eyes open" (Num_24:3, Num_24:4), and of St. Paul, "whether in the body or out of the body" he could not tell (2Co_12:2, 2Co_12:3), present suggestive parallels.
2In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
2. Jehoiachin's captivity--In the third or fourth year of Jehoiakim, father of Jehoiachin, the first carrying away of Jewish captives to Babylon took place, and among them was Daniel. The second was under Jehoiachin, when Ezekiel was carried away. The third and final one was at the taking of Jerusalem under Zedekiah.
2. Jehoiachin's captivity--In the third or fourth year of Jehoiakim, father of Jehoiachin, the first carrying away of Jewish captives to Babylon took place, and among them was Daniel. The second was under Jehoiachin, when Ezekiel was carried away. The third and final one was at the taking of Jerusalem under Zedekiah.
The Pulpit Commentary
The fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity. The date of this deportation stands as B.C. 599 (2Ki_24:8-16; 2Ch_36:9, 2Ch_36:10), and thus brings us to B.C. 595 4 as the time of Ezekiel's first vision. It was for him and for his fellow exiles a natural starting point to reckon from. It would have been, in one sense, as natural to reckon from the beginning of Zedekiah's reign, as Jeremiah does (Jer_39:1, Jer_39:2), but Ezekiel does not recognize that prince—who was, as it were, a mere satrap under Nebuchadnezzar—as a true king, and throughout his book systematically adheres to this era (Eze_8:1; Eze_20:1; Eze_24:1, et al.). About this time, but a year before, the false prophets of Judah were prophesying the overthrow of Babylon and the return of Jeconiah within two years (Jer_28:3), and the expectations thus raised were probably shared by many of Ezekiel's companions in exile, while he himself adhered to the counsels of the leter which Jeremiah had sent (Jer_29:1-23) to the Jews of the Captivity. To one who felt himself thus apart from his brethren, musing over many things, and perhaps perplexed with the conflict of prophetic voices, there was given, in the "visions of God" which he relates, the guidance that he needed. They did not break in, we may well believe, suddenly and without preparation on the normal order of his life. Like other prophets, he felt, even before his call, the burdens of his time. and vexed his soul with the ungodly deeds of these among whom he lived.
The fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity. The date of this deportation stands as B.C. 599 (2Ki_24:8-16; 2Ch_36:9, 2Ch_36:10), and thus brings us to B.C. 595 4 as the time of Ezekiel's first vision. It was for him and for his fellow exiles a natural starting point to reckon from. It would have been, in one sense, as natural to reckon from the beginning of Zedekiah's reign, as Jeremiah does (Jer_39:1, Jer_39:2), but Ezekiel does not recognize that prince—who was, as it were, a mere satrap under Nebuchadnezzar—as a true king, and throughout his book systematically adheres to this era (Eze_8:1; Eze_20:1; Eze_24:1, et al.). About this time, but a year before, the false prophets of Judah were prophesying the overthrow of Babylon and the return of Jeconiah within two years (Jer_28:3), and the expectations thus raised were probably shared by many of Ezekiel's companions in exile, while he himself adhered to the counsels of the leter which Jeremiah had sent (Jer_29:1-23) to the Jews of the Captivity. To one who felt himself thus apart from his brethren, musing over many things, and perhaps perplexed with the conflict of prophetic voices, there was given, in the "visions of God" which he relates, the guidance that he needed. They did not break in, we may well believe, suddenly and without preparation on the normal order of his life. Like other prophets, he felt, even before his call, the burdens of his time. and vexed his soul with the ungodly deeds of these among whom he lived.
3The 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 Pulpit Commentary
The word of the Lord came expressly, etc.; literally, coming, there come the word of the Lord; the iteration having (as commonly in this combination in Hebrew) the force of emphasis. The phrase stands, as elsewhere, for the conscious inspiration which made men feel that Jehovah had indeed spoken unto them, and that they had a message from him to deliver. To give parallel passages would be to copy several pages from a concordance, but it may not be without interest to note its first (Gen_15:1) and last (Mal_1:1) occurrences in the Old Testament, and its reappear, race in the New Testament (Luk_3:2). Unto Ezekiel. We note the transition from the first person to the third; but it does not give sufficient ground for rejecting either verse 1 or verse 2, 3 as an interpolation. (For the prophet's name, which appears only here and in Eze_24:24, see Introduction; and for "land of Chaldeans," note on Eze_24:1.) The hand of the Lord. Here again we haw a phrase of frequent occurrence, used of Elijah (1Ki_18:46), of Elisha (2Ki_3:15), of Daniel (Dan_8:18; Dan_10:10), of Isaiah (Isa_8:11), of St. John (Rev_1:17). The "hand" of the Lord is the natural symbol of his power, and the phrase seems to be used to add to the consciousness of inspiration, that of a constraining, irresistible power. Ezekiel continually uses it (Eze_3:14, Eze_3:22; Eze_8:1; Eze_33:22; Eze_37:1; Eze_40:1).
The word of the Lord came expressly, etc.; literally, coming, there come the word of the Lord; the iteration having (as commonly in this combination in Hebrew) the force of emphasis. The phrase stands, as elsewhere, for the conscious inspiration which made men feel that Jehovah had indeed spoken unto them, and that they had a message from him to deliver. To give parallel passages would be to copy several pages from a concordance, but it may not be without interest to note its first (Gen_15:1) and last (Mal_1:1) occurrences in the Old Testament, and its reappear, race in the New Testament (Luk_3:2). Unto Ezekiel. We note the transition from the first person to the third; but it does not give sufficient ground for rejecting either verse 1 or verse 2, 3 as an interpolation. (For the prophet's name, which appears only here and in Eze_24:24, see Introduction; and for "land of Chaldeans," note on Eze_24:1.) The hand of the Lord. Here again we haw a phrase of frequent occurrence, used of Elijah (1Ki_18:46), of Elisha (2Ki_3:15), of Daniel (Dan_8:18; Dan_10:10), of Isaiah (Isa_8:11), of St. John (Rev_1:17). The "hand" of the Lord is the natural symbol of his power, and the phrase seems to be used to add to the consciousness of inspiration, that of a constraining, irresistible power. Ezekiel continually uses it (Eze_3:14, Eze_3:22; Eze_8:1; Eze_33:22; Eze_37:1; Eze_40:1).
The Vision of the Four Living Creatures
4And 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. whirlwind--emblematic of God's judgments (Jr 23:19; 25:32).
out of the north--that is, from Chaldea, whose hostile forces would invade Judea from a northerly direction. The prophet conceives himself in the temple.
fire infolding itself--laying hold on whatever surrounds it, drawing it to itself, and devouring it. Literally, "catching itself," that is, kindling itself [Fairbairn]. The same Hebrew occurs in Ex 9:24, as to the "fire mingled with the hail."
brightness ... about it--that is, about the "cloud."
out of the midst thereof--that is, out of the midst of the "fire."
colour of amber--rather, "the glancing brightness (literally, 'the eye', and so the glancing appearance) of polished brass. The Hebrew, chasmal, is from two roots, "smooth" and "brass" (compare Eze 1:7; Re 1:15) [Gesenius]. The Septuagint and Vulgate translate it, "electrum"; a brilliant metal compounded of gold and silver.
4. whirlwind--emblematic of God's judgments (Jr 23:19; 25:32).
out of the north--that is, from Chaldea, whose hostile forces would invade Judea from a northerly direction. The prophet conceives himself in the temple.
fire infolding itself--laying hold on whatever surrounds it, drawing it to itself, and devouring it. Literally, "catching itself," that is, kindling itself [Fairbairn]. The same Hebrew occurs in Ex 9:24, as to the "fire mingled with the hail."
brightness ... about it--that is, about the "cloud."
out of the midst thereof--that is, out of the midst of the "fire."
colour of amber--rather, "the glancing brightness (literally, 'the eye', and so the glancing appearance) of polished brass. The Hebrew, chasmal, is from two roots, "smooth" and "brass" (compare Eze 1:7; Re 1:15) [Gesenius]. The Septuagint and Vulgate translate it, "electrum"; a brilliant metal compounded of gold and silver.
