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 1:27

1:27 I saw an amber glow ⁶  like a fire enclosed all around ⁷  from his waist up. From his waist down I saw something that looked like fire. There was a brilliant light around it,

Yehezkiel 2:6

2:6 But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words – even though briers ⁸  and thorns ⁹  surround you and you live among scorpions – do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, ¹⁰  for they are a rebellious house!

Yehezkiel 8:18

8:18 Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare ¹¹  them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them.”

Yehezkiel 30:9

30:9 On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten overly confident Ethiopia; panic will overtake them on the day of Egypt’s doom; ¹²  for beware – it is coming!

Yehezkiel 31:16

31:16 I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when I threw it down to Sheol, along with those who descend to the pit. ¹³  Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, all that were well-watered, were comforted in the earth below.

[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

[1:27]  ⁶ tn See Ezek 1:4.

[1:27]  ⁷ tc The LXX lacks this phrase. Its absence from the LXX may be explained as a case of haplography resulting from homoioteleuton, skipping from כְּמַרְאֵה (kÿmar’eh) to מִמַּרְאֵה (mimmar’eh). On the other hand, the LXX presents a much more balanced verse structure when it is recognized that the final words of this verse belong in the next sentence.

[2:6]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term occurs only here in the OT.

[2:6]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “of their faces.”

[8:18]  ¹¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[30:9]  ¹² tn Heb “in the day of Egypt.” The word “doom” has been added in the translation to clarify the nature of this day.

[31:16]  ¹³ sn For the expression “going down to the pit,” see Ezek 26:20; 32:18, 24, 29.