Ezekiel 1:13-15
Context1:13 In the middle 1 of the living beings was something like 2 burning coals of fire 3 or like torches. It moved back and forth among the living beings. It was bright, and lightning was flashing out of the fire. 1:14 The living beings moved backward and forward as quickly as flashes of lightning. 4
1:15 Then I looked, 5 and I saw one wheel 6 on the ground 7 beside each of the four beings.
Ezekiel 1:19-22
Context1:19 When the living beings moved, the wheels beside them moved; when the living beings rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up too. 1:20 Wherever the spirit 8 would go, they would go, 9 and the wheels would rise up beside them because the spirit 10 of the living being was in the wheel. 1:21 When the living beings moved, the wheels moved, and when they stopped moving, the wheels stopped. 11 When they rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up from the ground; the wheels rose up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel.
1:22 Over the heads of the living beings was something like a platform, 12 glittering awesomely like ice, 13 stretched out over their heads.


[1:13] 1 tc The MT reads “and the form of the creatures” (וּדְמוּת הַחַיּוֹת, udÿmut hakhayyot). The LXX reads “and in the midst of the creatures,” suggesting an underlying Hebrew text of וּמִתּוֹךְ הַחַיּוֹת (umittokh hakhayyot). The subsequent description of something moving among the creatures supports the LXX.
[1:13] 2 tc The MT reads “and the form of the creatures – their appearance was like burning coals of fire.” The LXX reads “in the midst of the creatures was a sight like burning coals of fire.” The MT may have adjusted “appearance” to “their appearance” to fit their reading of the beginning of the verse (see the tc note on “in the middle”). See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 1:46.
[1:13] 3 sn Burning coals of fire are also a part of David’s poetic description of God’s appearance (see 2 Sam 22:9, 13; Ps 18:8).
[1:14] 4 tc The LXX omits v. 14 and may well be correct. The verse may be a later explanatory gloss of the end of v. 13 which was copied into the main text. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 1:46.
[1:15] 7 tc The MT adds “at the living beings” which is absent from the LXX.
[1:15] 8 sn Another vision which includes wheels on thrones occurs in Dan 7:9. Ezek 10 contains a vision similar to this one.
[1:15] 9 tn The Hebrew word may be translated either “earth” or “ground” in this context.
[1:20] 10 tn Or “wind”; the same Hebrew word can be translated as either “wind” or “spirit” depending on the context.
[1:20] 11 tc The MT adds the additional phrase “the spirit would go,” which seems unduly redundant here and may be dittographic.
[1:20] 12 tn Or “wind.” The Hebrew is difficult since the text presents four creatures and then talks about “the spirit” (singular) of “the living being” (singular). According to M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 1:45) the Targum interprets this as “will.” Greenberg views this as the spirit of the one enthroned above the creatures, but one would not expect the article when the one enthroned has not yet been introduced.
[1:21] 13 tc The LXX reads “when it went, they went; when it stood, they stood.”