4 I looked, and, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with flashing lightning, and a brightness round about it, and out of the midst of it as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire.
Then I saw, and, behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his loins and downward, fire; and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal.
I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of his loins and upward; and from the appearance of his loins and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him.
Thus says Yahweh of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land.
behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says Yahweh, and [I will send] to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants of it, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters.
God came from Teman, The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, And his praise filled the earth. His splendor is like the sunrise. Rays shine from his hand, where his power is hidden. Plague went before him, And pestilence followed his feet.
Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour. All of them come for violence. Their hordes face the desert. He gathers prisoners like sand.
Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes. The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him.
There appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their wings. I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like a beryl stone.
He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, Go in between the whirling [wheels], even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. He went in as I watched. Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. The glory of Yahweh mounted up from the cherub, [and stood] over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Yahweh's glory.
It happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lower part of the mountain. Mount Sinai, the whole of it, smoked, because Yahweh descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
Set up a standard toward Zion: flee for safety, don't stay; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
The word of Yahweh came to me the second time, saying, What see you? I said, I see a boiling caldron; and the face of it is from the north. Then Yahweh said to me, Out of the north evil shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.
He lays the beams of his chambers in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind. He makes his messengers{or, angels} winds; His servants flames of fire.
Clouds and darkness are around him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. A fire goes before him, And burns up his adversaries on every side.
He made darkness his hiding-place, his pavilion around him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, Hailstones and coals of fire. Yahweh also thundered in the sky, The Most High uttered his voice: Hailstones and coals of fire.
Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of Yahweh filled the house. The priests could not enter into the house of Yahweh, because the glory of Yahweh filled Yahweh's house. All the children of Israel looked on, when the fire came down, and the glory of Yahweh was on the house; and they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped, and gave thanks to Yahweh, [saying], For he is good; for his loving kindness endures for ever.
You came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. Yahweh spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; only [you heard] a voice.
The glory of Yahweh settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 1
Commentary on Ezekiel 1 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
First Half - The Prophecies of Judgment - Ezekiel 1-32
The Consecration and Calling of Ezekiel to the Office of Prophet - Ezekiel 1-3:21
In a vision of God, Ezekiel beholds in a great cloud, through which shone the splendour of fire, and which a tempestuous wind drives from the north, the glory of the Lord above the cherubim upon a majestic throne in human form (Ezekiel 1), and hears a voice, which sends him as a prophet to Israel, and inspires him with the subject-matter of his announcements (Ezekiel 2:1-3:3). He is thereafter transported in spirit to Tel-abib on the Chebar, into the midst of the exiles, and the duties and responsibilities of his calling laid before him (3:4-21). By this divine appearance and the commission therewith connected is he consecrated, called, and ordained to the prophetic office. The whole occurrences in the vision are subdivided into the copious description of the theophany, Ezekiel 1, by which he is consecrated for his calling; and into the revelation of the word, Ezekiel 2:1-3:21, which prepares him for the discharge of the same. From these contents it clearly appears that these chapters do not constitute the first section of the book, but the introduction to the whole, to which the circumstantial notices of the time and place of this revelation of God at the commencement, Ezekiel 1:1-3, also point.
The Appearance of the Glory of the Lord. - Ezekiel 1:1-3. Time and place of the same. - Ezekiel 1:1. Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth (month), on the fifth (day) of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. Ezekiel 1:2 . On the fifth day of the month, it was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, Ezekiel 1:3 . The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Busi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.