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 7:26

7:26 Disaster after disaster will come, and one rumor after another. They will seek a vision from a prophet; priestly instruction will disappear, along with counsel from the elders.

Yehezkiel 8:1

A Desecrated Temple

8:1 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month, ⁶  as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting in front of me, the hand ⁷  of the sovereign Lord seized me. ⁸ 

Yehezkiel 21:22

21:22 Into his right hand ⁹  comes the portent for Jerusalem – to set up battering rams, to give the signal ¹⁰  for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry, ¹¹  to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall.

Yehezkiel 21:29

21:29 while seeing false visions for you

and reading lying omens for you ¹²  –

to place that sword ¹³  on the necks of the profane wicked, ¹⁴ 

whose day has come,

the time of final punishment.

Yehezkiel 23:23

23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, ¹⁵  Shoa, ¹⁶  and Koa, ¹⁷  and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, all of them governors and officials, officers and nobles, all of them riding on horses.

Yehezkiel 28:13

28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. ¹⁸ 

Every precious stone was your covering,

the ruby, topaz, and emerald,

the chrysolite, onyx, and jasper,

the sapphire, turquoise, and beryl; ¹⁹ 

your settings and mounts were made of gold.

On the day you were created they were prepared.

Yehezkiel 32:32

32:32 Indeed, I terrified him in the land of the living, yet he will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the sovereign Lord.”

Yehezkiel 34:2

34:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds ²⁰  of Israel; prophesy, and say to them – to the shepherds: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock?

Yehezkiel 46:11

46:11 “‘At the festivals and at the appointed feasts the grain offering will be an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as one is able, ²¹  and a gallon ²²  of olive oil with each ephah of grain. ²³ 

[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

[8:1]  ⁶ tc The LXX reads “In the sixth year, in the fifth month, on the fifth of the month.”

[8:1]  sn In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month would be September 17, 592 b.c., about fourteen months after the initial vision.

[8:1]  ⁷ tn Or “power.”

[8:1]  sn Hand in the OT can refer metaphorically to power, authority, or influence. In Ezekiel God’s hand being on the prophet is regularly associated with communication or a vision from God (3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1).

[8:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “fell upon me there,” that is, God’s influence came over him.

[21:22]  ⁹ tn Or “on the right side,” i.e., the omen mark on the right side of the liver.

[21:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to open the mouth” for slaughter.

[21:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to raise up a voice in a battle cry.”

[21:29]  ¹² tn Heb “in the seeing concerning you falsehood, in divining concerning you a lie.” This probably refers to the attempts of the Ammonites to ward off judgment through prophetic visions and divination.

[21:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “you”; the referent (the sword mentioned in v. 28) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:29]  ¹⁴ sn The second half of the verse appears to state that the sword of judgment would fall upon the wicked, despite their efforts to prevent it.

[23:23]  ¹⁵ sn Pekod was the name of an Aramean tribe (known as Puqudu in Mesopotamian texts) that lived in the region of the Tigris River.

[23:23]  ¹⁶ sn Shoa was the name of a nomadic people (the Sutu) that lived in Mesopotamia.

[23:23]  ¹⁷ sn Koa was the name of another Mesopotamian people group (the Qutu).

[28:13]  ¹⁸ sn The imagery of the lament appears to draw upon an extrabiblical Eden tradition about the expulsion of the first man (see v. 14 and the note there) from the garden due to his pride. The biblical Eden tradition speaks of cherubs placed as guardians at the garden entrance following the sin of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:24), but no guardian cherub like the one described in verse 14 is depicted or mentioned in the biblical account. Ezekiel’s imagery also appears to reflect Mesopotamian and Canaanite mythology at certain points. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:119-20.

[28:13]  ¹⁹ tn The exact identification of each gemstone is uncertain. The list should be compared to that of the priest in Exod 28:17-20, which lists twelve stones in rows of three. The LXX apparently imports the Exod 28 list. See reference to the types of stones in L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.

[34:2]  ²⁰ tn The term shepherd is applied to kings in the ancient Near East. In the OT the Lord is often addressed as shepherd of Israel (Gen 49:24; Ps 8:1). The imagery of shepherds as Israel’s leaders is also employed (Jer 23:1-2).

[46:11]  ²¹ tn Or “as much as he wishes.” Heb “a gift of his hand.”

[46:11]  ²² tn Heb “a hin of oil.” A hin was about 1/16 of a bath. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:266, and O. R. Sellers, “Weights,” IDB 4:835 g.

[46:11]  ²³ tn Heb “ephah.” The words “of grain” are supplied in the translation as a clarification.