The first three Chapter s, describing the circumstances and character of Ezekiel’s call to the prophetic office, form the introduction to the whole book, and the three first verses, giving the time, the person, and the place, are the introduction to this introduction. (Comp. the similar arrangement... [ Continue Reading ]
THE THIRTIETH YEAR. — On this date see Introduction, § 4. It may be added here that the concurrence of the “fifth day of the month” in connection with this epoch, and with that of Jehoiachin’s captivity in Ezekiel 1:2, shows that the years of the two epochs began at the same time. AMONG THE CAPTIVES... [ Continue Reading ]
CAME EXPRESSLY. — Or, _came certainly,_ with the fullest proof of reality. In the original there is simply the ordinary form of the repetition of the verb for the sake of emphasis. The prophet mentions his own name only here and in Ezekiel 24:24. THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS THERE UPON HIM. — A form of... [ Continue Reading ]
A WHIRLWIND CAME OUT OF THE NORTH. — The _north_ is seen as the quarter from which the vision proceeded, not because the Babylonians conceived that there was the seat of Divine power (Isaiah 14:13), but because it was common with the prophets to represent the Divine judgments upon Judæa as coming fr... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LIKENESS OF FOUR LIVING CREATURES next appeared from this centre of the fiery cloud. The word “likeness” is not without significance. The prophet would make it plain that this was a vision, that these were symbolic, not actually existing creatures. Their prominent characteristic is that they wer... [ Continue Reading ]
FOUR FACES. — The cherubim, being merely symbolical figures, are variously represented. Those placed in the Tabernacle and in the Temple of Solomon appear to have had only a single face; those described in Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple (Ezekiel 41:18) had two; the four living creatures of Revelatio... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR FEET WERE STRAIGHT FEET. — Rather, _each of their legs was a straight leg, i.e.,_ without any bend in it, as at the knee, but was equally fitted for motion in any direction. So also “the sole of their feet,” the part which rested on the ground, was not, like the human foot, formed to move forw... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HANDS OF A MAN. — Implying, of course, also human arms. This particular adds to the generally human appearance of the cherubim, yet we must understand (see Ezekiel 1:11) that there were four hands corresponding to the wings for each cherub. These hands were “under their wings on their four sides... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR WINGS WERE JOINED ONE TO ANOTHER. — _i.e.,_ the outstretched right wing of one cherub was joined at its tip to the left wing of another, so that although four, they yet constituted in some sense but one creature, all moving in harmony and by a common impulse. This applies to the cherubim only... [ Continue Reading ]
ON THE RIGHT SIDE... ON THE LEFT SIDE. — The apparent obscurity of this description is due only to the punctuation in the English Bible. “They four had the face of a man” (viz., in front, as Ezekiel viewed them), “and the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the l... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS WERE THEIR FACES: AND THEIR WINGS WERE STRETCHED UPWARD. — Rather, _and their wings and their faces were separated above._ The word never has the sense of stretched, but always that of separated or divided, as given in the margin. Each cherub was essentially one creature, and yet (not Janus-lik... [ Continue Reading ]
WHITHER THE SPIRIT WAS TO GO. — The one informing spirit which animated all the living creatures alike, and in accordance with which all their movements were ordered.... [ Continue Reading ]
LIKE THE APPEARANCE OF LAMPS. — The word “and” before this phrase is not in the original, and should be omitted. The words are merely a further explanation. The cherubim were like burning coals of fire, like torches or lightnings. The word “lamps” does not refer to the material, but to the light, an... [ Continue Reading ]
A FLASH OF LIGHTNING. — Not only was the appearance of the cherubim thus glittering, but also their speed as they “ran and returned” was that of the lightning. The vision up to this point, so far as we may venture to interpret its object, seems designed to show forth the power and activity, the irr... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD ONE WHEEL UPON THE EARTH BY THE LIVING CREATURES. — The prophet sees this while still looking intently upon the cherubim — “ as I beheld the living creatures “ — showing that it was still a part of one and the same vision. The wheel was _one_ in the same sense in which the living creatures we... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR WORK WAS LIKE UNTO THE COLOUR OF A BERYL. — “Work” is used in the sense of workmanship or construction; and “beryl” here, and in Ezekiel 10:9, is not the precious stone of a green colour which we know by that name, but the “chrysolite” of the ancients, the modern topaz, having the lustre of go... [ Continue Reading ]
UPON THEIR FOUR SIDES — _i.e._, forwards or backwards upon the one wheel, and to the right or the left upon the other. _Four_ directions are considered throughout the vision as representing all directions, just as elsewhere the four winds represent all winds, and the four corners of the earth the wh... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR RINGS. — The same word is used twice in this verse, and means what we call the _felloes._ “They were both high and terrible,” _i.e.,_ they had both these characteristics, but not, as seems to be implied in our translation, that one was the cause of the other. The height might be inferred from... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING CREATURE — Not, as in the margin, “the spirit of life.” The object of Ezekiel 1:19 is by every repetition and variety of expression to represent “the living creatures” and “the wheels” as one, animated by one spirit, and moved by one impulse. The word is the same throughout,... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LIKENESS OF THE FIRMAMENT. — The word rendered “firmament” has undoubtedly originated, etymologically, from a verb originally signifying _to beat out,_ as in the case of metals; but the derivative word, in its use in connection with the heavens, had wholly lost this reference, and had come to me... [ Continue Reading ]
TWO, WHICH COVERED ON THIS SIDE. — The excessive literalness of this translation obscures the sense, for it seems to imply that each cherub used four wings to cover his body; whereas the true meaning is that _“_each had two wings covering his body on either side.” The other two wings of each cherub... [ Continue Reading ]
THE NOISE OF THEIR WINGS. — The same word translated “noise” three times in this verse is also translated “voice” twice here, and once in the next verse. It is better to keep _voice_ throughout. “I heard the voice of their wings, like the voice of many waters.” The same comparison is used to describ... [ Continue Reading ]
A VOICE FROM THE FIRMAMENT. — Rather, _from above the firmament,_ not as proceeding from the firmament itself. This is a new feature in the vision: the voice is quite different from the sounds mentioned before, and although not here expressly said to have been articulate, yet it is probably to be id... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE APPEARANCE OF A SAPPHIRE STONE. — Comp. Exodus 24:10, where the same description is applied to “the pavement under His feet” as here and in Ezekiel 10:1 to his throne, in either case indicating the intense clearness of the heavenly blue. The constant repetition of the words “likeness” and “ap... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE COLOUR OF AMBER. — See on the same expression Ezekiel 1:4. Literally, _as an eye of bright metal._ The rest of the verse is simply an attempt, by various repetitions, to convey an idea of the exceeding brightness and glory of the vision, yet also with the notions of purity and holiness, of po... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE APPEARANCE OF THE BOW THAT IS IN THE CLOUD. — Comp. Revelation 4:3; Revelation 10:1. The addition, “in the day of rain,” is not merely a reference to the ordinary natural phenomenon, but distinctly connects this vision with the gracious promise in Genesis, and shows that God, who has in this... [ Continue Reading ]