Ezekiel 10:1-7

God’s Glory Leaves the Temple

10:1 As I watched, I saw ¹  on the platform ²  above the top of the cherubim something like a sapphire, resembling the shape of a throne, appearing above them. 10:2 The Lord ³  said to the man dressed in linen, “Go between the wheelwork ⁴  underneath the cherubim. ⁵  Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” He went as I watched.

10:3 (The cherubim were standing on the south side ⁶  of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.) 10:4 Then the glory of the Lord arose from the cherub and moved to the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud while the court was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory. 10:5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard from the outer court, like the sound of the sovereign God ⁷  when he speaks.

10:6 When the Lord ⁸  commanded the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man ⁹  went in and stood by one of the wheels. ¹⁰  10:7 Then one of the cherubim ¹¹  stretched out his hand ¹²  toward the fire which was among the cherubim. He took some and put it into the hands of the man dressed in linen, who took it and left.

¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

² tn Or “like a dome.” See 1:22-26.

³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn The Hebrew term often refers to chariot wheels (Isa 28:28; Ezek 23:24; 26:10).

⁵ tc The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum mss read plural “cherubim” while the MT is singular here, “cherub.” The plural ending was probably omitted in copying the MT due to the similar beginning of the next word.

⁶ tn Heb “right side.”

⁷ tn The name (“El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72.

⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man dressed in linen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Heb “the wheel.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the cherub.”

¹² tn The Hebrew text adds, “from among the cherubim.”