Ezekiel 1:4

1:4 As I watched, I noticed ¹  a windstorm ²  coming from the north – an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, ³  such that bright light ⁴  rimmed it and came from ⁵  it like glowing amber ⁶  from the middle of a fire.

Ezekiel 1:13

1:13 In the middle ⁷  of the living beings was something like ⁸  burning coals of fire ⁹  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 ¹⁰  was like gleaming jasper, ¹¹  and all four wheels looked alike. Their structure was like a wheel within a wheel. ¹² 

Ezekiel 8:2

8:2 As I watched, I noticed ¹³  a form that appeared to be a man. ¹⁴  From his waist downward was something like fire, ¹⁵  and from his waist upward something like a brightness, ¹⁶  like an amber glow. ¹⁷ 

Ezekiel 8:11

8:11 Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel ¹⁸  (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant ¹⁹  vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward.

[1:4]  ¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[1:4]  ² sn Storms are often associated with appearances of God (see Nah 1:3; Ps 18:12). In some passages, the “storm” (סְעָרָה, sÿ’arah) may be a whirlwind (Job 38:1, 2 Kgs 2:1).

[1:4]  ³ tn Heb “fire taking hold of itself,” perhaps repeatedly. The phrase occurs elsewhere only in Exod 9:24 in association with a hailstorm. The LXX interprets the phrase as fire flashing like lightning, but it is possibly a self-sustaining blaze of divine origin. The LXX also reverses the order of the descriptors, i.e., “light went around it and fire flashed like lightning within it.”

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Or “radiance.” The term also occurs in 1:27b.

[1:4]  ⁵ tc Or “was in it”; cf. LXX ἐν τῷ μέσῳ αὐτοῦ (en tw mesw autou, “in its midst”).

[1:4]  ⁶ tn The LXX translates חַשְׁמַל (khashmal) with the word ἤλεκτρον (hlektron, “electrum”; so NAB), an alloy of silver and gold, perhaps envisioning a comparison to the glow of molten metal.

[1:13]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹³ tc This word is omitted from the LXX.

[1:16]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tc The MT reads “fire” rather than “man,” the reading of the LXX. The nouns are very similar in Hebrew.

[8:2]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tc The LXX omits “like a brightness.”

[8:2]  ²³ tn See Ezek 1:4.

[8:11]  ²⁵ sn Note the contrast between these seventy men who represented Israel and the seventy elders who ate the covenant meal before God, inaugurating the covenant relationship (Exod 24:1, 9).

[8:11]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.