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 9:2

9:2 Next, I noticed ⁶  six men ⁷  coming from the direction of the upper gate ⁸  which faces north, each with his war club in his hand. Among them was a man dressed in linen with a writing kit ⁹  at his side. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.

Yehezkiel 21:29

21:29 while seeing false visions for you

and reading lying omens for you ¹⁰  –

to place that sword ¹¹  on the necks of the profane wicked, ¹² 

whose day has come,

the time of final punishment.

Yehezkiel 23:23-24

23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, ¹³  Shoa, ¹⁴  and Koa, ¹⁵  and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, all of them governors and officials, officers and nobles, all of them riding on horses. 23:24 They will attack ¹⁶  you with weapons, ¹⁷  chariots, wagons, and with a huge army; ¹⁸  they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment; ¹⁹  they will punish you according to their laws.

Yehezkiel 27:27

27:27 Your wealth, products, and merchandise, your sailors and captains,

your ship’s carpenters, ²⁰  your merchants,

and all your fighting men within you,

along with all your crew who are in you,

will fall into the heart of the seas on the day of your downfall.

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 41:15

41:15 Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, with its galleries on either side as 175 feet. ²¹ 

The interior of the outer sanctuary and the porch of the court, ²² 

Yehezkiel 48:11

48:11 This will be for the priests who are set apart from the descendants of Zadok who kept my charge and did not go astray when the people of Israel strayed off, like the Levites did. 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

[9:2]  ⁶ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[9:2]  ⁷ sn The six men plus the scribe would equal seven, which was believed by the Babylonians to be the number of planetary deities.

[9:2]  ⁸ sn The upper gate was built by Jotham (2 Kgs 15:35).

[9:2]  ⁹ tn Or “a scribe’s inkhorn.” The Hebrew term occurs in the OT only in Ezek 9 and is believed to be an Egyptian loanword.

[21:29]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you”; the referent (the sword mentioned in v. 28) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:29]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ sn Shoa was the name of a nomadic people (the Sutu) that lived in Mesopotamia.

[23:23]  ¹⁵ sn Koa was the name of another Mesopotamian people group (the Qutu).

[23:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “come against.”

[23:24]  ¹⁷ tn This is the only occurrence of this term in the OT. The precise meaning is uncertain.

[23:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

[23:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I will place before them judgment.”

[27:27]  ²⁰ tn Heb “your repairers of damage.” See v. 9.

[41:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “one hundred cubits” (i.e., 52.5 meters).

[41:15]  ²² tc Some Hebrew mss read “and its outer court.”

[48:11]  ²³ tn Heb “strayed off.”