Ezekiel 31:13

31:13 On its ruins all the birds of the sky will live, and all the wild animals ¹  will walk ²  on its branches.

Ezekiel 1:1

A Vision of God’s Glory

1:1 In the thirtieth year, ³  on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles ⁴  at the Kebar River, ⁵  the heavens opened ⁶  and I saw a divine vision. ⁷ 

Ezekiel 31:6

31:6 All the birds of the sky nested in its boughs;

under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth,

in its shade all the great ⁸  nations lived.

Ezekiel 32:4

32:4 I will leave you on the ground,

I will fling you on the open field,

I will allow ⁹  all the birds of the sky to settle ¹⁰  on you,

and I will permit ¹¹  all the wild animals ¹²  to gorge themselves on you.

Ezekiel 8:3

8:3 He stretched out the form ¹³  of a hand and grabbed me by a lock of hair on my head. Then a wind ¹⁴  lifted me up between the earth and sky and brought me to Jerusalem ¹⁵  by means of divine visions, to the door of the inner gate which faces north where the statue ¹⁶  which provokes to jealousy was located.

Ezekiel 29:5

29:5 I will leave you in the wilderness,

you and all the fish of your waterways;

you will fall in the open field and will not be gathered up or collected. ¹⁷ 

I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the skies.

Ezekiel 38:20

38:20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the wild beasts, all the things that creep on the ground, and all people who live on the face of the earth will shake ¹⁸  at my presence. The mountains will topple, the cliffs ¹⁹  will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground.

¹ tn Heb “the beasts of the field,” referring to wild as opposed to domesticated animals.

² tn Heb “be.”

³ 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.

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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.

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn Or “saw visions from God.” References to divine visions occur also in Ezek 8:3; 40:2

⁵ tn Or “many.”

⁷ tn Or “cause.”

⁸ tn Heb “live.”

⁹ tn Or “cause.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the beasts of the field,” referring to wild as opposed to domesticated animals.

⁹ tn The Hebrew term is normally used as an architectural term in describing the pattern of the tabernacle or temple or a representation of it (see Exod 25:8; 1 Chr 28:11).

¹⁰ tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.

¹¹ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹² tn Or “image.”

¹¹ tc Some Hebrew mss, the Targum, and the LXX read “buried.”

¹³ tn Or “tremble.”

¹⁴ tn The term occurs only here and in Song of Songs 2:14.