The Pulpit Commentary
A whirlwind came out of the north. What, we ask, was the meaning of this symbolism? In Jer_1:13, Jer_1:14 a like symbol is explained as meaning that the judgments which Judah was to suffer were to come from the north, that is, from Chaldea, upon the prophet's countrymen. Here the prophet is himself in Chaldea, and what he sees is the symbol, not or calamities, but of the Divine glory, and that explanation is, accordingly, inapplicable. Probably the leading thought here is that the Divine presence is no longer in the temple at Jerusalem, It may return for a time to execute judgment (Eze_8:4; Eze_10:1, Eze_10:19, Eze_10:20), and may again depart (Eze_11:23), but the abiding glory is elsewhere, and the temple is as Shitoh had been of old (Psa_78:60). Ezekiel was looking on the visible symbol of what had been declared in unfigurative language by Jeremiah (Jer_7:12, Jer_7:14; Jer_26:6, Jer_26:9). That the north should have been chosen rather than any other quarter of the heavens is perhaps connected
(1) with Job_37:22, where it appears as the region of "fair weather," the unclouded brightness of the "terrible majesty" of God;
(2) with Isa_14:13, where "the sides of the north" are the symbols of the dwelling place of God. For the Jews this was probably associated with the thought of the mountain heights of Lebanon as rising up to heaven (Currey, on Eze_1:4, in 'Speaker's Commentary'), or with the fact that the "north side" of Zion (Psa_48:2), as the site of the temple, was the "dwelling place of the great King." Parallels present themselves in the Assyrian hymns that speak of the "feasts of the silver mountains, the heavenly courts" (as the Greeks spoke of Olympus), "where the gods dwell eternally" ('Records of the Past,' 3:133), and this ideal mountain was for them, like the Meru of Indian legend, in the farthest north. So, in the legendary geography of Greece, the Hyperborei, or "people beyond the north," were a holy and blessed race, the chosen servants of Apollo. Possibly the brilliant coruscations of an Aurora Borealis may have led men to think of it as they thought of the glory of the dawn or the brightness of the lightning, as a momentary revelation of the higher glory of the throne of God. (For the "whirlwind" as the accompaniment of a Divine revelation, see 1Ki_19:11; Job_38:1; Act_2:2.) A great cloud, etc. So far the signs of the approaching theophany were like those on Sinai (Exo_19:16, Exo_19:18) and Horeb (1Ki_19:11). With a fire infolding itself; the Revised Version margin gives flashing continually. The Authorized Version suggests the thought of a globe of fire darting its rays through the surrounding darkness. The colour of amber; literally, the eye. The Hebrew word for "amber" (chashmal) occurs only here and in Isa_14:27 and Isa_8:2. It is almost absolutely certain that it does not mean what we know as "amber." The LXX. and Vulgate give electrum, and this, in later Greek and Latin authors, has "amber" for one of its meanings. Primarily, however, it was used for a metallic substance of some kind, specifically for a compound four parts of gold and one of silver (Pithy, 'Hist. Nat.,' 23.4, s. 23). Some such compound is probably what we have to think of here, and so the description finds a parallel in Dan_10:6; Rev_1:15. This, in its ineffable brightness, is seen in the centre of the globe of fire. One may compare Dante's vision of the Divine glory ('Paradise,' 33:55).
A whirlwind came out of the north. What, we ask, was the meaning of this symbolism? In Jer_1:13, Jer_1:14 a like symbol is explained as meaning that the judgments which Judah was to suffer were to come from the north, that is, from Chaldea, upon the prophet's countrymen. Here the prophet is himself in Chaldea, and what he sees is the symbol, not or calamities, but of the Divine glory, and that explanation is, accordingly, inapplicable. Probably the leading thought here is that the Divine presence is no longer in the temple at Jerusalem, It may return for a time to execute judgment (Eze_8:4; Eze_10:1, Eze_10:19, Eze_10:20), and may again depart (Eze_11:23), but the abiding glory is elsewhere, and the temple is as Shitoh had been of old (Psa_78:60). Ezekiel was looking on the visible symbol of what had been declared in unfigurative language by Jeremiah (Jer_7:12, Jer_7:14; Jer_26:6, Jer_26:9). That the north should have been chosen rather than any other quarter of the heavens is perhaps connected
(1) with Job_37:22, where it appears as the region of "fair weather," the unclouded brightness of the "terrible majesty" of God;
(2) with Isa_14:13, where "the sides of the north" are the symbols of the dwelling place of God. For the Jews this was probably associated with the thought of the mountain heights of Lebanon as rising up to heaven (Currey, on Eze_1:4, in 'Speaker's Commentary'), or with the fact that the "north side" of Zion (Psa_48:2), as the site of the temple, was the "dwelling place of the great King." Parallels present themselves in the Assyrian hymns that speak of the "feasts of the silver mountains, the heavenly courts" (as the Greeks spoke of Olympus), "where the gods dwell eternally" ('Records of the Past,' 3:133), and this ideal mountain was for them, like the Meru of Indian legend, in the farthest north. So, in the legendary geography of Greece, the Hyperborei, or "people beyond the north," were a holy and blessed race, the chosen servants of Apollo. Possibly the brilliant coruscations of an Aurora Borealis may have led men to think of it as they thought of the glory of the dawn or the brightness of the lightning, as a momentary revelation of the higher glory of the throne of God. (For the "whirlwind" as the accompaniment of a Divine revelation, see 1Ki_19:11; Job_38:1; Act_2:2.) A great cloud, etc. So far the signs of the approaching theophany were like those on Sinai (Exo_19:16, Exo_19:18) and Horeb (1Ki_19:11). With a fire infolding itself; the Revised Version margin gives flashing continually. The Authorized Version suggests the thought of a globe of fire darting its rays through the surrounding darkness. The colour of amber; literally, the eye. The Hebrew word for "amber" (chashmal) occurs only here and in Isa_14:27 and Isa_8:2. It is almost absolutely certain that it does not mean what we know as "amber." The LXX. and Vulgate give electrum, and this, in later Greek and Latin authors, has "amber" for one of its meanings. Primarily, however, it was used for a metallic substance of some kind, specifically for a compound four parts of gold and one of silver (Pithy, 'Hist. Nat.,' 23.4, s. 23). Some such compound is probably what we have to think of here, and so the description finds a parallel in Dan_10:6; Rev_1:15. This, in its ineffable brightness, is seen in the centre of the globe of fire. One may compare Dante's vision of the Divine glory ('Paradise,' 33:55).
5Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. Ezekiel was himself of a "gigantic nature, and thereby suited to counteract the Babylonish spirit of the times, which loved to manifest itself in gigantic, grotesque forms" [Hengstenberg].
living creatures--So the Greek ought to have been translated in the parallel passage, Re 4:6, not as English Version, "beasts"; for one of the "four" is a man, and man cannot be termed "beast." Eze 10:20 shows that it is the cherubim that are meant.
likeness of a man--Man, the noblest of the four, is the ideal model after which they are fashioned (Eze 1:10; Eze 10:14). The point of comparison between him and them is the erect posture of their bodies, though doubtless including also the general mien. Also the hands (Eze 10:21).
5. Ezekiel was himself of a "gigantic nature, and thereby suited to counteract the Babylonish spirit of the times, which loved to manifest itself in gigantic, grotesque forms" [Hengstenberg].
living creatures--So the Greek ought to have been translated in the parallel passage, Re 4:6, not as English Version, "beasts"; for one of the "four" is a man, and man cannot be termed "beast." Eze 10:20 shows that it is the cherubim that are meant.
likeness of a man--Man, the noblest of the four, is the ideal model after which they are fashioned (Eze 1:10; Eze 10:14). The point of comparison between him and them is the erect posture of their bodies, though doubtless including also the general mien. Also the hands (Eze 10:21).
The Pulpit Commentary
The likeness of four living creatures. The Authorized Version is happier here in its rendering than in Rev_4:6, where we find "beasts" applied to the analogues of the forms of Ezekiel's vision. There the Greek gives ζῶα, as the LXX. does here, while in Dan_7:3-7 we have θήρια In Eze_10:15 they are identified with the "cherubim" of the mercy seat; but the fact that they are not so named here is presumptive evidence that Ezekiel did not at first recognize them as identical with what he had heard of those cherubim, or with the other like forms that were seen, as they were not seen, in the temple (1Ki_6:29; 1Ki_7:29), on its walls (2Ch_3:7), and on its veil or curtain (Exo_36:35). What he sees is, in fact, a highly complicated development of the cherubic symbols, which might well appear strange to him. It is possible (as Dean Stanley and others have suggested) that the Assyrian and Babylonian sculptures, the winged bulls and lions with human heads, which Ezekiel may have seen in his exile, were elements in that development. The likeness of a man. This apparently was the first impression. The "living creatures" were not, like the Assyrian forms just referred to, quadrupeds. They stood erect, and had feet and hands as men have.
The likeness of four living creatures. The Authorized Version is happier here in its rendering than in Rev_4:6, where we find "beasts" applied to the analogues of the forms of Ezekiel's vision. There the Greek gives ζῶα, as the LXX. does here, while in Dan_7:3-7 we have θήρια In Eze_10:15 they are identified with the "cherubim" of the mercy seat; but the fact that they are not so named here is presumptive evidence that Ezekiel did not at first recognize them as identical with what he had heard of those cherubim, or with the other like forms that were seen, as they were not seen, in the temple (1Ki_6:29; 1Ki_7:29), on its walls (2Ch_3:7), and on its veil or curtain (Exo_36:35). What he sees is, in fact, a highly complicated development of the cherubic symbols, which might well appear strange to him. It is possible (as Dean Stanley and others have suggested) that the Assyrian and Babylonian sculptures, the winged bulls and lions with human heads, which Ezekiel may have seen in his exile, were elements in that development. The likeness of a man. This apparently was the first impression. The "living creatures" were not, like the Assyrian forms just referred to, quadrupeds. They stood erect, and had feet and hands as men have.
