28 As the appearance of the bow that is in a cloud in a day of rain, so `is' the appearance of the brightness round about.
And he saith, `Shew me, I pray Thee, Thine honour;' and He saith, `I cause all My goodness to pass before thy face, and have called concerning the Name of Jehovah before thee, and favoured him whom I favour, and loved him whom I love.' He saith also, `Thou art unable to see My face, for man doth not see Me, and live;' Jehovah also saith, `Lo, a place `is' by Me, and thou hast stood on the rock, and it hath come to pass, in the passing by of Mine honour, that I have set thee in a cleft of the rock, and spread out My hands over thee, until My passing by, and I have turned aside My hands, and thou hast seen My back parts, and My face is not seen.'
and lo, as the manner of the sons of men, he is striking against my lips, and I open my mouth, and I speak, and say unto him who is standing over-against me: My lord, by the appearance turned have been my pangs against me, and I have retained no power. And how is the servant of this my lord able to speak with this my lord? as for me, henceforth there remaineth in me no power, yea, breath hath not been left in me.
And when I saw him, I did fall at his feet as dead, and he placed his right hand upon me, saying to me, `Be not afraid; I am the First and the Last, and he who is living, and I did become dead, and, lo, I am living to the ages of the ages. Amen! and I have the keys of the hades and of the death.
While he is yet speaking, lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying, `This is My Son, -- the Beloved, in whom I did delight; hear him.' And the disciples having heard, did fall upon their face, and were exceedingly afraid,
My bow I have given in the cloud, and it hath been for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth; and it hath come to pass (in My sending a cloud over the earth) that the bow hath been seen in the cloud, and I have remembered My covenant which is between Me and you, and every living creature among all flesh, and the waters become no more a deluge to destroy all flesh; and the bow hath been in the cloud, and I have seen it -- to remember the covenant age-during between God and every living creature among all flesh which `is' on the earth.'
`And I have seen -- I, Daniel, by myself -- the appearance: and the men who have been with me have not seen the appearance, but a great trembling hath fallen on them, and they flee to be hidden; and I have been left by myself, and I see this great appearance, and there hath been no power left in me, and my honour hath been turned in me to corruption, yea, I have not retained power. `And I hear the voice of his words, and when I hear the voice of his words, then I have been in a trance on my face, and my face `is' to the earth;
And according to the appearance `is' the appearance that I saw, as the appearance that I saw in my coming in to destroy the city, and the appearances `are' as the appearance that I saw at the river Chebar, and I fall on my face. And the honour of Jehovah hath come in unto the house, the way of the gate whose face `is' eastward. And take me up doth the Spirit, and bringeth me in unto the inner court, and lo, the honour of Jehovah hath filled the house.
And the cherubs lift up their wings, and the wheels `are' over-against them, and the honour of the God of Israel `is' over them above. And the honour of Jehovah goeth up from off the midst of the city, and standeth on the mountain, that `is' on the east of the city.
and the cherubs lift up their wings, and are lifted up from the earth before mine eyes; in their going forth, the wheels also `are' over-against them, and he standeth at the opening of the east gate of the house of Jehovah, and the honour of the God of Israel `is' over them from above. It `is' the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar, and I know that they are cherubs.
In overflowing wrath I hid my face `for' a moment from thee, And in kindness age-during I have loved thee, Said thy Redeemer -- Jehovah! For, the waters of Noah `is' this to Me, In that I have sworn -- the waters of Noah Do not pass again over the earth -- So I have sworn, Wrath is not upon thee, Nor rebuke against thee. For the mountains depart, and the hills remove, And My kindness from thee departeth not, And the covenant of My peace removeth not, Said hath thy loving one -- Jehovah.
And it cometh to pass, in the going out of the priests from the holy `place', that the cloud hath filled the house of Jehovah, and the priests have not been able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the honour of Jehovah hath filled the house of Jehovah.
And He saith, `Hear, I pray you, My words: If your prophet is of Jehovah -- in an appearance unto him I make Myself known; in a dream I speak with him; not so My servant Moses; in all My house he `is' stedfast; mouth unto mouth I speak with him, and `by' an appearance, and not in riddles; and the form of Jehovah he beholdeth attentively; and wherefore have ye not been afraid to speak against My servant -- against Moses?'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 1
Commentary on Ezekiel 1 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
First Half - The Prophecies of Judgment - Ezekiel 1-32
The Consecration and Calling of Ezekiel to the Office of Prophet - Ezekiel 1-3:21
In a vision of God, Ezekiel beholds in a great cloud, through which shone the splendour of fire, and which a tempestuous wind drives from the north, the glory of the Lord above the cherubim upon a majestic throne in human form (Ezekiel 1), and hears a voice, which sends him as a prophet to Israel, and inspires him with the subject-matter of his announcements (Ezekiel 2:1-3:3). He is thereafter transported in spirit to Tel-abib on the Chebar, into the midst of the exiles, and the duties and responsibilities of his calling laid before him (3:4-21). By this divine appearance and the commission therewith connected is he consecrated, called, and ordained to the prophetic office. The whole occurrences in the vision are subdivided into the copious description of the theophany, Ezekiel 1, by which he is consecrated for his calling; and into the revelation of the word, Ezekiel 2:1-3:21, which prepares him for the discharge of the same. From these contents it clearly appears that these chapters do not constitute the first section of the book, but the introduction to the whole, to which the circumstantial notices of the time and place of this revelation of God at the commencement, Ezekiel 1:1-3, also point.
The Appearance of the Glory of the Lord. - Ezekiel 1:1-3. Time and place of the same. - Ezekiel 1:1. Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth (month), on the fifth (day) of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. Ezekiel 1:2 . On the fifth day of the month, it was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, Ezekiel 1:3 . The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Busi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.