Ezekiel 1:7-17

7 And the feet of those were straight feet, and the sole of the foot of those was as the sole of a foot of a calf, and sparkles, as the beholding of boiling brass. (And their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of a calf's feet, and they sparkled, like the appearance of boiling, or of shining, bronze.)

8 And the hands of a man were under the wings of those, in four parts; and those had faces and wings by four parts; (And the hands of a man were under their wings, on their four sides; and those four creatures had faces and wings;)

9 and the wings of those were joined together of one to another. They turned not again, when they went, but each went before his face. (and their wings touched one another. They did not turn, from where they went, but each one went straight ahead.)

10 Forsooth the likeness of the face of those was the face of a man, and the face of a lion, at the right half of those four. Forsooth the face of an ox was at the left half of those four; and the face of an eagle was above those four. (And the likenesses of their faces were the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side of each of those four. And the face of an ox, or the face of a bull, and the face of an eagle, were on the left side of each of those four.)

11 And the faces of those and (the) wings of those were stretched forth above. Two wings of each were joined together, and twain covered the bodies of those. (And their wings were stretched forth above. Two wings of each touched the wings of its neighbours, and two wings covered their bodies.)

12 And each of those went before his face. Where (ever) the fierceness of the wind was, thither those went, and turned not again, when they went. (And each of them went straight ahead. Wherever the fierceness of the wind was, they went there, and they did not turn, from where they went.)

13 And the likeness of the beasts, and the beholding of them, was as of burning coals of fire, and as the beholding of lamps. This was the sight running about in the midst of [the] beasts, the shining of fire, and the lightning going out of the fire. (And the likeness of the creatures, and their appearance, was like burning coals of fire, or like the appearance of lamps. This was the sight running about in the midst of the creatures, the shining of the fire, and the lightning going out of the fire.)

14 And the beasts went, and turned again, at the likeness of lightning shining. (And the creatures went forth, and returned, in the form of a shining of lightning.)

15 And when I beheld the beasts, one wheel, having four faces, appeared on the earth, beside the beasts. (And when I looked at the creatures, a wheel appeared on the ground, beside each of those creatures with four faces.)

16 And the beholding of the wheels and the work of those was as the sight of the sea; and one likeness was of those four; and the beholding and the works of those, as if a wheel be in the midst of a wheel. (And the appearance of the wheels and their work was like the colour of the sea; and those four were of one likeness; and their appearance and their work, as if a wheel be in the midst of a wheel.)

17 Those going went by four parts of those, and turned not again, when those went. (And they went straight ahead, in any of the four directions, and did not turn from where they went.)

Ezekiel 1:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL

This book is rightly placed after Jeremiah; since Ezekiel was among the captives in Chaldea, when prophesied; whereas Jeremiah began to prophesy long before that captivity, and concerning it. The name of this prophet signifies, as it is commonly interpreted, "the strength of God", or "strengthened by God", as he was, and as he needed to be, having great work to do, and a perverse people to deal with; see Eze 3:8; but the learned Hillerus {a} chooses to render it, "God shall prevail"; with which compare Jer 20:7. There was a Levite of this name, of whom mention is made in 1Ch 24:16; whose name is there read "Jehezekel"; and this prophet was a priest, Eze 1:3; and both Clemens Alexandrinus {b} and Eusebius {c} cite a Jewish writer of tragedies, of the same name; which some have very wrongly thought to be the same with our prophet; but whether Ezekiel is not the same with Nazaratus or Zabratus, the master of Pythagoras, mentioned by Clemens as such, according to the opinion of some, is a matter of question; and which the learned Selden {d} seems to think probable. According to the judgment and opinion of Jerom {e}, his style is neither very eloquent, nor very rustic; but between both, and has a mixture of each. The visions he saw are very abstruse and difficult of interpretation, especially the vision of the living creatures and wheels; wherefore the Jews {f} forbad the reading of it, as well as the end of this prophecy, until persons were thirty years of age. The divine visions in this book, the whole subject matter of it, its agreement with the prophecy of Jeremiah, and the accomplishment of events predicted in it, prove the authority of it; and its divine authority has always been allowed, both by the Jewish synagogue and the Christian church. There were indeed some ancient Jewish Rabbins, who were perplexed about some things in it, and consulted about laying it aside, because of some words in it, which seemed to them to be contrary to the law of Moses; but R. Chananiah ben Goron, a very famous doctor in those times, withdrew to his chamber, and wrote a commentary, in order to remove those difficulties to satisfaction {g}. This book, in general, contains various visions the prophet saw; several threatenings against the people of the Jews; and prophecies against other nations; and an abundance of comfortable promises of the Messiah, and of blessings of grace by him; and of the state and condition of the Gospel church, and the worship of it. Josephus {h} says Ezekiel left two books written by him; one of which Athanasius {i}: or the author of the Synopsis under his name, thinks is lost; but the learned Huetius {k} is of opinion that the prophecy of Ezekiel, in the times of Josephus, was divided into two parts; the first containing the first thirty nine chapters, and the other the nine last chapters; which is not improbable. If the authorities of Epiphanius {l}, or the writer of the lives of the prophets that goes by his name, and of Isidorus {m}, are of any weight, Ezekiel was born in the land of Sarera; killed by the governor in Babylon; and buried by the people in the field of Maur or Mahurim, in the sepulchre of Shem and Arphaxad. The account R. Benjamin Tudelensis {n} gives is, that there is a synagogue of the Prophet Ezekiel by the river Euphrates; and over against the synagogue sixty towers, ; and between every tower a synagogue. In the court of the synagogue is a library; and behind it the grave of Ezekiel the son of Buzi the priest; and over it a large vault, of a beautiful building, erected by Jeconiah king of Judah, and thirty five thousand Jews, who came with him, when Evilmerodach brought him out of prison; and over the grave a lamp burns night and day. The Cippi Hebraici say {o} he was buried by, the river Hiddekel; and Menasseh ben Israel {p} affirms that he died in Babylon, and was buried there; and so Kimchi {q} says the tradition is.