6And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
6. Not only were there four distinct living creatures, but each of the four had four faces, making sixteen in all. The four living creatures of the cherubim answer by contrast to the four world monarchies represented by four beasts, Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome (Da 7:1-28). The Fathers identified them with the four Gospels: Matthew the lion, Mark the ox, Luke the man, John the eagle. Two cherubim only stood over the ark in the temple; two more are now added, to imply that, while the law is retained as the basis, a new form is needed to be added to impart new life to it. The number four may have respect to the four quarters of the world, to imply that God's angels execute His commands everywhere. Each head in front had the face of a man as the primary and prominent one: on the right the face of a lion, on the left the face of an ox, above from behind the face of an eagle. The Mosaic cherubim were similar, only that the human faces were put looking towards each other, and towards the mercy seat between, being formed out of the same mass of pure gold as the latter (Ex 25:19, 20). In Is 6:2 two wings are added to cover their countenances; because there they stand by the throne, here under the throne; there God deigns to consult them, and His condescension calls forth their humility, so that they veil their faces before Him; here they execute His commands. The face expresses their intelligence; the wings, their rapidity in fulfilling God's will. The Shekinah or flame, that signified God's presence, and the written name, Jehovah, occupied the intervening space between the cherubim Ge 4:14, 16; 3:24 ("placed"; properly, "to place in a tabernacle"), imply that the cherubim were appointed at the fall as symbols of God's presence in a consecrated place, and that man was to worship there. In the patriarchal dispensation when the flood had caused the removal of the cherubim from Eden, seraphim or teraphim (Chaldean dialect) were made as models of them for domestic use (Ge 31:19, Margin; Ge 31:30). The silence of the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth chapters of Exodus to their configuration, whereas everything else is minutely described, is because their form was so well-known already to Bezaleel and all Israel by tradition as to need no detailed description. Hence Ezekiel (Eze 10:20) at once knows them, for he had seen them repeatedly in the carved work of the outer sanctuary of Solomon's temple (1Ki 6:23-29). He therefore consoles the exiles with the hope of having the same cherubim in the renovated temple which should be reared; and he assures them that the same God who dwelt between the cherubim of the temple would be still with His people by the Chebar. But they were not in Zerubbabel's temple; therefore Ezekiel's foretold temple, if literal, is yet future. The ox is selected as chief of the tame animals, the lion among the wild, the eagle among birds, and man the head of all, in his ideal, realized by the Lord Jesus, combining all the excellencies of the animal kingdom. The cherubim probably represent the ruling powers by which God acts in the natural and moral world. Hence they sometimes answer to the ministering angels; elsewhere, to the redeemed saints (the elect Church) through whom, as by the angels, God shall hereafter rule the world and proclaim the manifold wisdom of God (Mt 19:28; 1Co 6:2; Ep 3:10; Re 3:21; 4:6-8). The "lions" and "oxen," amidst "palms" and "open flowers" carved in the temple, were the four-faced cherubim which, being traced on a flat surface, presented only one aspect of the four. The human-headed winged bulls and eagle-headed gods found in Nineveh, sculptured amidst palms and tulip-shaped flowers, were borrowed by corrupted tradition from the cherubim placed in Eden near its fruits and flowers. So the Aaronic calf (Ex 32:4, 5) and Jeroboam's calves at Dan and Beth-el, a schismatic imitation of the sacred symbols in the temple at Jerusalem. So the ox figures of Apis on the sacred arks of Egypt.
6. Not only were there four distinct living creatures, but each of the four had four faces, making sixteen in all. The four living creatures of the cherubim answer by contrast to the four world monarchies represented by four beasts, Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome (Da 7:1-28). The Fathers identified them with the four Gospels: Matthew the lion, Mark the ox, Luke the man, John the eagle. Two cherubim only stood over the ark in the temple; two more are now added, to imply that, while the law is retained as the basis, a new form is needed to be added to impart new life to it. The number four may have respect to the four quarters of the world, to imply that God's angels execute His commands everywhere. Each head in front had the face of a man as the primary and prominent one: on the right the face of a lion, on the left the face of an ox, above from behind the face of an eagle. The Mosaic cherubim were similar, only that the human faces were put looking towards each other, and towards the mercy seat between, being formed out of the same mass of pure gold as the latter (Ex 25:19, 20). In Is 6:2 two wings are added to cover their countenances; because there they stand by the throne, here under the throne; there God deigns to consult them, and His condescension calls forth their humility, so that they veil their faces before Him; here they execute His commands. The face expresses their intelligence; the wings, their rapidity in fulfilling God's will. The Shekinah or flame, that signified God's presence, and the written name, Jehovah, occupied the intervening space between the cherubim Ge 4:14, 16; 3:24 ("placed"; properly, "to place in a tabernacle"), imply that the cherubim were appointed at the fall as symbols of God's presence in a consecrated place, and that man was to worship there. In the patriarchal dispensation when the flood had caused the removal of the cherubim from Eden, seraphim or teraphim (Chaldean dialect) were made as models of them for domestic use (Ge 31:19, Margin; Ge 31:30). The silence of the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth chapters of Exodus to their configuration, whereas everything else is minutely described, is because their form was so well-known already to Bezaleel and all Israel by tradition as to need no detailed description. Hence Ezekiel (Eze 10:20) at once knows them, for he had seen them repeatedly in the carved work of the outer sanctuary of Solomon's temple (1Ki 6:23-29). He therefore consoles the exiles with the hope of having the same cherubim in the renovated temple which should be reared; and he assures them that the same God who dwelt between the cherubim of the temple would be still with His people by the Chebar. But they were not in Zerubbabel's temple; therefore Ezekiel's foretold temple, if literal, is yet future. The ox is selected as chief of the tame animals, the lion among the wild, the eagle among birds, and man the head of all, in his ideal, realized by the Lord Jesus, combining all the excellencies of the animal kingdom. The cherubim probably represent the ruling powers by which God acts in the natural and moral world. Hence they sometimes answer to the ministering angels; elsewhere, to the redeemed saints (the elect Church) through whom, as by the angels, God shall hereafter rule the world and proclaim the manifold wisdom of God (Mt 19:28; 1Co 6:2; Ep 3:10; Re 3:21; 4:6-8). The "lions" and "oxen," amidst "palms" and "open flowers" carved in the temple, were the four-faced cherubim which, being traced on a flat surface, presented only one aspect of the four. The human-headed winged bulls and eagle-headed gods found in Nineveh, sculptured amidst palms and tulip-shaped flowers, were borrowed by corrupted tradition from the cherubim placed in Eden near its fruits and flowers. So the Aaronic calf (Ex 32:4, 5) and Jeroboam's calves at Dan and Beth-el, a schismatic imitation of the sacred symbols in the temple at Jerusalem. So the ox figures of Apis on the sacred arks of Egypt.
The Pulpit Commentary
We note the points of contrast with other like visions.
(1) In Isa_6:2 each seraph has six wings, as each "living creature" has in Rev_4:8.
(2) In Rev_4:7 the four heads are distributed, one to each of the "living creatures," while here each has four faces, and forms, as it were, a Janus quadrifrons. The wings are described more minutely in Rev_4:11.
We note the points of contrast with other like visions.
(1) In Isa_6:2 each seraph has six wings, as each "living creature" has in Rev_4:8.
(2) In Rev_4:7 the four heads are distributed, one to each of the "living creatures," while here each has four faces, and forms, as it were, a Janus quadrifrons. The wings are described more minutely in Rev_4:11.
7And 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
7. straight feet--that is, straight legs. Not protruding in any part as the legs of an ox, but straight like a man's [Grotius]. Or, like solid pillars; not bending, as man's, at the knee. They glided along, rather than walked. Their movements were all sure, right, and without effort [Kitto, Cyclopedia].
sole ... calf's foot--Henderson hence supposes that "straight feet" implies that they did not project horizontally like men's feet, but vertically as calves' feet. The solid firmness of the round foot of a calf seems to be the point of comparison.
colour--the glittering appearance, indicating God's purity.
7. straight feet--that is, straight legs. Not protruding in any part as the legs of an ox, but straight like a man's [Grotius]. Or, like solid pillars; not bending, as man's, at the knee. They glided along, rather than walked. Their movements were all sure, right, and without effort [Kitto, Cyclopedia].
sole ... calf's foot--Henderson hence supposes that "straight feet" implies that they did not project horizontally like men's feet, but vertically as calves' feet. The solid firmness of the round foot of a calf seems to be the point of comparison.
colour--the glittering appearance, indicating God's purity.
The Pulpit Commentary
Their feet were straight feet, etc. The noun is probably used as including the lower part of the leg, and what is meant is that the legs were not bent, or kneeling. What we may call the bovine symbolism appears at the extremity, and the actual foot is round like a calf's. The LXX. curiously enough gives "their feet were winged (πτερωτοὶ)." Burnished brass. Probably a shade less brilliant, or more ruddy, than the electrum of Eze_1:4 (see note there).
Their feet were straight feet, etc. The noun is probably used as including the lower part of the leg, and what is meant is that the legs were not bent, or kneeling. What we may call the bovine symbolism appears at the extremity, and the actual foot is round like a calf's. The LXX. curiously enough gives "their feet were winged (πτερωτοὶ)." Burnished brass. Probably a shade less brilliant, or more ruddy, than the electrum of Eze_1:4 (see note there).
8And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
8. The hands of each were the hands of a man. The hand is the symbol of active power, guided by skilfulness (Psa 78:72).
under their wings--signifying their operations are hidden from our too curious prying; and as the "wings" signify something more than human, namely, the secret prompting of God, it is also implied that they are moved by it and not by their own power, so that they do nothing at random, but all with divine wisdom.
they four had ... faces and ... wings--He returns to what he had stated already in Eze 1:6; this gives a reason why they had hands on their four sides, namely, because they had faces and wings on the four sides. They moved whithersoever they would, not by active energy merely, but also by knowledge (expressed by their faces) and divine guidance (expressed by their "wings").
8. The hands of each were the hands of a man. The hand is the symbol of active power, guided by skilfulness (Psa 78:72).
under their wings--signifying their operations are hidden from our too curious prying; and as the "wings" signify something more than human, namely, the secret prompting of God, it is also implied that they are moved by it and not by their own power, so that they do nothing at random, but all with divine wisdom.
they four had ... faces and ... wings--He returns to what he had stated already in Eze 1:6; this gives a reason why they had hands on their four sides, namely, because they had faces and wings on the four sides. They moved whithersoever they would, not by active energy merely, but also by knowledge (expressed by their faces) and divine guidance (expressed by their "wings").
