Ezekiel 3:14

14 1The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the 2hand of the LORD being strong upon me.

Ezekiel 3:14 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 3:14

So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away
Lifted him up from the earth, and carried him through the air: and I went in bitterness;
full of trouble and sorrow, that the Lord was departing from the temple; that his people had been guilty, of such crimes they had, and were such an impudent, and hardhearted people they were; and that such judgments were coming upon them he had seers written in the roll, full of lamentations, mourning, and woe: in the heat of my spirit;
the Targum and Vulgate Latin render it, "in the indignation of my spirit"; his spirit was hot and angry, he was froward and unwilling to go on the errand, to prophesy sad and dismal things to his people: but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me;
the Spirit of the Lord powerfully wrought upon him, and obliged him to go; and the hand of the Lord strengthened him, and removed his frowardness and perverseness of spirit. The Targum is,

``and prophecy from before the Lord was strong upon me;''
so Kimchi interprets it of the hand of prophecy; the Spirit of the Lord, as a spirit of prophecy, came upon him, with great impulse upon his spirit, and he could not refuse going to his people, to declare it to them.

Ezekiel 3:14 In-Context

12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great earthquake: "Blessed be the glory of the LORD from its place!"
13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake.
14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the LORD being strong upon me.
15 And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.
16 And at the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me:

Cross References 2

  • 1. Ezekiel 8:3; Ezekiel 11:1, 24; Ezekiel 43:5; [Ezekiel 37:1]
  • 2. See Ezekiel 1:3
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.