Ezekiel 1:4-28

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. 1:5 In the fire ⁷  were what looked like ⁸  four living beings. ⁹  In their appearance they had human form, ¹⁰  1:6 but each had four faces and four wings. 1:7 Their legs were straight, but the soles of their feet were like calves’ feet. They gleamed ¹¹  like polished bronze. 1:8 They had human hands ¹²  under their wings on their four sides. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, 1:9 their wings touched each other; they did not turn as they moved, but went straight ahead. ¹³ 

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. ¹⁴  1:11 Their wings were spread out above them; each had two wings touching the wings of one of the other beings on either side and two wings covering their bodies. 1:12 Each moved straight ahead ¹⁵  – wherever the spirit ¹⁶  would go, they would go, without turning as they went. 1:13 In the middle ¹⁷  of the living beings was something like ¹⁸  burning coals of fire ¹⁹  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. ²⁰ 

1:15 Then I looked, ²¹  and I saw one wheel ²²  on the ground ²³  beside each of the four beings. 1:16 The appearance of the wheels and their construction ²⁴  was like gleaming jasper, ²⁵  and all four wheels looked alike. Their structure was like a wheel within a wheel. ²⁶  1:17 When they moved they would go in any of the four directions they faced without turning as they moved. 1:18 Their rims were high and awesome, ²⁷  and the rims of all four wheels were full of eyes all around.

1:19 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 ²⁸  would go, they would go, ²⁹  and the wheels would rise up beside them because the spirit ³⁰  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. ³¹  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, ³²  glittering awesomely like ice, ³³  stretched out over their heads. 1:23 Under the platform their wings were stretched out, each toward the other. Each of the beings also had two wings covering ³⁴  its body. 1:24 When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings – it was like the sound of rushing waters, or the voice of the Almighty, ³⁵  or the tumult ³⁶  of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

1:25 Then there was a voice from above the platform over their heads when they stood still. ³⁷  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. 1:27 I saw an amber glow ³⁸  like a fire enclosed all around ³⁹  from his waist up. From his waist down I saw something that looked like fire. There was a brilliant light around it, 1:28 like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds after the rain. ⁴⁰  This was the appearance of the surrounding brilliant light; it looked like the glory of the Lord. When I saw ⁴¹  it, I threw myself face down, and I heard a voice speaking.

Ezekiel 8:4

8:4 Then I perceived that the glory of the God of Israel was there, as in the vision I had seen earlier in the valley.

Ezekiel 9:3

9:3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had rested to the threshold of the temple. ⁴²  He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing kit at his side.

Ezekiel 10:1-22

God’s Glory Leaves the Temple

10:1 As I watched, I saw ⁴³  on the platform ⁴⁴  above the top of the cherubim something like a sapphire, resembling the shape of a throne, appearing above them. 10:2 The Lord ⁴⁵  said to the man dressed in linen, “Go between the wheelwork ⁴⁶  underneath the cherubim. ⁴⁷  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 ⁴⁸  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 ⁴⁹  when he speaks.

10:6 When the Lord ⁵⁰  commanded the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man ⁵¹  went in and stood by one of the wheels. ⁵²  10:7 Then one of the cherubim ⁵³  stretched out his hand ⁵⁴  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. 10:8 (The cherubim appeared to have the form ⁵⁵  of human hands under their wings.)

10:9 As I watched, I noticed ⁵⁶  four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; ⁵⁷  the wheels gleamed like jasper. ⁵⁸  10:10 As for their appearance, all four of them looked the same, something like a wheel within a wheel. ⁵⁹  10:11 When they ⁶⁰  moved, they would go in any of the four directions they faced without turning as they moved; in the direction the head would turn they would follow ⁶¹  without turning as they moved, 10:12 along with their entire bodies, ⁶²  their backs, their hands, and their wings. The wheels of the four of them were full of eyes all around. 10:13 As for their wheels, they were called “the wheelwork” ⁶³  as I listened. 10:14 Each of the cherubim ⁶⁴  had four faces: The first was the face of a cherub, ⁶⁵  the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.

10:15 The cherubim rose up; these were the living beings ⁶⁶  I saw at the Kebar River. 10:16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them; when the cherubim spread ⁶⁷  their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not move from their side. 10:17 When the cherubim ⁶⁸  stood still, the wheels ⁶⁹  stood still, and when they rose up, the wheels ⁷⁰  rose up with them, for the spirit ⁷¹  of the living beings ⁷²  was in the wheels. ⁷³ 

10:18 Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 10:19 The cherubim spread ⁷⁴  their wings, and they rose up from the earth ⁷⁵  while I watched (when they went the wheels went alongside them). They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the Lord’s temple as the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them.

10:20 These were the living creatures ⁷⁶  which I saw at the Kebar River underneath the God of Israel; I knew that they were cherubim. 10:21 Each had four faces; each had four wings and the form of human hands under the wings. 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 11:22-23

11:22 Then the cherubim spread ⁷⁷  their wings with their wheels alongside them while the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them. 11:23 The glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stopped ⁷⁸  over the mountain east of it.

[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.

[1:5]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “form, figure, appearance.”

[1:5]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ sn They had human form may mean they stood erect.

[1:7]  ¹¹ sn The Hebrew verb translated gleamed occurs only here in the OT.

[1:8]  ¹² tc The MT reads “his hand” while many Hebrew mss as well as the Qere read “hands of.” Two similar Hebrew letters, vav and yod, have been confused.

[1:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “They each went in the direction of one of his faces.”

[1:10]  ¹⁴ 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.

[1:12]  ¹⁵ tn See the note on “straight ahead” in v. 9.

[1:12]  ¹⁶ tn Or “wind.”

[1:13]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tc The MT adds “at the living beings” which is absent from the LXX.