The Pulpit Commentary
They had the hands of a man, etc. The prophet seems to describe each detail in the order in which it presented itself to him. What he next sees is that each of the four forms has two hands on each of its four sides. Nothing could supersede that symbol of activity and strength.
They had the hands of a man, etc. The prophet seems to describe each detail in the order in which it presented itself to him. What he next sees is that each of the four forms has two hands on each of its four sides. Nothing could supersede that symbol of activity and strength.
9Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
9. they--had no occasion to turn themselves round when changing their direction, for they had a face (Eze 1:6) looking to each of the four quarters of heaven. They made no mistakes; and their work needed not be gone over again. Their wings were joined above in pairs (see Eze 1:11).
9. they--had no occasion to turn themselves round when changing their direction, for they had a face (Eze 1:6) looking to each of the four quarters of heaven. They made no mistakes; and their work needed not be gone over again. Their wings were joined above in pairs (see Eze 1:11).
The Pulpit Commentary
Their wings were joined, etc. As interpreted by Eze_1:11 and Eze_1:24, two of the wings were always down, and when the living creatures moved, two were extended upwards, so that their tips touched, and were in this sense "joined." When at rest, these were let down again (Eze_1:24). They turned not, etc. We note the emphasis of the threefold iteration of the fact (Eze_1:12, Eze_1:17). None of the four forms revolved on its axis. The motion of what we may call the composite quadrilateral was simply rectilinear. Did the symbolism represent the directness, the straightforwardness, of the Divine energy manifested in the universe?
Their wings were joined, etc. As interpreted by Eze_1:11 and Eze_1:24, two of the wings were always down, and when the living creatures moved, two were extended upwards, so that their tips touched, and were in this sense "joined." When at rest, these were let down again (Eze_1:24). They turned not, etc. We note the emphasis of the threefold iteration of the fact (Eze_1:12, Eze_1:17). None of the four forms revolved on its axis. The motion of what we may call the composite quadrilateral was simply rectilinear. Did the symbolism represent the directness, the straightforwardness, of the Divine energy manifested in the universe?
10As 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
10. they ... had the face of a man--namely, in front. The human face was the primary and prominent one and the fundamental part of the composite whole. On its right was the lion's face; on the left, the ox's (called "cherub," Eze 10:14); at the back from above was the eagle's.
10. they ... had the face of a man--namely, in front. The human face was the primary and prominent one and the fundamental part of the composite whole. On its right was the lion's face; on the left, the ox's (called "cherub," Eze 10:14); at the back from above was the eagle's.
The Pulpit Commentary
As for the likeness, etc. The Revised Version rightly strikes out the comma after "lion." The human face meets the prophet's gaze. On the right he sees the lion, on the left the ox, while the face of the eagle is behind. What did the symbols mean?
(1) The human face represents the thought that man, as made "after the image of God" (Gen_1:27), is the highest symbol of the Eternal. So long as we remember that it is but a symbol, anthropomorphism is legitimate in thought, and appropriate in visions; though, like theriomorphism, it becomes perilous, and is therefore forbidden (Exo_20:4; Deu_4:17) when it takes concrete form in metal or in stone. So Daniel (Dan_7:9, Dan_7:13) sees the "Ancient of Days" and "one like unto a son of man;" and St. John's vision (Rev_1:13) represents the same symbolism.
(2) The lion had been the familiar emblem of sovereignty, both in the temple of Solomon (1Ki_7:29) and in his palace (1Ki_10:20; 2Ch_9:18 :19). So, in Gen_49:9, it is the symbol of the kingly power of Judah, and appears with a yet higher application in Rev_5:5; while, on the other hand, it represents one of the great monarchies of the world in Dan_7:4. Its modern heraldic use in the arms of England and elsewhere presents yet another analogue.
(3) The ox had appeared, as here, so also in 1Ki_7:25, 1Ki_7:44, in company with the lion, notably in the twelve oxen that supported the "sea" or "laver" in the temple. Here also we have a kind of sovereignty—the natural symbol of a strength made subservient to human uses. Both the lion and the ox, as we have seen, may have become familiar to Ezekiel as a priest ministering in the temple or as an exile.
(4) The eagle was, in like manner, though not taking its place in the symbolism of the temple, the emblem of kingly power, and is so employed by Ezekiel himself in Eze_17:3, Eze_17:7; while in Dan_7:4 the lion has eagle's wings (comp. Hos_8:1; Isa_46:11; Oba_1:4; Hab_1:8). In Assyrian sculpture Nisroch (the name is cognate with the Hebrew for "eagle," nesher) appears as an eagle-headed human figure, and is always represented as contending with or conquering the lion and the bull. The facts suggest the inference
(1) that Ezekiel may have seen this symbol;
(2) that over and above the general thought that all the powers of nature are subject to the government of God, there was also the more specific thought that the great kingdoms of the earth were but servants of his, to do his pleasure? The reproduction of the fourfold form, with the variation already noticed, in Rev_4:7, is every way suggestive, and it is, at least, a natural inference that the symbols had acquired a new significance through the new truths that had been revealed to the seer of Patrons; that the human face may have connected itself with the thought of the Son of man who shared in the glory of the Father; the ox with that of his sacrifice; the lion with that of his sovereignty over Israel, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev_5:5); the eagle with that of his bearing his people as on eagles' wings, into the highest heavens (Exo_19:4; Deu_32:11) The patristic interpretation, which finds in the four living creatures the symbols of the four evangelists, must be considered as the play of a devout imagination, but not as unfolding the meaning of either Ezekiel or St. John. In the later Jewish tradition the four forms are assigned, taking Ezekiel's order, to the tribes of Reuben, Judah, Ephraim, and Dan, as the "standards" (Num_2:2) which they generally bore when encamped in the wilderness; but this is obviously outside the range of the prophet's thoughts.
As for the likeness, etc. The Revised Version rightly strikes out the comma after "lion." The human face meets the prophet's gaze. On the right he sees the lion, on the left the ox, while the face of the eagle is behind. What did the symbols mean?
(1) The human face represents the thought that man, as made "after the image of God" (Gen_1:27), is the highest symbol of the Eternal. So long as we remember that it is but a symbol, anthropomorphism is legitimate in thought, and appropriate in visions; though, like theriomorphism, it becomes perilous, and is therefore forbidden (Exo_20:4; Deu_4:17) when it takes concrete form in metal or in stone. So Daniel (Dan_7:9, Dan_7:13) sees the "Ancient of Days" and "one like unto a son of man;" and St. John's vision (Rev_1:13) represents the same symbolism.
(2) The lion had been the familiar emblem of sovereignty, both in the temple of Solomon (1Ki_7:29) and in his palace (1Ki_10:20; 2Ch_9:18 :19). So, in Gen_49:9, it is the symbol of the kingly power of Judah, and appears with a yet higher application in Rev_5:5; while, on the other hand, it represents one of the great monarchies of the world in Dan_7:4. Its modern heraldic use in the arms of England and elsewhere presents yet another analogue.
(3) The ox had appeared, as here, so also in 1Ki_7:25, 1Ki_7:44, in company with the lion, notably in the twelve oxen that supported the "sea" or "laver" in the temple. Here also we have a kind of sovereignty—the natural symbol of a strength made subservient to human uses. Both the lion and the ox, as we have seen, may have become familiar to Ezekiel as a priest ministering in the temple or as an exile.
(4) The eagle was, in like manner, though not taking its place in the symbolism of the temple, the emblem of kingly power, and is so employed by Ezekiel himself in Eze_17:3, Eze_17:7; while in Dan_7:4 the lion has eagle's wings (comp. Hos_8:1; Isa_46:11; Oba_1:4; Hab_1:8). In Assyrian sculpture Nisroch (the name is cognate with the Hebrew for "eagle," nesher) appears as an eagle-headed human figure, and is always represented as contending with or conquering the lion and the bull. The facts suggest the inference
(1) that Ezekiel may have seen this symbol;
(2) that over and above the general thought that all the powers of nature are subject to the government of God, there was also the more specific thought that the great kingdoms of the earth were but servants of his, to do his pleasure? The reproduction of the fourfold form, with the variation already noticed, in Rev_4:7, is every way suggestive, and it is, at least, a natural inference that the symbols had acquired a new significance through the new truths that had been revealed to the seer of Patrons; that the human face may have connected itself with the thought of the Son of man who shared in the glory of the Father; the ox with that of his sacrifice; the lion with that of his sovereignty over Israel, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev_5:5); the eagle with that of his bearing his people as on eagles' wings, into the highest heavens (Exo_19:4; Deu_32:11) The patristic interpretation, which finds in the four living creatures the symbols of the four evangelists, must be considered as the play of a devout imagination, but not as unfolding the meaning of either Ezekiel or St. John. In the later Jewish tradition the four forms are assigned, taking Ezekiel's order, to the tribes of Reuben, Judah, Ephraim, and Dan, as the "standards" (Num_2:2) which they generally bore when encamped in the wilderness; but this is obviously outside the range of the prophet's thoughts.
11Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
11. The tips of the two outstretched wings reached to one another, while the other two, in token of humble awe, formed a veil for the lower parts of the body.
stretched upward--rather, "were parted from above" (compare Margin; see on Is 6:2). The joining together of their wings above implies that, though the movements of Providence on earth may seem conflicting and confused, yet if one lift up his eyes to heaven, he will see that they admirably conspire towards the one end at last.
11. The tips of the two outstretched wings reached to one another, while the other two, in token of humble awe, formed a veil for the lower parts of the body.
stretched upward--rather, "were parted from above" (compare Margin; see on Is 6:2). The joining together of their wings above implies that, though the movements of Providence on earth may seem conflicting and confused, yet if one lift up his eyes to heaven, he will see that they admirably conspire towards the one end at last.
