Ezekiel 1 Footnotes

1:10 Each creature had four faces: those of a human, a lion, an ox and an eagle. These creatures represent four major categories of life forms: human life, undomesticated animal life, domesticated animals, and winged creatures. A similar vision appears in Ezk 10, where the creatures are called “cherubim” (Hb cherub, sg. or cherubim, pl.) probably from an Akkadian root karabu which means “intercede,” “be gracious,” or “bless.” These creatures appear elsewhere in the Bible as guardians of the holiness of God (Gn 3:24; Ex 36:35; 1Kg 6:23-29; see Rv 4:6-7).

1:22 The “expanse” is the same word as in Gn 1:6. Here it describes a platform located above the living creatures as the support for God’s throne.

1:26-27 This theophany, in which God’s visible attributes are described in terms of human characteristics, provided assurance to Ezekiel and the captives that God had not abandoned them, but was with them even in Babylon. Scholars usually classify such comparisons as “anthropomorphic accommodations,” meaning that God accommodated people by describing himself in human terms, but the “accommodation” theory does not conform to the biblical record.

1:28 The mention of the rainbow is an echo of God’s covenant with Noah (Gn 9:11-13). Just as God restored the world after the flood, he promised to restore fallen Israel. This vision is an early hint that the message of Ezekiel would be one not only of judgment but also of hope and restoration. It was this message of hope that answered a crucial theological question for Ezekiel and every exile in Babylon—and Judeans still left in Jerusalem—namely: Is there any hope of restoration?