[1:15]  ²² sn Another vision which includes wheels on thrones occurs in Dan 7:9. Ezek 10 contains a vision similar to this one.

[1:15]  ²³ tn The Hebrew word may be translated either “earth” or “ground” in this context.

[1:16]  ²⁴ tc This word is omitted from the LXX.

[1:16]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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.

[1:18]  ²⁷ tc The MT reads וְיִרְאָה לָהֶם (vÿyir’ah lahem, “and fear belonged to them”). In a similar vision in 10:12 the wheels are described as having spokes (יִדֵיהֶם, yideyhem). That parallel would suggest יָדוֹת (yadot) here (written יָדֹת without the mater). By positing both a ד/ר (dalet/resh) confusion and a ת/ה (hey/khet) confusion the form was read as וְיָרֵה (vÿyareh) and was then misunderstood and subsequently written as וְיִרְאָה (vÿyir’ah) in the MT. The reading וְיִרְאָה does not seem to fit the context well, though in English it can be made to sound as if it does. See W. H. Brownlee, Ezekiel 1-19 (WBC), 8-9. The LXX reads καὶ εἶδον αὐτά (kai eidon auta, “and I saw”), which assumes וָאֵרֶא (va’ere’). The existing consonants of the MT may also be read as “it was visible to them.”

[1:20]  ²⁸ tn Or “wind”; the same Hebrew word can be translated as either “wind” or “spirit” depending on the context.

[1:20]  ²⁹ tc The MT adds the additional phrase “the spirit would go,” which seems unduly redundant here and may be dittographic.

[1:20]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tc The LXX reads “when it went, they went; when it stood, they stood.”

[1:22]  ³² tn Or “like a dome” (NCV, NRSV, TEV).

[1:22]  ³³ tn Or “like crystal” (NRSV, NLT).

[1:23]  ³⁴ tc Heb “each had two wings covering and each had two wings covering,” a case of dittography. On the analogy of v. 11 and the support of the LXX, which reads the same for v. 11 and this verse, one should perhaps read “each had two wings touching another being and each had two wings covering.”

[1:24]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Shaddai” (probably meaning “one of the mountain”), a title that depicts God as the sovereign ruler of the world who dispenses justice. The Old Greek translation omitted the phrase “voice of the Almighty.”

[1:24]  ³⁶ tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew word translated “tumult” is in Jer 11:16. It indicates a noise like that of the turmoil of a military camp or the sound of an army on the march.

[1:25]  ³⁷ tc The MT continues “when they stood still they lowered their wings,” an apparent dittography from the end of v. 24. The LXX commits haplography by homoioteleuton, leaving out vv. 25b and 26a by skipping from רֹאשָׁם (rosham) in v. 25 to רֹאשָׁם in v. 26.

[1:27]  ³⁸ tn See Ezek 1:4.

[1:27]  ³⁹ tc The LXX lacks this phrase. Its absence from the LXX may be explained as a case of haplography resulting from homoioteleuton, skipping from כְּמַרְאֵה (kÿmar’eh) to מִמַּרְאֵה (mimmar’eh). On the other hand, the LXX presents a much more balanced verse structure when it is recognized that the final words of this verse belong in the next sentence.

[1:28]  ⁴⁰ 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]  ⁴¹ tn The vision closes with the repetition of the verb “I saw” from the beginning of the vision in 1:4.

[9:3]  ⁴² tn Heb “house.”

[10:1]  ⁴³ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[10:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “like a dome.” See 1:22-26.

[10:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:2]  ⁴⁶ tn The Hebrew term often refers to chariot wheels (Isa 28:28; Ezek 23:24; 26:10).

[10:2]  ⁴⁷ 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.

[10:3]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “right side.”

[10:5]  ⁴⁹ 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.

[10:6]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:6]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man dressed in linen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:6]  ⁵² tn Heb “the wheel.”

[10:7]  ⁵³ tn Heb “the cherub.”

[10:7]  ⁵⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds, “from among the cherubim.”

[10:8]  ⁵⁵ tn The Hebrew term is normally used as an architectural term in describing the plan or pattern of the tabernacle or temple or a representation of it (see Exod 25:8; 1 Chr 28:11).

[10:9]  ⁵⁶ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[10:9]  ⁵⁷ tn The MT repeats this phrase, a clear case of dittography.

[10:9]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “Tarshish stone.” The meaning is uncertain. The term has also been translated “topaz” (NEB), “beryl” (KJV, NASB, NRSV), and “chrysolite” (RSV, NIV).

[10:10]  ⁵⁹ 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.

[10:11]  ⁶⁰ sn That is, the cherubim.

[10:11]  ⁶¹ tn Many interpreters assume that the human face of each cherub was the one that looked forward.

[10:12]  ⁶² tc The phrase “along with their entire bodies” is absent from the LXX and may be a gloss explaining the following words.

[10:13]  ⁶³ tn Or “the whirling wheels.”

[10:14]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “each one”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:14]  ⁶⁵ sn The living creature described here is thus slightly different from the one described in Ezek 1:10, where a bull’s face appeared instead of a cherub’s. Note that some English versions harmonize the two descriptions and read the same here as in 1:10 (cf. NAB, NLT “an ox”; TEV, CEV “a bull”). This may be justified based on v. 22, which states the creatures’ appearance was the same.

[10:15]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “it was the living creature.”

[10:16]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “lifted.”

[10:17]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:17]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:17]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:17]  ⁷¹ tn Or “wind.”

[10:17]  ⁷² tn Heb “living creature.”

[10:17]  ⁷³ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:19]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “lifted.”

[10:19]  ⁷⁵ tn Or “the ground” (NIV, NCV).

[10:20]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “That was the living creature.”

[11:22]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “lifted.”

[11:23]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “stood.”