Ezekiel 1:18

18 And their rims {were high and awesome},^[a] and {all four of}^[b] their rims [were] full of eyes [all] around.

Ezekiel 1:18 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 1:18

As for their rings, they were so high, that they were
dreadful
The circles and circumferences of them were "high": which may denote the visibility and extensiveness of the churches of Christ, especially in the latter day; when they shall be exalted above the mountains and hills, the kingdoms and states of this world; and there shall be such numerous additions to them, that the place will be too strait for the members of them to dwell in, ( Isaiah 2:2 ) ( 49:20 ) ; and "they were dreadful"; terrible, as the churches of Christ will be to their enemies to look at, when they shall be in their exalted state, ( Revelation 11:12 Revelation 11:13 ) ; or the words may be rendered, "and they had fear" ^F19; there was fear and reverence in them; the fear of God, and a reverential affection for him; they were waiting on him, and attending his worship with great reverence and godly fear: and their rings [were] full of eyes round about them four;
everyone of the four wheels, and each of their four semicircles, were full of eyes; expressive of the knowledge of the Gospel, and the truths of it, in church members; their continual looking to Christ for fresh supplies of grace and strength; and their constant watchfulness over each other.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 (Mhl haryw) "et timor illis erat", Cocceius; "et timor ipis", Starckius; "and they were reverent", so Dr. Lightfoot, Prospect of the Temple c. 38. p. 2055.

Ezekiel 1:18 In-Context

16 The appearance of the wheels and their construction [was] like [the] appearance of beryl, and {they all looked alike}, and their appearance and their construction [was] {like a wheel within a wheel}.

17 When they moved, they went toward their four sides; they did not {veer at all as they went}.

18 And their rims {were high and awesome}, and {all four of} their rims [were] full of eyes [all] around.

19 And at the going of the living creatures, the wheels next to them [also] went, and {when the creatures were lifted from the ground} the wheels [also] rose.

20 {Wherever} the spirit went they would go there, and the wheels rose, for the spirit of the living creatures [was] in the wheels.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "height [was] for them and awesomeness [was] for them"
• [b] Literally "of the four of them"