Ezekiel 3:22

22 Then the hand of the Lord was upon me there; and he said to me, Rise up, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you.

Ezekiel 3:22 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 3:22

And the hand of the Lord was there upon me
At Telabib, ( Ezekiel 3:15 ) . The Targum interprets "the hand of the Lord" of the spirit of prophecy, which remained upon him there; but it seems to design a fresh impulse of the Spirit, a powerful emotion of the split upon his spirit, stirring up to attention to what might be said unto him: and he said unto me;
the same glorious Person, the Lord Christ, described in ( Ezekiel 1:26-28 ) ; arise, go forth into the plain;
or "the valley" F23; the Arabic version renders it, "the desert"; a solitary place, free from noise and hurry, and from the company and conversation of men; and so more fit for retirement and contemplation, and for attention to divine orders. What plain this was is not certain; Kimchi thinks it was the plain in which Babel was built, and where the Lord showed the prophet what he had in his providence done in this place formerly, in confounding the languages of men, and causing their devices to cease; and I will there talk with thee;
when alone, sedate, and composed; so God sometimes brings his people into a low and humble state and condition, into the valley of humility, and there grants them communion with himself; see ( Hosea 2:14 ) ; perhaps the allusion to a custom among the Jews of revealing secrets to others in fields and deserts, and such like solitary places; see ( Genesis 31:4 Genesis 31:5 ) F24.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 (heqbh la) "in istam convallem", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, "in vallem", Vatablus, Coeceius; "in vallem, quasi fissum locum", Starckius.
F24 Vid. Menasseh Ben Israel, Spes Israelis, p. 110.

Ezekiel 3:22 In-Context

20 Again, if the righteous turn from their righteousness and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before them, they shall die; because you have not warned them, they shall die for their sin, and their righteous deeds that they have done shall not be remembered; but their blood I will require at your hand.
21 If, however, you warn the righteous not to sin, and they do not sin, they shall surely live, because they took warning; and you will have saved your life.
22 Then the hand of the Lord was upon me there; and he said to me, Rise up, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you.
23 So I rose up and went out into the valley; and the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.
24 The spirit entered into me, and set me on my feet; and he spoke with me and said to me: Go, shut yourself inside your house.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.