The Pulpit Commentary
Thus were their faces: and, etc.; better, with Revised Version, and their faces and their wings were separate above; i.e. were stretched upward, touching the neighbouring wings at the tip, and so "joined," while the other two covered the bodies and were never stretched (comp. Isa_6:2).
Thus were their faces: and, etc.; better, with Revised Version, and their faces and their wings were separate above; i.e. were stretched upward, touching the neighbouring wings at the tip, and so "joined," while the other two covered the bodies and were never stretched (comp. Isa_6:2).
12And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
12. The same idea as in Eze 1:9. The repetition is because we men are so hard to be brought to acknowledge the wisdom of God's doings; they seem tortuous and confused to us, but they are all tending steadily to one aim.
the spirit--the secret impulse whereby God moves His angels to the end designed. They do not turn back or aside till they have fulfilled the office assigned them.
12. The same idea as in Eze 1:9. The repetition is because we men are so hard to be brought to acknowledge the wisdom of God's doings; they seem tortuous and confused to us, but they are all tending steadily to one aim.
the spirit--the secret impulse whereby God moves His angels to the end designed. They do not turn back or aside till they have fulfilled the office assigned them.
The Pulpit Commentary
Whither the spirit was to go, etc. The description passes on to the originating force of the movement of the mysterious forms. The Hebrew noun may mean "breath," "wind," or "spirit," the meanings often overlapping one another. Here the higher meaning is probably the true one. The "Spirit" (as in Gen_1:1; Gen_6:3; Psa_104:30; Psa_139:7; Isa_40:7, Isa_40:13; and in Ezekiel himself, passim) is the Divine Source of life in all its forms, especially in its highest form, moral, intellectual, spiritual. It is this which gave unity and harmony to the movements of the "living creatures," as it gives a life, harmony, and unity to all the manifold manifestations of the might of God of which they were the symbols. (On "they turned not," see note on Eze_1:9.)
Whither the spirit was to go, etc. The description passes on to the originating force of the movement of the mysterious forms. The Hebrew noun may mean "breath," "wind," or "spirit," the meanings often overlapping one another. Here the higher meaning is probably the true one. The "Spirit" (as in Gen_1:1; Gen_6:3; Psa_104:30; Psa_139:7; Isa_40:7, Isa_40:13; and in Ezekiel himself, passim) is the Divine Source of life in all its forms, especially in its highest form, moral, intellectual, spiritual. It is this which gave unity and harmony to the movements of the "living creatures," as it gives a life, harmony, and unity to all the manifold manifestations of the might of God of which they were the symbols. (On "they turned not," see note on Eze_1:9.)
13As 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
13. likeness ... appearance--not tautology. "Likeness" expresses the general form; "appearance," the particular aspect.
coals of fire--denoting the intensely pure and burning justice wherewith God punishes by His angels those who, like Israel, have hardened themselves against His long-suffering. So in Is 6:2, 6, instead of cherubim, the name "seraphim," the burning ones, is applied, indicating God's consuming righteousness; whence their cry to Him is, "Holy! holy! holy!" and the burning coal is applied to his lips, for the message through his mouth was to be one of judicial severance of the godly from the ungodly, to the ruin of the latter.
lamps--torches. The fire emitted sparks and flashes of light, as torches do.
went up and down--expressing the marvellous vigor of God's Spirit, in all His movements never resting, never wearied.
fire ... bright--indicating the glory of God.
out of the fire ... lightning--God's righteousness will at last cause the bolt of His wrath to fall on the guilty; as now, on Jerusalem.
13. likeness ... appearance--not tautology. "Likeness" expresses the general form; "appearance," the particular aspect.
coals of fire--denoting the intensely pure and burning justice wherewith God punishes by His angels those who, like Israel, have hardened themselves against His long-suffering. So in Is 6:2, 6, instead of cherubim, the name "seraphim," the burning ones, is applied, indicating God's consuming righteousness; whence their cry to Him is, "Holy! holy! holy!" and the burning coal is applied to his lips, for the message through his mouth was to be one of judicial severance of the godly from the ungodly, to the ruin of the latter.
lamps--torches. The fire emitted sparks and flashes of light, as torches do.
went up and down--expressing the marvellous vigor of God's Spirit, in all His movements never resting, never wearied.
fire ... bright--indicating the glory of God.
out of the fire ... lightning--God's righteousness will at last cause the bolt of His wrath to fall on the guilty; as now, on Jerusalem.
The Pulpit Commentary
Like burning coals of fire, etc. It may not be amiss to note the fact that the phrase throughout the Bible denotes incandescent wood. The nearest approach to its use by Ezekiel is in 2Sa_22:9, 2Sa_22:13. For "lamps," read, with the Revised Version, "torches." Here the vision of Ezekiel, in which the living creatures were thus incandescent, bathed, as it were, in the fire that played around them, yet not consumed, followed in the path of previous symbols—of the burning bush (Exo_3:2), of the pillar of fire by night (Exo_13:22), of the fire on Sinai (Exo_19:18), of the "fire of the Lord" (Num_11:1-3), and the "fire of God" (2Ki_1:12). Speaking generally, "fire," as distinct from "light," seems to be the symbol of the power of God as manifested against evil. "Our God is a consuming Fire" (Deu_4:24; Heb_12:29). The red light of fire has in it an element of terror which is absent from the stainless white of the eternal glory, or from the sapphire of the visible firmament. Lightning (comp. Exo_19:16; Exo_20:18; Dan_10:6; Rev_4:5; Rev_8:5; Rev_11:19; Rev_16:18).
Like burning coals of fire, etc. It may not be amiss to note the fact that the phrase throughout the Bible denotes incandescent wood. The nearest approach to its use by Ezekiel is in 2Sa_22:9, 2Sa_22:13. For "lamps," read, with the Revised Version, "torches." Here the vision of Ezekiel, in which the living creatures were thus incandescent, bathed, as it were, in the fire that played around them, yet not consumed, followed in the path of previous symbols—of the burning bush (Exo_3:2), of the pillar of fire by night (Exo_13:22), of the fire on Sinai (Exo_19:18), of the "fire of the Lord" (Num_11:1-3), and the "fire of God" (2Ki_1:12). Speaking generally, "fire," as distinct from "light," seems to be the symbol of the power of God as manifested against evil. "Our God is a consuming Fire" (Deu_4:24; Heb_12:29). The red light of fire has in it an element of terror which is absent from the stainless white of the eternal glory, or from the sapphire of the visible firmament. Lightning (comp. Exo_19:16; Exo_20:18; Dan_10:6; Rev_4:5; Rev_8:5; Rev_11:19; Rev_16:18).
14And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
14. ran and returned--Incessant, restless motion indicates the plenitude of life in these cherubim; so in Re 4:8, "they rest not day or night" (Zec 4:10).
flash of lightning--rather, as distinct from "lightning" (Eze 1:13), "the meteor flash," or sheet lightning [Fairbairn].
14. ran and returned--Incessant, restless motion indicates the plenitude of life in these cherubim; so in Re 4:8, "they rest not day or night" (Zec 4:10).
flash of lightning--rather, as distinct from "lightning" (Eze 1:13), "the meteor flash," or sheet lightning [Fairbairn].
The Pulpit Commentary
Ran and returned. Compare the "to and fro" of Zec_4:10. The comparison implies at once suddenness (as in Mat_24:27) and overwhelming brightness.
Ran and returned. Compare the "to and fro" of Zec_4:10. The comparison implies at once suddenness (as in Mat_24:27) and overwhelming brightness.
The Wheels Beside the Creatures
15Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
15. one wheel--The "dreadful height" of the wheel (Eze 1:18) indicates the gigantic, terrible energy of the complicated revolutions of God's providence, bringing about His purposes with unerring certainty. One wheel appeared traversely within another, so that the movement might be without turning, whithersoever the living creatures might advance (Eze 1:17). Thus each wheel was composed of two circles cutting one another at right angles, "one" only of which appeared to touch the ground ("upon the earth"), according to the direction the cherubim desired to move in.
with his four faces--rather, "according to its four faces" or sides; as there was a side or direction to each of the four creatures, so there was a wheel for each of the sides [Fairbairn]. The four sides or semicircles of each composite wheel pointed, as the four faces of each of the living creatures, to the four quarters of heaven. Havernick refers "his" or "its" to the wheels. The cherubim and their wings and wheels stood in contrast to the symbolical figures, somewhat similar, then existing in Chaldea, and found in the remains of Assyria. The latter, though derived from the original revelation by tradition, came by corruption to symbolize the astronomical zodiac, or the sun and celestial sphere, by a circle with wings or irradiations. But Ezekiel's cherubim rise above natural objects, the gods of the heathen, to the representation of the one true God, who made and continually upholds them.
15. one wheel--The "dreadful height" of the wheel (Eze 1:18) indicates the gigantic, terrible energy of the complicated revolutions of God's providence, bringing about His purposes with unerring certainty. One wheel appeared traversely within another, so that the movement might be without turning, whithersoever the living creatures might advance (Eze 1:17). Thus each wheel was composed of two circles cutting one another at right angles, "one" only of which appeared to touch the ground ("upon the earth"), according to the direction the cherubim desired to move in.
with his four faces--rather, "according to its four faces" or sides; as there was a side or direction to each of the four creatures, so there was a wheel for each of the sides [Fairbairn]. The four sides or semicircles of each composite wheel pointed, as the four faces of each of the living creatures, to the four quarters of heaven. Havernick refers "his" or "its" to the wheels. The cherubim and their wings and wheels stood in contrast to the symbolical figures, somewhat similar, then existing in Chaldea, and found in the remains of Assyria. The latter, though derived from the original revelation by tradition, came by corruption to symbolize the astronomical zodiac, or the sun and celestial sphere, by a circle with wings or irradiations. But Ezekiel's cherubim rise above natural objects, the gods of the heathen, to the representation of the one true God, who made and continually upholds them.
