Ezekiel 2:2

2:2 As he spoke to me, ¹  a wind ²  came into me and stood me on my feet, and I heard the one speaking to me.

Ezekiel 3:24

3:24 Then a wind ³  came into me and stood me on my feet. The Lord ⁴  spoke to me and said, “Go shut yourself in your house.

Ezekiel 8:3

8:3 He stretched out the form ⁵  of a hand and grabbed me by a lock of hair on my head. Then a wind ⁶  lifted me up between the earth and sky and brought me to Jerusalem ⁷  by means of divine visions, to the door of the inner gate which faces north where the statue ⁸  which provokes to jealousy was located.

Ezekiel 11:1

The Fall of Jerusalem

11:1 A wind ⁹  lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s temple that faces the east. There, at the entrance of the gate, I noticed twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people. ¹⁰ 

[2:2]  ¹ tc The phrase “as he spoke to me” is absent from the LXX.

[2:2]  ² tn Or “spirit.” NIV has “the Spirit,” but the absence of the article in the Hebrew text makes this unlikely. Elsewhere in Ezekiel the Lord’s Spirit is referred to as “the Spirit of the Lord” (11:5; 37:1), “the Spirit of God” (11:24), or “my (that is, the Lord’s) Spirit” (36:27; 37:14; 39:29). Some identify the “spirit” of 2:2 as the spirit that energized the living beings, however, that “spirit” is called “the spirit” (1:12, 20) or “the spirit of the living beings” (1:20-21; 10:17). Still others see the term as referring to an impersonal “spirit” of strength or courage, that is, the term may also be understood as a disposition or attitude. The Hebrew word often refers to a wind in Ezekiel (1:4; 5:10, 12; 12:4; 13:11, 13; 17:10, 21; 19:12; 27:26; 37:9). In 37:5-10 a “breath” originates in the “four winds” and is associated with the Lord’s life-giving breath (see v. 14). This breath enters into the dry bones and gives them life. In a similar fashion the breath of 2:2 (see also 3:24) energizes paralyzed Ezekiel. Breath and wind are related. On the one hand it is a more normal picture to think of breath rather than wind entering someone, but since wind represents an external force it seems more likely for wind rather than breath to stand someone up (unless we should understand it as a disposition). It may be that one should envision the breath of the speaker moving like a wind to revive Ezekiel, helping him to regain his breath and invigorating him to stand. A wind also transports the prophet from one place to another (3:12, 14; 8:3; 11:1, 24; 43:5).

[3:24]  ³ tn See the note on “wind” in 2:2.

[3:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “he.”

[8:3]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term is normally used as an architectural term in describing the pattern of the tabernacle or temple or a representation of it (see Exod 25:8; 1 Chr 28:11).

[8:3]  ⁶ tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.

[8:3]  ⁷ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:3]  ⁸ tn Or “image.”

[11:1]  ⁷ tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.

[11:1]  ⁸ sn The phrase officials of the people occurs in Neh 11:1; 1 Chr 21:2; 2 Chr 24:23.