Ezekiel 1

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

¹ In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of Elohim. ² On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), ³ the word of Yahweh came expressly to Ezekiel the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of Yahweh was upon him there.

The living creatures

⁴ I looked, and see, a stormy wind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with fire flashing continually and brightness all around it; and from the midst of it, from the midst of the fire, came something like the gleam of glowing metal. ⁵ And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. ⁶ Each one had four faces, and each one of them had four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight legs, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like the gleam of burnished bronze. ⁸ Under their wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man. As for the four of them, their faces and their wings were thus: ⁹ their wings touched one another. They did not turn as they went; each one went straight forward. ¹⁰ As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. ¹¹ Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above: each one had two wings touching those of another, and two covering their bodies. ¹² And each one went straight forward; wherever the spirit would go, they went; they did not turn as they went. ¹³ As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches; fire moved back and forth among the living creatures, and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. ¹⁴ And the living creatures ran back and forth like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

The wheels

¹⁵ Now as I looked at the living creatures, see, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, for each of their four faces. ¹⁶ The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like the gleam of beryl, and the four had one likeness; their appearance and their workmanship were as it were a wheel within a wheel. ¹⁷ When they went, they went in any of their four directions; they did not turn as they went. ¹⁸ As for their rims, they were high and awesome; and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. ¹⁹ When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. ²⁰ Wherever the spirit would go, they went, where the spirit was to go, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. ²¹ When those went, these went; when those stood still, these stood still; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

The throne and the glory of Yahweh

²² Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, like the gleam of awesome crystal, spread out over their heads above. ²³ And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another; each one had two that covered its body on this side, and each one had two that covered its body on that side. ²⁴ And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the voice of Shaddai, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army; when they stood still, they let down their wings. ²⁵ And there came a voice from above the expanse that was over their heads; when they stood still, they let down their wings.

²⁶ And above the expanse that was over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne, high above it, was a likeness with the appearance of a man. ²⁷ And I saw something like the gleam of glowing metal, like the appearance of fire enclosing it all around, from the appearance of His waist upward; and from the appearance of His waist downward I saw something like the appearance of fire, and there was brightness all around Him. ²⁸ Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of One speaking.

Notes

• 1:1 The "thirtieth year" is not explained; many understand it as Ezekiel's age, since thirty was the age at which priests began their service (Numbers 4:3), while others count it from another date, such as Josiah's reform. Verse 2 ties the vision to the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's exile, which began in 597 BC (2 Kings 24:12-15), so the call came about 593 BC, in early summer. Ezekiel had been taken to Babylon with Jehoiachin, and he spoke to the exiles there while Jeremiah was still prophesying in Jerusalem.
• 1:3 Ezekiel (Yechezkel) means "El strengthens" or "may El strengthen," a name that the book will play on (see the note at 3:8). He was a priest, or a priest's son, trained for the temple he would never serve in. "The hand of Yahweh was upon him" is the Hebrew way of saying that Yahweh took hold of the prophet with power (1 Kings 18:46; 2 Kings 3:15); the phrase returns at each of Ezekiel's great visions (3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1). The Chebar was a canal near the city of Nippur, known from Babylonian records.
• 1:4 "Glowing metal" translates chashmal, a word found only in Ezekiel (here, 1:27 and 8:2); its exact meaning is uncertain. The ancient Greek translation rendered it elektron, a shining metal or amber, which is why older versions say "amber." Through the whole chapter Ezekiel piles up "likeness," "appearance" and "something like": he describes with reverence what words can only approach.
• 1:5 "Living creatures" is chayyot. In chapter 10 Ezekiel sees them again and recognizes them as the cherubim (10:15, 20), the beings pictured over the ark of the covenant and in the temple (Exodus 25:18-22; 1 Kings 6:23-28). John sees four living creatures around the throne, like a lion, a calf, a man and a flying eagle (Revelation 4:6-8).
• 1:28 Ezekiel never says that he saw Yahweh Himself: he saw "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh," each word stepping back in reverence. The bow in the cloud recalls the sign of the covenant after the flood (Genesis 9:13), and John's vision of the throne also has a rainbow around it (Revelation 4:3). The word "chariot" (merkavah) does not appear in this chapter, but in later Jewish tradition it became "the work of the chariot" (ma'aseh merkavah, compare 1 Chronicles 28:18); the Mishnah (Chagigah 2:1, compiled about AD 200) restricts its teaching to the wise, and later custom reads it in the synagogue on Shavuot.

Lamentations 5 · Ezekiel 2

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