The Pulpit Commentary
Behold one wheel, etc. As the prophet gazed, yet another marvel presented itself—a "wheel" was seen. It is "by" or "beside" (Revised Version) the living creatures, and "for each of the four faces thereof" (Revised Version); i.e. as the next verse states definitely, there were four wheels. We may compare the analogues of the "wheels" of fire in the theophany of Dan_7:9, and the chariot of the cherubim in 1Ch_28:18.
Behold one wheel, etc. As the prophet gazed, yet another marvel presented itself—a "wheel" was seen. It is "by" or "beside" (Revised Version) the living creatures, and "for each of the four faces thereof" (Revised Version); i.e. as the next verse states definitely, there were four wheels. We may compare the analogues of the "wheels" of fire in the theophany of Dan_7:9, and the chariot of the cherubim in 1Ch_28:18.
16The 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
16. appearance ... work--their form and the material of their work.
beryl--rather, "the glancing appearance of the Tarshish stone"; the chrysolite or topaz, brought from Tarshish or Tartessus in Spain. It was one of the gems in the breastplate of the high priest (Ex 28:20; So 5:14; Da 10:6).
four had one likeness--The similarity of the wheels to one another implies that there is no inequality in all God's works, that all have a beautiful analogy and proportion.
16. appearance ... work--their form and the material of their work.
beryl--rather, "the glancing appearance of the Tarshish stone"; the chrysolite or topaz, brought from Tarshish or Tartessus in Spain. It was one of the gems in the breastplate of the high priest (Ex 28:20; So 5:14; Da 10:6).
four had one likeness--The similarity of the wheels to one another implies that there is no inequality in all God's works, that all have a beautiful analogy and proportion.
The Pulpit Commentary
Like unto the colour of a beryl. The Hebrew for "beryl" (tarshish) suggests that the stone was called, like the turquoise, from the region which produced it. Here and in Dan_10:6 the LXX. leaves it untranslated. In Exo_28:20 we find χρυσόλιθος; in Eze_10:9 and Eze_28:13 ἄνθραξ, i.e. carbuncle. It is obvious, from this variety of renderings, that the stone was not easily identified. Probably it was of a red or golden color, suggesting the thought of fire rather than the pale green of the aquamarine or beryl (see especially Dan_10:6). They four had one likeness, etc. A closer gaze led the prophet to see that there was a plurality in the unity. For the one "wheel" we have four; perhaps, as some have thought, two wheels intersecting at right angles, perhaps, one, probably seen behind, perhaps also below, each of the living creatures. They are not said actually to rest upon it, and the word "chariot" is not used as it is in 1Ch_28:18. They would seem rather to have hovered over the wheels, moving simultaneously and in full accord with them. The "wheels" obviously represent the forces and laws that sustain the manifold forms of life represented by the "living creatures" and the "Spirit." In each case the number four is, as elsewhere, the symbol of completeness. A wheel in the midst of (within, Revised Version) a wheel; i.e. with an inner and outer circumference, the space between the two forming the "ring" or felloe of 1Ch_28:18.
Like unto the colour of a beryl. The Hebrew for "beryl" (tarshish) suggests that the stone was called, like the turquoise, from the region which produced it. Here and in Dan_10:6 the LXX. leaves it untranslated. In Exo_28:20 we find χρυσόλιθος; in Eze_10:9 and Eze_28:13 ἄνθραξ, i.e. carbuncle. It is obvious, from this variety of renderings, that the stone was not easily identified. Probably it was of a red or golden color, suggesting the thought of fire rather than the pale green of the aquamarine or beryl (see especially Dan_10:6). They four had one likeness, etc. A closer gaze led the prophet to see that there was a plurality in the unity. For the one "wheel" we have four; perhaps, as some have thought, two wheels intersecting at right angles, perhaps, one, probably seen behind, perhaps also below, each of the living creatures. They are not said actually to rest upon it, and the word "chariot" is not used as it is in 1Ch_28:18. They would seem rather to have hovered over the wheels, moving simultaneously and in full accord with them. The "wheels" obviously represent the forces and laws that sustain the manifold forms of life represented by the "living creatures" and the "Spirit." In each case the number four is, as elsewhere, the symbol of completeness. A wheel in the midst of (within, Revised Version) a wheel; i.e. with an inner and outer circumference, the space between the two forming the "ring" or felloe of 1Ch_28:18.
17When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
17. went upon their four sides--Those faces or sides of the four wheels moved which answered to the direction in which the cherubim desired to move; while the transverse circles in each of the four composite wheels remained suspended from the ground, so as not to impede the movements of the others.
17. went upon their four sides--Those faces or sides of the four wheels moved which answered to the direction in which the cherubim desired to move; while the transverse circles in each of the four composite wheels remained suspended from the ground, so as not to impede the movements of the others.
The Pulpit Commentary
When they went, etc. The meaning seems to be that the relative position of the wheels and the living creatures was not altered by motion. On "they turned not," see note on Eze_1:9. All suggests the idea of orderly and harmonious working.
When they went, etc. The meaning seems to be that the relative position of the wheels and the living creatures was not altered by motion. On "they turned not," see note on Eze_1:9. All suggests the idea of orderly and harmonious working.
18As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
18. rings--that is, felloes or circumferences of the wheels.
eyes--The multiplicity of eyes here in the wheels, and Eze 10:12, in the cherubim themselves, symbolizes the plenitude of intelligent life, the eye being the window through which "the spirit of the living creatures" in the wheels (Eze 1:20) looks forth (compare Zec 4:10). As the wheels signify the providence of God, so the eyes imply that He sees all the circumstances of each case, and does nothing by blind impulse.
18. rings--that is, felloes or circumferences of the wheels.
eyes--The multiplicity of eyes here in the wheels, and Eze 10:12, in the cherubim themselves, symbolizes the plenitude of intelligent life, the eye being the window through which "the spirit of the living creatures" in the wheels (Eze 1:20) looks forth (compare Zec 4:10). As the wheels signify the providence of God, so the eyes imply that He sees all the circumstances of each case, and does nothing by blind impulse.
The Pulpit Commentary
As for their rings, etc. The "rings" or "felloes" of the wheels impressed the prophet's mind with a sense of awe, partly from their size, partly from their being "full of eyes." These were obviously, as again in Eze_10:12, and in the analogues of the "stone with seven eyes" in Zec_3:9; Zec_4:10, and the "four beasts [i.e. 'living creatures'] full of eyes," in Rev_4:6, symbols of the omniscience of God working through the forces of nature and of history. These were not, as men have sometimes thought, blind forces, but were guided as by a supreme insight.
As for their rings, etc. The "rings" or "felloes" of the wheels impressed the prophet's mind with a sense of awe, partly from their size, partly from their being "full of eyes." These were obviously, as again in Eze_10:12, and in the analogues of the "stone with seven eyes" in Zec_3:9; Zec_4:10, and the "four beasts [i.e. 'living creatures'] full of eyes," in Rev_4:6, symbols of the omniscience of God working through the forces of nature and of history. These were not, as men have sometimes thought, blind forces, but were guided as by a supreme insight.
19And 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
19. went by them--went beside them.
19. went by them--went beside them.
The Pulpit Commentary
The wheels went by them; better, with Revised Version, beside them; i.e. moving in parallel lines with them. And when the living creatures went, etc. The truth embodied in the coincident movements of the "living creatures" and the "wheels," is the harmony of the forces and laws of nature with its outward manifestations of might. In the two directions of the movement, onward and upward—when the living creatures were lifted up—we may see
(1) the operations of the two when they are within the range of man's knowledge, and, as it were, on the same plane with it; and
(2) those which are as in a higher region beyond his ken.
The wheels went by them; better, with Revised Version, beside them; i.e. moving in parallel lines with them. And when the living creatures went, etc. The truth embodied in the coincident movements of the "living creatures" and the "wheels," is the harmony of the forces and laws of nature with its outward manifestations of might. In the two directions of the movement, onward and upward—when the living creatures were lifted up—we may see
(1) the operations of the two when they are within the range of man's knowledge, and, as it were, on the same plane with it; and
(2) those which are as in a higher region beyond his ken.
20Whithersoever 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
20. the spirit was to go--that is, their will was for going whithersoever the Spirit was for going.
over against them--rather, beside or in conjunction with them.
spirit of the living creature--put collectively for "the living creatures"; the cherubim. Having first viewed them separately, he next views them in the aggregate as the composite living creature in which the Spirit resided. The life intended is that connected with God, holy, spiritual life, in the plenitude of its active power.
20. the spirit was to go--that is, their will was for going whithersoever the Spirit was for going.
over against them--rather, beside or in conjunction with them.
spirit of the living creature--put collectively for "the living creatures"; the cherubim. Having first viewed them separately, he next views them in the aggregate as the composite living creature in which the Spirit resided. The life intended is that connected with God, holy, spiritual life, in the plenitude of its active power.
The Pulpit Commentary
Whithersoever the spirit was to go, etc. The secret of the coincidence of the movements of the "living creatures" and of the "wheels" was found in the fact, which the prophet's intuition grasped, that the phenomena of life and law had one and the same originating source. For "the spirit of the living creature" (singular, because the four are regarded as one complex whole), the LXX; Vulgate, and Revised Version margin, give "the spirit of life," a rendering tenable in itself, but the contextual meaning of the word is in favour of the Authorized Version and the Revised Version text.