{a} Onamast. Sacr. p. 224, 320, 845. {b} Stromat. l. 2. p. 344. {c} Praeper. Evangel. l. 9. c. 23. p. 436. & c. 29. p. 439. {d} De Dis Syris, Syntag. 2. c. 1. p. 210, 211. {e} Praefat. in Ezek. tom. 3. fol. 9. D. {f} Praefat. in ib. ad Eustochium, tom 5. fol. 174. G. {g} T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 13. 2. & Taanith, fol. 17. 1, 2. & Maimon. Bartenora in Misn. Sabbat, c. 1. sect. 4. {h} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 5. sect. 1. {i} Synops. Sacr. Script. p. 134, 136. tom. 2. {k} Demonstr. Evang. Prop. 4. p. 272. {l} De Prophet. Vit. c. 9. {m} De Vit. & Mort. Sanct. c. 39. {n} Massaot, p. 78, 79. {o} P. 74. {p} De Resurrect. Mort. l. 1. c. 2. sect. 5. {q} In Ezek. xliii. 19.

\\INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 1\\

This chapter contains a vision, which is the introduction to the prophet's call and commission to perform his office; in the account of which may be observed the time when it was seen, Eze 1:1,2; and the place both where the prophet was when he saw it, and the object or things that were beheld by him; and the original, form, and manner of the vision, Eze 1:3,4; next follow the particulars of it; and first, four living creatures appear, described by their general likeness, as human, Eze 1:5; and, in particular, by their faces, feet, hands, and wings, Eze 1:6-11; by their motion and progress, and the spirit by which they were influenced, Eze 1:12; and by their forms of light, brightness, and heat, in which they appeared and moved, Eze 1:13,14; and next the wheels, described by their number; for, though they seemed to be as one, they were four; and by their situation on the earth, and by the side of the living creatures, Eze 1:15; by their appearance, which was alike in them all, and as the colour of beryl, and as a wheel within a wheel, Eze 1:16, by their motion, which was on their sides, and not retrograde, Eze 1:17; by their rings or circumferences, which were high, dreadful, and full of eyes, Eze 1:18; by their dependence on the living creatures, moving as they, having the same spirit they had, Eze 1:19-21; and then a firmament is seen, described by its situation, over the heads of the living creatures; and by its colour, as the terrible crystal, Eze 1:22; by what were under it, the wings of the living creatures of which a more particular account is given, Eze 1:23,24; by what was heard from it, a voice, Eze 1:25; and by what was above it, a throne; described by its colour, as a sapphire stone; and by a person on it, who had the appearance of a man, Eze 1:26; who, in general, looked like the colour of amber; within which was the appearance of fire from his loins upwards, and from his loins downwards; the fire had a brightness round about it; and that brightness was like a rainbow in a cloud, on a rainy day; and this appearance was no other than that of a divine and glorious Person; which, when seen by the prophet, caused him, through reverence, to fall upon his face; when he heard a voice speaking to him what is recorded in the following chapter, Eze 1:27,28.