9 joining one unto another `are' their wings, they turn not round in their going, each straight forward they go.
As to the likeness of their faces, they `are' the faces that I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; each straight forward they go.
as to the wings of the cherubs, their length `is' twenty cubits, the wing of the one `is' five cubits, touching the wall of the house, and the other wing `is' five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. And the wing of the other cherub `is' five cubits touching the wall of the house, and the other wing `is' five cubits, adhering to the wing of the other cherub.
And their faces and their wings are separate from above, to each `are' two joining together, and two are covering their bodies. And each straight forward they go, whither the spirit is to go, they go, they turn not round in their going.
In their going, on their four sides they go; they turn not round in their going, for to the place whither the head turneth, after it they go, they turn not round in their going.
and Jesus said unto him, `No one having put his hand on a plough, and looking back, is fit for the reign of God.'
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.