Whithersoever the spirit was to go, etc. The secret of the coincidence of the movements of the "living creatures" and of the "wheels" was found in the fact, which the prophet's intuition grasped, that the phenomena of life and law had one and the same originating source. For "the spirit of the living creature" (singular, because the four are regarded as one complex whole), the LXX; Vulgate, and Revised Version margin, give "the spirit of life," a rendering tenable in itself, but the contextual meaning of the word is in favour of the Authorized Version and the Revised Version text.
21When 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
21. over against--rather, "along with" [Henderson]; or, "beside" [Fairbairn].
21. over against--rather, "along with" [Henderson]; or, "beside" [Fairbairn].
The Pulpit Commentary
When those went, these went. The words, strictly speaking, add nothing to the previous description; but the prophet appears to have wished to combine what he had before said separately, so as to make the picture complete, before passing on to the yet more glorious vision that next met his gaze.
When those went, these went. The words, strictly speaking, add nothing to the previous description; but the prophet appears to have wished to combine what he had before said separately, so as to make the picture complete, before passing on to the yet more glorious vision that next met his gaze.
The Firmament and the Throne
22And 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
22. upon the heads--rather, "above the heads" [Fairbairn].
colour--glitter.
terrible crystal--dazzling the spectator by its brightness.
22. upon the heads--rather, "above the heads" [Fairbairn].
colour--glitter.
terrible crystal--dazzling the spectator by its brightness.
The Pulpit Commentary
And the likeness of the firmament, etc. The word is the same as that in Gen_1:1-31, passim; Psa_19:1; cf. 1; Dan_12:3. It meets us again in verses 23, 25, 26, and in Dan_10:1, but does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament. What met the prophet's eye was the expanse, the "body of heaven in its clearness" (Exo_24:10), the deep intense blue of an Eastern sky. Like the colour of the terrible crystal, etc. The Hebrew noun is not found elsewhere. Its primary meaning, like that of the Greek κρύσταλλος, is that of "cold," and I incline therefore to the margin of the Revised Version, "ice." Rock crystal, seen, as it is, in small masses, and in its pure colourless transparency, hardly suggests the idea of terror; but the intense brightness of masses of ice, as shining in the morning sun, might well make that impression. Had Ezekiel seen the glories of a mountain throne of ice as he looked up, on his nay from Palestine to Chaldea, at the heights of Lebanon, or Hermon, and thought of them as the fitting symbol of the throne of God? We note, in this connection, the use of "terrible" in Job_37:22 (see note on Job_37:4).
And the likeness of the firmament, etc. The word is the same as that in Gen_1:1-31, passim; Psa_19:1; cf. 1; Dan_12:3. It meets us again in verses 23, 25, 26, and in Dan_10:1, but does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament. What met the prophet's eye was the expanse, the "body of heaven in its clearness" (Exo_24:10), the deep intense blue of an Eastern sky. Like the colour of the terrible crystal, etc. The Hebrew noun is not found elsewhere. Its primary meaning, like that of the Greek κρύσταλλος, is that of "cold," and I incline therefore to the margin of the Revised Version, "ice." Rock crystal, seen, as it is, in small masses, and in its pure colourless transparency, hardly suggests the idea of terror; but the intense brightness of masses of ice, as shining in the morning sun, might well make that impression. Had Ezekiel seen the glories of a mountain throne of ice as he looked up, on his nay from Palestine to Chaldea, at the heights of Lebanon, or Hermon, and thought of them as the fitting symbol of the throne of God? We note, in this connection, the use of "terrible" in Job_37:22 (see note on Job_37:4).
23And 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
23. straight--erect [Fairbairn], expanded upright.
two ... two ... covered ... bodies--not, as it might seem, contradicting Eze 1:11. The two wings expanded upwards, though chiefly used for flying, yet up to the summit of the figure where they were parted from each other, covered the upper part of the body, while the other two wings covered the lower parts.
23. straight--erect [Fairbairn], expanded upright.
two ... two ... covered ... bodies--not, as it might seem, contradicting Eze 1:11. The two wings expanded upwards, though chiefly used for flying, yet up to the summit of the figure where they were parted from each other, covered the upper part of the body, while the other two wings covered the lower parts.
The Pulpit Commentary
Under the firmament, etc. The description must be read as completing that of Eze_1:11. The two upper wings of the "living creatures" were not only stretched out, but they pointed to the azure canopy above them, not as sustaining it, but in the attitude of adoration. Nature, in all her life phenomena, adores the majesty of the Eternal.
Under the firmament, etc. The description must be read as completing that of Eze_1:11. The two upper wings of the "living creatures" were not only stretched out, but they pointed to the azure canopy above them, not as sustaining it, but in the attitude of adoration. Nature, in all her life phenomena, adores the majesty of the Eternal.
24And 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
24. voice of ... Almighty--the thunder (Psa 29:3, 4).
voice of speech--rather, "the voice" or "sound of tumult," as in Jr 11:16. From an Arabic root, meaning the "impetuous rush of heavy rain."
noise of ... host--(Is 13:4; Da 10:6).
24. voice of ... Almighty--the thunder (Psa 29:3, 4).
voice of speech--rather, "the voice" or "sound of tumult," as in Jr 11:16. From an Arabic root, meaning the "impetuous rush of heavy rain."
noise of ... host--(Is 13:4; Da 10:6).
The Pulpit Commentary
The noise of their wings, etc. The wings representing the soaring, ascending elements in nature, their motion answers to its aspirations, their sounds to its inarticulate groanings (Rom_8:26) or its chorus of praise. The noise of great waters may be that of the sea, or river, or torrents. Ezekiel's use of the term in Eze_31:7, in connection with the cedars of Lebanon, seems in favour of the last. On the other hand, in Eze_27:26; Psa_29:3; Psa_107:23, the term is manifestly used for the seas. The thought appears again in Rev_1:15; Rev_19:6. In Psa_29:3, et al; the "voice of the Lord" is identified with thunder. For the voice of speech, which wrongly suggests articulate utterance, read, with the Revised Version, a noise of tumult.
The noise of their wings, etc. The wings representing the soaring, ascending elements in nature, their motion answers to its aspirations, their sounds to its inarticulate groanings (Rom_8:26) or its chorus of praise. The noise of great waters may be that of the sea, or river, or torrents. Ezekiel's use of the term in Eze_31:7, in connection with the cedars of Lebanon, seems in favour of the last. On the other hand, in Eze_27:26; Psa_29:3; Psa_107:23, the term is manifestly used for the seas. The thought appears again in Rev_1:15; Rev_19:6. In Psa_29:3, et al; the "voice of the Lord" is identified with thunder. For the voice of speech, which wrongly suggests articulate utterance, read, with the Revised Version, a noise of tumult.
25And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
25. let down ... wings--While the Almighty gave forth His voice, they reverently let their wings fall, to listen stilly to His communication.
25. let down ... wings--While the Almighty gave forth His voice, they reverently let their wings fall, to listen stilly to His communication.
The Pulpit Commentary
And there was a voice from the firmament. Revised Version gives above. The prophet's silence suggests that what he heard was at first ineffable, perhaps unintelligible. All that he knew was that an awful voice, like thunder (comp. Joh_12:29), came from above the expanse of azure, and that it stilled the motion of the wings, working peace, as in the midst of the endless agitations of the universe. The wings that had been stretched upward are now folded, like the others.
And there was a voice from the firmament. Revised Version gives above. The prophet's silence suggests that what he heard was at first ineffable, perhaps unintelligible. All that he knew was that an awful voice, like thunder (comp. Joh_12:29), came from above the expanse of azure, and that it stilled the motion of the wings, working peace, as in the midst of the endless agitations of the universe. The wings that had been stretched upward are now folded, like the others.
The Appearance of the Glory of the LORD
26And 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
26. The Godhead appears in the likeness of enthroned humanity, as in Ex 24:10. Besides the "paved work of a sapphire stone, as it were the body of heaven in clearness," there, we have here the "throne," and God "as a man," with the "appearance of fire round about." This last was a prelude of the incarnation of Messiah, but in His character as Saviour and as Judge (Re 19:11-16). The azure sapphire answers to the color of the sky. As others are called "sons of God," but He "the Son of God," so others are called "sons of man" (Eze 2:1, 3), but He "the Son of man" (Mt 16:13), being the embodied representative of humanity and the whole human race; as, on the other hand, He is the representative of "the fulness of the Godhead" (Col 2:9). While the cherubim are movable, the throne above, and Jehovah who moves them, are firmly fixed. It is good news to man, that the throne above is filled by One who even there appears as "a man."
26. The Godhead appears in the likeness of enthroned humanity, as in Ex 24:10. Besides the "paved work of a sapphire stone, as it were the body of heaven in clearness," there, we have here the "throne," and God "as a man," with the "appearance of fire round about." This last was a prelude of the incarnation of Messiah, but in His character as Saviour and as Judge (Re 19:11-16). The azure sapphire answers to the color of the sky. As others are called "sons of God," but He "the Son of God," so others are called "sons of man" (Eze 2:1, 3), but He "the Son of man" (Mt 16:13), being the embodied representative of humanity and the whole human race; as, on the other hand, He is the representative of "the fulness of the Godhead" (Col 2:9). While the cherubim are movable, the throne above, and Jehovah who moves them, are firmly fixed. It is good news to man, that the throne above is filled by One who even there appears as "a man."
