Ezekiel 2 Footnotes

2:1 This is the first of ninety-three places where the name “Son of man” was applied to Ezekiel. The Lord never called Ezekiel by his proper name as he did other prophets and leaders (Ex 3:4; 1Sm 3:4,6,10; 1Kg 19:9,13; Jr 1:11; Am 7:8; 8:2). In the Hebrew language the prefix “son of,” was often used to mean “having the characteristics of” someone or something, or belonging to a certain class of things. “Son of man” in Ezekiel probably means “member of the human family” (i.e., the human race), pointing especially to the prophet’s human frailty and mortality that made him dependent on God’s power and wisdom.