Yehezkiel 1:4

1:4 As I watched, I noticed ¹  a windstorm ²  coming from the north – an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, ³  such that bright light ⁴  rimmed it and came from ⁵  it like glowing amber ⁶  from the middle of a fire.

Yehezkiel 1:7

1:7 Their legs were straight, but the soles of their feet were like calves’ feet. They gleamed ⁷  like polished bronze.

Yehezkiel 1:16

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 

Yehezkiel 1:22

1:22 Over the heads of the living beings was something like a platform, ¹¹  glittering awesomely like ice, ¹²  stretched out over their heads.

Yehezkiel 1:27

1:27 I saw an amber glow ¹³  like a fire enclosed all around ¹⁴  from his waist up. From his waist down I saw something that looked like fire. There was a brilliant light around it,

[1:4]  ¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[1:4]  ² sn Storms are often associated with appearances of God (see Nah 1:3; Ps 18:12). In some passages, the “storm” (סְעָרָה, sÿ’arah) may be a whirlwind (Job 38:1, 2 Kgs 2:1).

[1:4]  ³ tn Heb “fire taking hold of itself,” perhaps repeatedly. The phrase occurs elsewhere only in Exod 9:24 in association with a hailstorm. The LXX interprets the phrase as fire flashing like lightning, but it is possibly a self-sustaining blaze of divine origin. The LXX also reverses the order of the descriptors, i.e., “light went around it and fire flashed like lightning within it.”

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Or “radiance.” The term also occurs in 1:27b.

[1:4]  ⁵ tc Or “was in it”; cf. LXX ἐν τῷ μέσῳ αὐτοῦ (en tw mesw autou, “in its midst”).

[1:4]  ⁶ tn The LXX translates חַשְׁמַל (khashmal) with the word ἤλεκτρον (hlektron, “electrum”; so NAB), an alloy of silver and gold, perhaps envisioning a comparison to the glow of molten metal.

[1:7]  ⁷ sn The Hebrew verb translated gleamed occurs only here in the OT.

[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.

[1:22]  ¹¹ tn Or “like a dome” (NCV, NRSV, TEV).

[1:22]  ¹² tn Or “like crystal” (NRSV, NLT).

[1:27]  ¹³ tn See Ezek 1:4.

[1:27]  ¹⁴ 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.