Yehezkiel 1:1

A Vision of God’s Glory

1:1 In the thirtieth year, ¹  on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles ²  at the Kebar River, ³  the heavens opened ⁴  and I saw a divine vision. ⁵ 

Yehezkiel 2:6

2:6 But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words – even though briers ⁶  and thorns ⁷  surround you and you live among scorpions – do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, ⁸  for they are a rebellious house!

Yehezkiel 5:17

5:17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you and they will take your children from you. ⁹  Plague and bloodshed will overwhelm you, ¹⁰  and I will bring a sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Yehezkiel 10:7

10:7 Then one of the cherubim ¹¹  stretched out his hand ¹²  toward the fire which was among the cherubim. He took some and put it into the hands of the man dressed in linen, who took it and left.

Yehezkiel 11:16

11:16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Although I have removed them far away among the nations and have dispersed them among the countries, I have been a little ¹³  sanctuary for them among the lands where they have gone.’

Yehezkiel 14:22

14:22 Yet some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their behavior and their deeds, you will be consoled about the catastrophe I have brought on Jerusalem – for everything I brought on it.

Yehezkiel 17:15

17:15 But this one from Israel’s royal family ¹⁴  rebelled against the king of Babylon ¹⁵  by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?

Yehezkiel 23:4

23:4 Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah ¹⁶  the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. ¹⁷  Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

Yehezkiel 23:24

23:24 They will attack ¹⁸  you with weapons, ¹⁹  chariots, wagons, and with a huge army; ²⁰  they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment; ²¹  they will punish you according to their laws.

Yehezkiel 23:40

23:40 “They even sent for men from far away; when the messenger arrived, those men set out. ²²  For them you bathed, ²³  painted your eyes, and decorated yourself with jewelry.

Yehezkiel 31:12

31:12 Foreigners from the most terrifying nations have cut it down and left it to lie there on the mountains. In all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs lie broken in the ravines of the land. All the peoples of the land ²⁴  have departed ²⁵  from its shade and left it.

Yehezkiel 38:12

38:12 to loot and plunder, to attack ²⁶  the inhabited ruins and the people gathered from the nations, who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the center ²⁷  of the earth.”

Yehezkiel 38:17

38:17 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days by my servants ²⁸  the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days ²⁹  that I would bring you against them?

Yehezkiel 40:29

40:29 Its alcoves, its jambs, and its porches had the same dimensions as the others, and there were windows all around it and its porches; its length was 87½ feet ³⁰  and its width 43¾ feet. ³¹ 

Yehezkiel 40:33

40:33 Its alcoves, its jambs, and its porches had the same dimensions as the others, and there were windows all around it and its porches; its length was 87½ feet ³²  and its width 43¾ feet. ³³ 

Yehezkiel 40:44

40:44 On the outside of the inner gate were chambers for the singers of the inner court, one ³⁴  at the side of the north gate facing south, and the other at the side of the south ³⁵  gate facing north.

Yehezkiel 40:48

40:48 Then he brought me to the porch of the temple and measured the jambs of the porch as 8¾ feet ³⁶  on either side, and the width of the gate was 24½ feet ³⁷  and the sides ³⁸  were 5¼ feet ³⁹  on each side.

Yehezkiel 47:10

47:10 Fishermen will stand beside it; from Engedi to En-eglaim they will spread nets. They will catch many kinds of fish, like the fish of the Great Sea. ⁴⁰ 

[1:1]  ¹ sn The meaning of the thirtieth year is problematic. Some take it to mean the age of Ezekiel when he prophesied (e.g., Origen). The Aramaic Targum explains the thirtieth year as the thirtieth year dated from the recovery of the book of the Torah in the temple in Jerusalem (2 Kgs 22:3-9). The number seems somehow to be equated with the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile in 1:2, i.e., 593 b.c.

