Ezekiel 1:3

3 the word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was on him there.

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 ) .

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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 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

2 On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin),

3 the word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was on him there.

4 As I looked, a stormy wind came out of the north: a great cloud with brightness around it and fire flashing forth continually, and in the middle of the fire, something like gleaming amber.

5 In the middle of it was something like four living creatures. This was their appearance: they were of human form.