The Pulpit Commentary
The likeness of a throne. The greatest glory was kept to the last. High above the azure expanse was the likeness of a throne (we note the constant recurrence of the word "likeness," nine times in this one chapter, as indicating Ezekiel's consciousness of the vision character of what he saw). The idea of the throne of the great King first appears in 1Ki_22:19, is frequent in the Psalms (Psa_9:4, Psa_9:7; Psa_11:4; Psa_45:6), notably in Isa_6:1. In the visions of St John (Rev_1:4, and passim) it is the dominant, central object throughout. As the appearance of a sapphire stone. The intense blue of the sapphire has made it in all ages the natural symbol of a heavenly purity. Ezekiel's vision reproduces that of Exo_24:10. It appears among the gems of the high priest's breastplate (Exo_28:18; Exo_39:11) and in the "foundations" of Rev_21:19. The description of the sapphire given by Pliny ('Hist. Nat.,' 37.9), as "never transparent, and refulgent with spots of gold," suggests lapis lazuli. As used in the Old Testament, however, the word probably means the sapphire of modern jewellery. A likeness as of the appearance of a man. The throne, the symbol of the sovereignty of God over the "living creatures" and the "wheels," over the forces and the laws which they represented, is not empty. There was "a likeness as of the appearance" (we note again the accumulation of words intended to guard against the thought that what was seen was more than an approximate symbolism) "of a man." In that likeness there was the witness that we can only think of God by reasoning upward from all that is highest in our conceptions of human greatness and goodness, and thinking of them as free from their present limitations. Man's highest thought of God is that it is "a face like his face that receives him." He finds a humanity in the Godhead. It is noticeable that this preluding anticipation of the thought of the Incarnation, not recognized in the vision of Moses (Exo_24:10) or Isaiah (Isa_6:1), appears prominently in the two prophets of the exile—here and in the memorable Messianic vision of "One like unto the ['a,' Revised Version] Son of man" in Dan_7:13. What might have been perilously anthropomorphic in the early stages of the growth of Israel, when men tended to identify the symbol with the thing symbolized, was now made subservient to the truth which underlies even anthropomorphic thought (comp. Rev_1:13). Irenaeus ('Adv. Haer.,' 4.20. 10), it may be noted, dwells on the fact that Ezekiel uses the words, "'haec visio similitudmis gloriae Domini,' ne quis putaret forte eum in his proprie vidisse Deum."
The likeness of a throne. The greatest glory was kept to the last. High above the azure expanse was the likeness of a throne (we note the constant recurrence of the word "likeness," nine times in this one chapter, as indicating Ezekiel's consciousness of the vision character of what he saw). The idea of the throne of the great King first appears in 1Ki_22:19, is frequent in the Psalms (Psa_9:4, Psa_9:7; Psa_11:4; Psa_45:6), notably in Isa_6:1. In the visions of St John (Rev_1:4, and passim) it is the dominant, central object throughout. As the appearance of a sapphire stone. The intense blue of the sapphire has made it in all ages the natural symbol of a heavenly purity. Ezekiel's vision reproduces that of Exo_24:10. It appears among the gems of the high priest's breastplate (Exo_28:18; Exo_39:11) and in the "foundations" of Rev_21:19. The description of the sapphire given by Pliny ('Hist. Nat.,' 37.9), as "never transparent, and refulgent with spots of gold," suggests lapis lazuli. As used in the Old Testament, however, the word probably means the sapphire of modern jewellery. A likeness as of the appearance of a man. The throne, the symbol of the sovereignty of God over the "living creatures" and the "wheels," over the forces and the laws which they represented, is not empty. There was "a likeness as of the appearance" (we note again the accumulation of words intended to guard against the thought that what was seen was more than an approximate symbolism) "of a man." In that likeness there was the witness that we can only think of God by reasoning upward from all that is highest in our conceptions of human greatness and goodness, and thinking of them as free from their present limitations. Man's highest thought of God is that it is "a face like his face that receives him." He finds a humanity in the Godhead. It is noticeable that this preluding anticipation of the thought of the Incarnation, not recognized in the vision of Moses (Exo_24:10) or Isaiah (Isa_6:1), appears prominently in the two prophets of the exile—here and in the memorable Messianic vision of "One like unto the ['a,' Revised Version] Son of man" in Dan_7:13. What might have been perilously anthropomorphic in the early stages of the growth of Israel, when men tended to identify the symbol with the thing symbolized, was now made subservient to the truth which underlies even anthropomorphic thought (comp. Rev_1:13). Irenaeus ('Adv. Haer.,' 4.20. 10), it may be noted, dwells on the fact that Ezekiel uses the words, "'haec visio similitudmis gloriae Domini,' ne quis putaret forte eum in his proprie vidisse Deum."
27And 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
27. colour of amber--"the glitter of chasmal" [Fairbairn]. See on Eze 1:4; rather, "polished brass" [Henderson]. Messiah is described here as in Da 10:5, 6; Re 1:14, 15.
27. colour of amber--"the glitter of chasmal" [Fairbairn]. See on Eze 1:4; rather, "polished brass" [Henderson]. Messiah is described here as in Da 10:5, 6; Re 1:14, 15.
The Pulpit Commentary
As the colour of amber. The "amber" (see note on Eze_1:4) represents the purity and glory of the Divine nature—the truth that "God is light" in his eternal essence. The "fire" which, here as ever, represents the wrath of God against evil, is round about within it, i.e. is less absolutely identified with the Divine will, of which it is yet an almost constant manifestation. It is, in the language of the older logicians, an inseparable accident rather than part of its essential nature.
As the colour of amber. The "amber" (see note on Eze_1:4) represents the purity and glory of the Divine nature—the truth that "God is light" in his eternal essence. The "fire" which, here as ever, represents the wrath of God against evil, is round about within it, i.e. is less absolutely identified with the Divine will, of which it is yet an almost constant manifestation. It is, in the language of the older logicians, an inseparable accident rather than part of its essential nature.
28As 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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
28. the bow ... in ... rain--the symbol of the sure covenant of mercy to God's children remembered amidst judgments on the wicked; as in the flood in Noah's days (Re 4:3). "Like hanging out from the throne of the Eternal a fing of peace, assuring all that the purpose of Heaven was to preserve rather than to destroy. Even if the divine work should require a deluge of wrath, still the faithfulness of God would only shine forth the more brightly at last to the children of promise, in consequence of the tribulations needed to prepare for the ultimate good" [Fairbairn]. (Is 54:8-10).
I fell upon ... face--the right attitude, spiritually, before we enter on any active work for God (Eze 2:2; 3:23, 24; Re 1:17). In this first chapter God gathered into one vision the substance of all that was to occupy the prophetic agency of Ezekiel; as was done afterwards in the opening vision of the Revelation of Saint John.
28. the bow ... in ... rain--the symbol of the sure covenant of mercy to God's children remembered amidst judgments on the wicked; as in the flood in Noah's days (Re 4:3). "Like hanging out from the throne of the Eternal a fing of peace, assuring all that the purpose of Heaven was to preserve rather than to destroy. Even if the divine work should require a deluge of wrath, still the faithfulness of God would only shine forth the more brightly at last to the children of promise, in consequence of the tribulations needed to prepare for the ultimate good" [Fairbairn]. (Is 54:8-10).
I fell upon ... face--the right attitude, spiritually, before we enter on any active work for God (Eze 2:2; 3:23, 24; Re 1:17). In this first chapter God gathered into one vision the substance of all that was to occupy the prophetic agency of Ezekiel; as was done afterwards in the opening vision of the Revelation of Saint John.
The Pulpit Commentary
As the appearance of the bow. The glorious epiphany was completed, as in Rev_4:3 and Rev_10:1, by the appearance of the rainbow. The symbol of God's faithfulness, and of the hope that rested on it (Gen_9:13). was seen in the glory of the Divine perfection, even in the midst of the fire of the Divine wrath. Mercy and love are thought of as over arching all the phenomena of the world and its history, attempering the chastisements which are needed for those with whom that love is dealing. The whole complex appearances of Ezekiel's descriptions, including the arch of prismatic colours, finds its nearest natural analogue, as has been before suggested (note on verse 4), in the phenomena of the Northern Lights. I fell upon my face. As in Eze_3:23; Dan_8:17; Rev_1:17, the prostrate attitude of lowliest adoration, the dread and awe of one who has seen the King, the Lord of hosts, and vet survives, was a preparation for the more direct revelation to his consciousness of the Word and will of Jehovah (comp. Dante 'Inferno,' 3:136; 5:142).
As the appearance of the bow. The glorious epiphany was completed, as in Rev_4:3 and Rev_10:1, by the appearance of the rainbow. The symbol of God's faithfulness, and of the hope that rested on it (Gen_9:13). was seen in the glory of the Divine perfection, even in the midst of the fire of the Divine wrath. Mercy and love are thought of as over arching all the phenomena of the world and its history, attempering the chastisements which are needed for those with whom that love is dealing. The whole complex appearances of Ezekiel's descriptions, including the arch of prismatic colours, finds its nearest natural analogue, as has been before suggested (note on verse 4), in the phenomena of the Northern Lights. I fell upon my face. As in Eze_3:23; Dan_8:17; Rev_1:17, the prostrate attitude of lowliest adoration, the dread and awe of one who has seen the King, the Lord of hosts, and vet survives, was a preparation for the more direct revelation to his consciousness of the Word and will of Jehovah (comp. Dante 'Inferno,' 3:136; 5:142).
THE HOLY BIBLE
Ezekiel
Chapter 1
Translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised.
KING JAMES VERSION
HOLY
BIBLE
BIBLE
KING JAMES VERSION
TAP THE BIBLE TO OPEN IT