[1:1]  ² sn The Assyrians started the tactic of deportation, the large-scale forced displacement of conquered populations, in order to stifle rebellions. The task of uniting groups of deportees, gaining freedom from one’s overlords and returning to retake one’s own country would be considerably more complicated than living in one’s homeland and waiting for an opportune moment to drive out the enemy’s soldiers. The Babylonians adopted this practice also, after defeating the Assyrians. The Babylonians deported Judeans on three occasions. The practice of deportation was reversed by the Persian conquerors of Babylon, who gained favor from their subjects for allowing them to return to their homeland and, as polytheists, sought the favor of the gods of the various countries which had come under their control.

[1:1]  ³ sn The Kebar River is mentioned in Babylonian texts from the city of Nippur in the fifth century b.c. It provided artificial irrigation from the Euphrates.

[1:1]  ⁴ sn For the concept of the heavens opened in later literature, see 3 Macc 6:18; 2 Bar. 22:1; T. Levi 5:1; Matt 3:16; Acts 7:56; Rev 19:11.

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Or “saw visions from God.” References to divine visions occur also in Ezek 8:3; 40:2

[2:6]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term occurs only here in the OT.

[2:6]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term is found elsewhere in the OT only in Ezek 28:24.

[2:6]  sn Here thorns may be a figure for hostility (Ezek 28:24; Mic 7:4).

[2:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “of their faces.”

[5:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “will bereave you.”

[5:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “will pass through you.” This threat recalls the warning of Lev 26:22, 25 and Deut 32:24-25.

[10:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the cherub.”

[10:7]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text adds, “from among the cherubim.”

[11:16]  ¹³ tn Or “have been partially a sanctuary”; others take this as temporal (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV “a little while”).

[17:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the member of the royal family, v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:4]  ¹⁶ tn The names Oholah and Oholibah are both derived from the word meaning “tent.” The meaning of Oholah is “her tent,” while Oholibah means “my tent is in her.”

[23:4]  ¹⁷ sn In this allegory the Lord is depicted as being the husband of two wives. The OT law prohibited a man from marrying sisters (Lev 18:18), but the practice is attested in the OT (cf. Jacob). The metaphor is utilized here for illustrative purposes and does not mean that the Lord condoned such a practice or bigamy in general.

[23:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “come against.”

[23:24]  ¹⁹ tn This is the only occurrence of this term in the OT. The precise meaning is uncertain.

[23:24]  ²⁰ tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

[23:24]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will place before them judgment.”

[23:40]  ²² tn Heb “to whom a messenger was sent, and look, they came.” Foreign alliances are in view here.

[23:40]  ²³ tn The Hebrew verb form is feminine singular, indicating that Oholibah (Judah) is specifically addressed here. This address continues through verse 42a (note “her”), but then both sisters are described in verse 42b, where the feminine pronouns are again plural.

[31:12]  ²⁴ tn Or “earth” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[31:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “gone down.”

[38:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “to turn your hand against.”

[38:12]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew term occurs elsewhere only in Judg 9:37. Perhaps it means “high point, top.”

[38:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “by the hand of my servants.”

[38:17]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew text adds “years” here, but this is probably a scribal gloss on the preceding phrase. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:201.

[40:29]  ³⁰ tn Heb “fifty cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).

[40:29]  ³¹ tn Heb “twenty-five cubits” (i.e., 13.125 meters).

[40:33]  ³² tn Heb “fifty cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).

[40:33]  ³³ tn Heb “twenty-five cubits” (i.e., 13.125 meters).

[40:44]  ³⁴ tn “One” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied for clarity in the translation.

[40:44]  ³⁵ tc This reading is supported by the LXX; the MT reads “east.”

[40:48]  ³⁶ tn Heb “five cubits” (i.e., 2.625 meters).

[40:48]  ³⁷ tn The LXX reads “fourteen cubits” (i.e., 7.35 meters). See following note.

[40:48]  ³⁸ tc The translation follows the LXX. The MT reads “the width of the gate was three cubits,” the omission due to haplography.

[40:48]  tn Or “sidewalls.”

[40:48]  ³⁹ tn Heb “three cubits” (i.e., 1.575 meters).

[47:10]  ⁴⁰ sn The Great Sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea (also in vv. 15, 19, 20).