Yehezkiel 1:13-21

1:13 In the middle ¹  of the living beings was something like ²  burning coals of fire ³  or like torches. It moved back and forth among the living beings. It was bright, and lightning was flashing out of the fire. 1:14 The living beings moved backward and forward as quickly as flashes of lightning. ⁴ 

1:15 Then I looked, ⁵  and I saw one wheel ⁶  on the ground ⁷  beside each of the four beings. 1:16 The appearance of the wheels and their construction ⁸  was like gleaming jasper, ⁹  and all four wheels looked alike. Their structure was like a wheel within a wheel. ¹⁰  1:17 When they moved they would go in any of the four directions they faced without turning as they moved. 1:18 Their rims were high and awesome, ¹¹  and the rims of all four wheels were full of eyes all around.

1:19 When the living beings moved, the wheels beside them moved; when the living beings rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up too. 1:20 Wherever the spirit ¹²  would go, they would go, ¹³  and the wheels would rise up beside them because the spirit ¹⁴  of the living being was in the wheel. 1:21 When the living beings moved, the wheels moved, and when they stopped moving, the wheels stopped. ¹⁵  When they rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up from the ground; the wheels rose up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel.

Yehezkiel 10:2-7

10:2 The Lord ¹⁶  said to the man dressed in linen, “Go between the wheelwork ¹⁷  underneath the cherubim. ¹⁸  Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” He went as I watched.

10:3 (The cherubim were standing on the south side ¹⁹  of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.) 10:4 Then the glory of the Lord arose from the cherub and moved to the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud while the court was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory. 10:5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard from the outer court, like the sound of the sovereign God ²⁰  when he speaks.

10:6 When the Lord ²¹  commanded the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man ²²  went in and stood by one of the wheels. ²³  10:7 Then one of the cherubim ²⁴  stretched out his hand ²⁵  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.

[1:13]  ¹ tc The MT reads “and the form of the creatures” (וּדְמוּת הַחַיּוֹת, udÿmut hakhayyot). The LXX reads “and in the midst of the creatures,” suggesting an underlying Hebrew text of וּמִתּוֹךְ הַחַיּוֹת (umittokh hakhayyot). The subsequent description of something moving among the creatures supports the LXX.

[1:13]  ² tc The MT reads “and the form of the creatures – their appearance was like burning coals of fire.” The LXX reads “in the midst of the creatures was a sight like burning coals of fire.” The MT may have adjusted “appearance” to “their appearance” to fit their reading of the beginning of the verse (see the tc note on “in the middle”). See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 1:46.

[1:13]  ³ sn Burning coals of fire are also a part of David’s poetic description of God’s appearance (see 2 Sam 22:9, 13; Ps 18:8).

[1:14]  ⁴ tc The LXX omits v. 14 and may well be correct. The verse may be a later explanatory gloss of the end of v. 13 which was copied into the main text. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 1:46.

[1:14]  tn Lit., “like the appearance of lightning.” The Hebrew term translated “lightning” occurs only here in the OT. In postbiblical Hebrew the term refers to a lightning flash.

[1:15]  ⁵ tc The MT adds “at the living beings” which is absent from the LXX.

[1:15]  ⁶ sn Another vision which includes wheels on thrones occurs in Dan 7:9. Ezek 10 contains a vision similar to this one.

[1:15]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word may be translated either “earth” or “ground” in this context.

[1:16]  ⁸ tc This word is omitted from the LXX.

[1:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “Tarshish stone.” The meaning of this term is uncertain. The term has also been translated “topaz” (NEB); “beryl” (KJV, NASB, NRSV); or “chrysolite” (RSV, NIV).

[1:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “like a wheel at right angles to another wheel.” Some envision concentric wheels here, while others propose “a globe-like structure in which two wheels stand at right angles” (L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:33-34). The description given in v. 17 favors the latter idea.

[1:18]  ¹¹ tc The MT reads וְיִרְאָה לָהֶם (vÿyir’ah lahem, “and fear belonged to them”). In a similar vision in 10:12 the wheels are described as having spokes (יִדֵיהֶם, yideyhem). That parallel would suggest יָדוֹת (yadot) here (written יָדֹת without the mater). By positing both a ד/ר (dalet/resh) confusion and a ת/ה (hey/khet) confusion the form was read as וְיָרֵה (vÿyareh) and was then misunderstood and subsequently written as וְיִרְאָה (vÿyir’ah) in the MT. The reading וְיִרְאָה does not seem to fit the context well, though in English it can be made to sound as if it does. See W. H. Brownlee, Ezekiel 1-19 (WBC), 8-9. The LXX reads καὶ εἶδον αὐτά (kai eidon auta, “and I saw”), which assumes וָאֵרֶא (va’ere’). The existing consonants of the MT may also be read as “it was visible to them.”

[1:20]  ¹² tn Or “wind”; the same Hebrew word can be translated as either “wind” or “spirit” depending on the context.

[1:20]  ¹³ tc The MT adds the additional phrase “the spirit would go,” which seems unduly redundant here and may be dittographic.

[1:20]  ¹⁴ tn Or “wind.” The Hebrew is difficult since the text presents four creatures and then talks about “the spirit” (singular) of “the living being” (singular). According to M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 1:45) the Targum interprets this as “will.” Greenberg views this as the spirit of the one enthroned above the creatures, but one would not expect the article when the one enthroned has not yet been introduced.

[1:21]  ¹⁵ tc The LXX reads “when it went, they went; when it stood, they stood.”

[1:21]  tn Heb “when they went, they went; when they stood, they stood.”

[10:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:2]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew term often refers to chariot wheels (Isa 28:28; Ezek 23:24; 26:10).

[10:2]  ¹⁸ tc The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum mss read plural “cherubim” while the MT is singular here, “cherub.” The plural ending was probably omitted in copying the MT due to the similar beginning of the next word.

[10:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “right side.”

[10:5]  ²⁰ tn The name (“El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72.

[10:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:6]  ²² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man dressed in linen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:6]  ²³ tn Heb “the wheel.”

[10:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the cherub.”

[10:7]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds, “from among the cherubim.”