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 47:15

47:15 “This will be the border of the land: ⁵  On the north side, from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon to the entrance of Zedad;

Ezekiel 43:13

The Altar

43:13 “And these are the measurements of the altar: ⁶  Its base ⁷  is 1¾ feet ⁸  high, ⁹  and 1¾ feet ¹⁰  wide, and its border nine inches ¹¹  on its edge. This is to be the height ¹²  of the altar.

[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.

[47:15]  ⁵ sn The measurements resemble those in Num 34:1-2.

[43:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “the measurements of the altar by cubits, the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth.” The measuring units here and in the remainder of this section are the Hebrew “long” cubit, consisting of a cubit (about 18 inches or 45 cm) and a handbreadth (about 3 inches or 7.5 cm), for a total of 21 inches (52.5 cm). Because modern readers are not familiar with the cubit as a unit of measurement, and due to the additional complication of the “long” cubit as opposed to the regular cubit, all measurements have been converted to American standard feet and inches, with the Hebrew measurements and the metric equivalents given in the notes. On the altar see Ezek 40:47.

[43:13]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term normally means “bosom.” Here it refers to a hollow in the ground.

[43:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).

[43:13]  ¹² tn The word “high” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[43:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).

[43:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “one span.” A span was three handbreadths, or about nine inches (i.e., 22.5 cm).

[43:13]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “bulge, protuberance, mound.” The translation follows the LXX.