Ezekiel 1:3

1:3 the word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel ¹  the son of Buzi, ²  at the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. ³  The hand ⁴  of the Lord came on him there).

Ezekiel 3:12

Ezekiel Before the Exiles

3:12 Then a wind lifted me up ⁵  and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me as the glory of the Lord rose from its place, ⁶ 

Ezekiel 3:14

3:14 A wind lifted me up and carried me away. I went bitterly, ⁷  my spirit full of fury, and the hand of the Lord rested powerfully ⁸  on me.

Ezekiel 3:22

Isolated and Silenced

3:22 The hand ⁹  of the Lord rested on me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the valley, ¹⁰  and I will speak with you there.”

Ezekiel 37:1

The Valley of Dry Bones

37:1 The hand ¹¹  of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and placed ¹²  me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones.

¹ sn The prophet’s name, Ezekiel, means in Hebrew “May God strengthen.”

² tn Or “to Ezekiel son of Buzi the priest.”

³ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” The name of the tribal group ruling Babylon, “Chaldeans” is used as metonymy for the whole empire of Babylon. The Babylonians worked with the Medes to destroy the Assyrian Empire near the end of the 7th century b.c. Then, over the next century, the Babylonians dominated the West Semitic states (such as Phoenicia, Aram, Moab, Edom, and Judah in the modern countries of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel) and made incursions into Egypt.

⁴ tn Or “power.”

⁵ sn See note on “wind” in 2:2.

⁶ tc This translation accepts the emendation suggested in BHS of בְּרוּם (bÿrum) for בָּרוּךְ (barukh). The letters mem (מ) and kaph (כ) were easily confused in the old script while בָּרוּךְ (“blessed be”) both implies a quotation which is out of place here and also does not fit the later phrase, “from its place,” which requires a verb of motion.

⁷ tn The traditional interpretation is that Ezekiel embarked on his mission with bitterness and anger, either reflecting God’s attitude toward the sinful people or his own feelings about having to carry out such an unpleasant task. L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:13) takes “bitterly” as a misplaced marginal note and understands the following word, normally translated “anger,” in the sense of fervor or passion. He translates, “I was passionately moved” (p. 4). Another option is to take the word translated “bitterly” as a verb meaning “strengthened” (attested in Ugaritic). See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 152.

⁸ tn Heb “the hand of the Lord was on me heavily.” The “hand of the Lord” is a metaphor for his power or influence; the modifier conveys intensity.

⁹ tn Or “power.”

¹⁰ sn Ezekiel had another vision at this location, recounted in Ezek 37.

¹¹ tn Or “power.”

¹² tn Heb “caused me to rest.”