Ezekiel 1:3

3 The Lord spoke his word to Ezekiel son of Buzi in the land of the Babylonians by the Kebar River. There he felt the power of the Lord.

Ezekiel 1:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 1:3

The word of the Lord came expressly
Or, "in being was" {d}; which phrase denotes the reality, certainty, substantiality and evidence of the word of the Lord to him:

unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi;
which Buzi, some say, was Jeremiah. Kimchi observes, that, in the Jerusalem Targum, the Prophet Ezekiel is called the son of Jeremiah the prophet: and Jeremiah was called Buzi because they despised him; this is rejected by Abarbinel; nor is there any reason to believe it, any more than what Nazianzen ^F5 says, that Ezekiel was a servant of Jeremiah:

in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar;
(See Gill on Ezekiel 1:1). The Chaldee paraphrase makes the word of the Lord to come to him at two distinct times and places;

``the word of prophecy from before the Lord was with Ezekiel the son of Buzi the priest in the land of Israel: it returned a second time, and spoke with him in the province, the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar:''

and the hand of the Lord was there upon him;
by which is meant the gift and word of prophecy, which came with power and efficacy, clearness and evidence; so the Targum, and the

``spirit of prophecy from before the Lord there abode by him;''

by which he saw all later visions, and delivered out the following prophecies; see ( 2 Peter 1:21 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F4 (hyh hyh) "essendo fuit", Pagninus, Montanus. Heb. ; "existendo exstitit", Polanus.
F5 Orat. 47. vol. 1. p. 724.

Ezekiel 1:3 In-Context

1 It was the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month of our captivity. I was by the Kebar River among the people who had been carried away as captives. The sky opened, and I saw visions of God.

2 It was the fifth day of the month of the fifth year that King Jehoiachin had been a prisoner.

3 The Lord spoke his word to Ezekiel son of Buzi in the land of the Babylonians by the Kebar River. There he felt the power of the Lord.

4 When I looked, I saw a stormy wind coming from the north. There was a great cloud with a bright light around it and fire flashing out of it. Something that looked like glowing metal was in the center of the fire.

5 Inside the cloud was what looked like four living creatures, who were shaped like humans,