Ezekiel 1:26

1:26 Above the platform over their heads was something like a sapphire shaped like a throne. High above on the throne was a form that appeared to be a man.

Ezekiel 1:5

1:5 In the fire ¹  were what looked like ²  four living beings. ³  In their appearance they had human form, ⁴ 

Ezekiel 1:22

1:22 Over the heads of the living beings was something like a platform, ⁵  glittering awesomely like ice, ⁶  stretched out over their heads.

Ezekiel 10:10

10:10 As for their appearance, all four of them looked the same, something like a wheel within a wheel. ⁷ 

Ezekiel 10:21

10:21 Each had four faces; each had four wings and the form of human hands under the wings.

Ezekiel 1:10

1:10 Their faces had this appearance: Each of the four had the face of a man, with the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left and also the face of an eagle. ⁸ 

Ezekiel 1:13

1:13 In the middle ⁹  of the living beings was something like ¹⁰  burning coals of fire ¹¹  or like torches. It moved back and forth among the living beings. It was bright, and lightning was flashing out of the fire.

Ezekiel 1:16

1:16 The appearance of the wheels and their construction ¹²  was like gleaming jasper, ¹³  and all four wheels looked alike. Their structure was like a wheel within a wheel. ¹⁴ 

Ezekiel 8:2

8:2 As I watched, I noticed ¹⁵  a form that appeared to be a man. ¹⁶  From his waist downward was something like fire, ¹⁷  and from his waist upward something like a brightness, ¹⁸  like an amber glow. ¹⁹ 

Ezekiel 10:1

God’s Glory Leaves the Temple

10:1 As I watched, I saw ²⁰  on the platform ²¹  above the top of the cherubim something like a sapphire, resembling the shape of a throne, appearing above them.

Ezekiel 10:22

10:22 As for the form of their faces, they were the faces whose appearance I had seen at the Kebar River. Each one moved straight ahead.

Ezekiel 23:15

23:15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians ²²  whose native land is Chaldea.

Ezekiel 1:28

1:28 like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds after the rain. ²³  This was the appearance of the surrounding brilliant light; it looked like the glory of the Lord. When I saw ²⁴  it, I threw myself face down, and I heard a voice speaking.

[1:5]  ¹ tc Heb “from its midst” (מִתּוֹכָהּ, mitokhah). The LXX reads ἐν τῷ μέσῳ (en tw mesw, “in the midst of it”). The LXX also reads ἐν for מִתּוֹךְ (mitokh) in v. 4. The translator of the LXX of Ezekiel either read בְּתוֹךְ (bÿtokh, “within”) in his Hebrew exemplar or could not imagine how מִתּוֹךְ could make sense and so chose to use ἐν. The Hebrew would be understood by adding “from its midst emerged the forms of four living beings.”

[1:5]  ² tn Heb “form, figure, appearance.”

[1:5]  ³ tn The Hebrew term is feminine plural yet thirty-three of the forty-five pronominal suffixes and verbal references which refer to the living beings in the chapter are masculine plural. The grammatical vacillation between masculine and feminine plurals suggests the difficulty Ezekiel had in penning these words as he was overcome by the vision of God. In ancient Near Eastern sculpture very similar images of part-human, part-animal creatures serve as throne and sky bearers. For a discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:26-31. Ezekiel’s vision is an example of contextualization, where God accommodates his self-revelation to cultural expectations and norms.

[1:5]  ⁴ sn They had human form may mean they stood erect.

[1:22]  ¹ tn Or “like a dome” (NCV, NRSV, TEV).

[1:22]  ² tn Or “like crystal” (NRSV, NLT).

[10:10]  ¹ tn Or “like a wheel at right angles to another wheel.” Some envision concentric wheels here, while others propose “a globe-like structure in which two wheels stand at right angles” (L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:33-34). See also 1:16.

[1:10]  ¹ tc The MT has an additional word at the beginning of v. 11, וּפְנֵיהֶם (ufÿnehem, “and their faces”), which is missing from the LXX. As the rest of the verse only applies to wings, “their faces” would have to somehow be understood in the previous clause. But this would be very awkward and is doubly problematic since “their faces” are already introduced as the topic at the beginning of v. 10. The Hebrew scribe appears to have copied the phrase “and their faces and their wings” from v. 8, where it introduces the content of 9-11. Only “and (as for) their wings” belongs here.

[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).

[1:16]  ¹ tc This word is omitted from the LXX.

[1:16]  ² tn Heb “Tarshish stone.” The meaning of this term is uncertain. The term has also been translated “topaz” (NEB); “beryl” (KJV, NASB, NRSV); or “chrysolite” (RSV, NIV).

[1:16]  ³ tn Or “like a wheel at right angles to another wheel.” Some envision concentric wheels here, while others propose “a globe-like structure in which two wheels stand at right angles” (L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:33-34). The description given in v. 17 favors the latter idea.

[8:2]  ¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb (so also throughout the chapter).

[8:2]  ² tc The MT reads “fire” rather than “man,” the reading of the LXX. The nouns are very similar in Hebrew.

[8:2]  ³ tc The MT reads “what appeared to be his waist and downwards was fire.” The LXX omits “what appeared to be,” reading “from his waist to below was fire.” Suggesting that “like what appeared to be” belongs before “fire,” D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:277) points out the resulting poetic symmetry of form with the next line as followed in the translation here.

[8:2]  ⁴ tc The LXX omits “like a brightness.”

[8:2]  ⁵ tn See Ezek 1:4.

[10:1]  ¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[10:1]  ² tn Or “like a dome.” See 1:22-26.

[23:15]  ¹ tn Heb “the sons of Babel.”

[1:28]  ¹ sn Reference to the glowing substance and the brilliant light and storm phenomena in vv. 27-28a echoes in reverse order the occurrence of these phenomena in v. 4.

[1:28]  ² tn The vision closes with the repetition of the verb “I saw” from the beginning of the vision in 1:4.