10. Second act of the divine judgment, the scattering of fire from god upon the city The connexion between this chapter and the last is not quite close, otherwise ch. Ezekiel 10:2 would have stood at the beginning. Unobserved by the prophet or at least unmentioned by him the glory had returned from... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the firmament_ UPON or ABOVE. Ezekiel 10:4 assumes that the glory of the Lord had returned from the threshold of the house, where it stood (ch. Ezekiel 9:3), and again appeared above the cherubim. The fact was either unremarked by the prophet or at least has not been mentioned by him. On the fir... [ Continue Reading ]
_between the wheels_ The word is singular and occurs again Ezekiel 10:13, being used as a collective to describe the whole wheel-work. There were four wheels (a different word) which are called here collectively wheelwork, lit. whirling. The word is used of the whirlwind or tempest (Psalms 77:18), b... [ Continue Reading ]
_the right side of the house_ i.e. on the south of the temple proper. It is difficult to see any significance in the position of the cherubim, except that the south side of the house was more in the direction of the city than either the north or east side, and the west side was closed by buildings.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the glory went up_ This can hardly be rendered, and … _had gone up;_consequently the implication in Ezekiel 10:1 that the glory had returned to the cherubim from the threshold is confirmed.... [ Continue Reading ]
_sound of the cherubims" wings_ It is to be supposed that some movement of the living creatures" wings accompanied the rising of the divine glory from above them, as it is said that when they stood their wings dropped (Ezekiel 1:24). The language of Ezekiel 10:18 (cf. Ezekiel 9:3) excludes the suppo... [ Continue Reading ]
On the fire between the cherubim, cf. Ezekiel 1:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and_one _cherub_ lit, the cherub; the one on the side approached by the man. The cherubim interposed to hand the fire to the man in linen garments, who received it and went forth (Job 1:12; Job 2:7). The symbolism is suggested by Isaiah 6:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
On the "hands" of the cherubim, cf. ch. Ezekiel 1:8. Instead of depicting the conflagration of the city, which would have been impossible, the prophet's attention is anew drawn to the cherubim, and a fresh description of the living creatures and of the divine chariot follows.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the four wheels_ Omit: _the_. The description is somewhat more exact than that given ch. Ezekiel 1:15. A "beryl stone," i.e. Tarshishstone, ch. Ezekiel 1:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
Cf. ch. Ezekiel 1:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ezekiel 1:17. _the head looked_ i.e. the front of the chariot. The word is hardly to be rendered the principal, or foremost, referring to the wheels. Cf. ch. Ezekiel 1:12; Ezekiel 1:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_their whole body_ Lit. _flesh_, a strange term to be used of the living creatures. LXX. omits. The word "backs" is used of the felloes of the wheels in ch. Ezekiel 1:18, and in this verse the living creatures and the wheels are confused together. _wheels that they four had_ More naturally: even th... [ Continue Reading ]
_in my hearing, O wheel_ Rather as mar., THEY WERE CALLED IN MY HEARING WHEEL, R.V., whirling _wheels_. Cf. Ezekiel 10:2_; Ezekiel 10:6_where the word (galgal) is used by the divine speaker.... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse, which LXX. omits, is difficult. The words rendered "first face" might have that sense or the sense "one face" at a pinch, but mean naturally "face of the first;" and those rendered "the second face" can hardly mean anything but "the face of the second," for it is precarious to extend cons... [ Continue Reading ]
_were lifted up_ The prophet identifies the manifestation with that seen at the Chebar when he perceives its movement. The verse is resumed in Ezekiel 10:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
Cf. ch. Ezekiel 1:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
_lift up themselves_ WERE LIFTED UP with them.... [ Continue Reading ]
The glory of the Lord returns from the threshold of the house to the cherubim, and these mount up and remove outside the precincts of the temple altogether, and stand within the city at the eastern gateway of the outward court.... [ Continue Reading ]
every one _stood at the door_ Rather: _they stood_, lit. _it_, viz. the whole manifestation.... [ Continue Reading ]
were the _cherubims_ WERE CHERUBIM. The remark that he knew that the living creatures were cherubim is of very great difficulty. It would scarcely be in the sense of the prophet to suppose that he learned that the living creatures were cherubim from hearing them so called by the divine speaker (Ezek... [ Continue Reading ]