Yehezkiel 1:5

1:5 In the fire ¹  were what looked like ²  four living beings. ³  In their appearance they had human form, ⁴ 

Yehezkiel 13:3

13:3 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit but have seen nothing!

Yehezkiel 24:19

24:19 Then the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things you are doing mean for us?”

Yehezkiel 30:10

30:10 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt,

by the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar ⁵  of Babylon.

Yehezkiel 35:14

35:14 This is what the sovereign Lord says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will turn you into a desolation.

Yehezkiel 38:3

38:3 and say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, ⁶  I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.

[1:5]  ¹ tc Heb “from its midst” (מִתּוֹכָהּ, mitokhah). The LXX reads ἐν τῷ μέσῳ (en tw mesw, “in the midst of it”). The LXX also reads ἐν for מִתּוֹךְ (mitokh) in v. 4. The translator of the LXX of Ezekiel either read בְּתוֹךְ (bÿtokh, “within”) in his Hebrew exemplar or could not imagine how מִתּוֹךְ could make sense and so chose to use ἐν. The Hebrew would be understood by adding “from its midst emerged the forms of four living beings.”

[1:5]  ² tn Heb “form, figure, appearance.”

[1:5]  ³ tn The Hebrew term is feminine plural yet thirty-three of the forty-five pronominal suffixes and verbal references which refer to the living beings in the chapter are masculine plural. The grammatical vacillation between masculine and feminine plurals suggests the difficulty Ezekiel had in penning these words as he was overcome by the vision of God. In ancient Near Eastern sculpture very similar images of part-human, part-animal creatures serve as throne and sky bearers. For a discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:26-31. Ezekiel’s vision is an example of contextualization, where God accommodates his self-revelation to cultural expectations and norms.

[1:5]  ⁴ sn They had human form may mean they stood erect.

[30:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “Nebuchadrezzar” is a variant and more correct spelling of Nebuchadnezzar, as the Babylonian name Nabu-kudurri-usur has an “r” rather than an “n.”

[38:3]  ⁶ tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.