Ezekiel 1:2

In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity, THE FIFTH YEAR OF KING 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....

1-14 It is a mercy to have the word of God brought to us, and a duty to attend to it diligently, when we are in affliction. The voice of God came in the fulness of light and power, by the Holy Spirit. These visions seem to have been sent to possess the prophet's mind with great and high thoughts of God. To strike terror upon sinners. To speak comfort to those that feared God, and humbled themselves. In ver. Ezekiel 1:4, is the first part of the vision, which represents God as attended and served by a vast company of angels, who are all his messengers, his ministers, doing his commandments. This vision would impress the mind with solemn awe and fear of the Divine displeasure, yet raise expectations of blessings. The fire is surrounded with a glory. Though we cannot by searching find out God to perfection, yet we see the brightness round about it. The likeness of the living creatures came...

Verse Ezekiel 1:2. _JEHOIACHIN'S CAPTIVITY_] Called also Jeconiah and Coniah; see 2 Kings 24:12. He was carried away by Nebuchadnezzar; see 2 Kings 24:14....

The Jewish date. This verse and Ezekiel 1:3, which seem rather to interrupt the course of the narrative, may have been added by the prophet when he revised and put together the whole book. The word “captivity” (as in Ezekiel 1:1) refers to the “transportation” of the king and others from their native to foreign soil. This policy of settling a conquered people in lands distant from their home, begun by the Assyrians, was continued by the Persians and by Alexander the Great. The Jews were specially selected for such settlements, and this was no doubt a Providential preparation for the Gospel, the dispersed Jews carrying with them the knowledge of the true God and the sacred Scriptures, and thus paving the way for the messengers of the kingdom of Christ....

EXPOSITION For the life of the prophet prior to the vision which this chapter relates, and which constituted his call to that office, see Introduction. EZEKIEL 1:1 NOW; literally, _and. _The use of the conjunction indicates here, as in Jonah 1:1, that the narrative that follows links itself on to something that has gone before. In Exodus 1:1 and 1 Samuel 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 t

IN THE FIFTH [DAY] OF THE MONTH,.... The month Tammuz, as before: (WHICH [WAS] THE FIFTH YEAR OF JEHOIACHIN'S CAPTIVITY); the same with Jeconiah and Coniah, as he is sometimes called; he was taken by the king of Babylon, when he had reigned but three months, and his captivity held seven and thirty years, 2 Kings 24:8....

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. PREDICTIONS BEFORE THE FALL OF JERUSALEM A. judgment Predictions Concerning Jerusalem (1-24) Chapter S 1:1-3:14 The Vision of Glory and the Call of the Prophet _ 1. The introduction (Ezekiel 1:1) _ 2. The vision of glory (Ezekiel 1:4) 3. Ezekiel's call and commission (Ezekiel 2:1) 4. The roll eaten and the repeated commission (Ezekiel 2:9; Ezekiel 3:1) Ezekiel 1:1. The introductory words give

EZEKIEL 1-3. EZEKIEL ENTERS UPON HIS MINISTRY. Ezekiel 1:1. Ezekiel's Vision. Ezekiel 1:1. Like the prophets generally, Ezekiel enters upon his ministry only after he has had a vision of God and a call from Him. The book, therefore, appropriately opens with a description of these experiences. They took place in the thirtieth year a difficult phrase: perhaps the thirtieth year of the prophet's life in any case in 592 B.C., the fifth year after Jehoiachin and the leading citizens of Judah had been carried captive into Babylon (2 Kings 24:10 Ezekiel 1:16). Among them was Ezekiel, who whether or not a priest himself, c

FIFTH YEAR. B.C. 484. Compare 2 Kings 24:12; 2 Kings 24:15, JEHOIACHIN. Called also Jeconiah, and Coniah. Compare 2 Kings 24:17; 2 Kings 25:1....

_fifth year … jehoiachin_ Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim and grandson of Josiah, reigned only three months and ten days. He is also styled Jeconiah or Coniah, Jeremiah 22:24 _seq_., Ezekiel 24:1, Eze 27:20; 2 Kings 24:8. His captivity dates b.c. 597, and Ezekiel's call 592, six years before the fall of Jerusalem....