1:4 As I watched, I noticed 1 a windstorm 2 coming from the north – an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, 3 such that bright light 4 rimmed it and came from 5 it like glowing amber 6 from the middle of a fire.
11:5 Then the Spirit of the Lord came 7 upon me and said to me, “Say: This is what the Lord says: ‘This is what you are thinking, 8 O house of Israel; I know what goes through your minds. 9
“‘A great eagle 11 with broad wings, long feathers, 12
with full plumage which was multi-hued, 13
came to Lebanon 14 and took the top of the cedar.
20:1 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, 15 some of the elders 16 of Israel came to seek 17 the Lord, and they sat down in front of me.
33:21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, 18 a refugee came to me from Jerusalem 19 saying, “The city has been defeated!” 20
1 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
2 sn Storms are often associated with appearances of God (see Nah 1:3; Ps 18:12). In some passages, the “storm” (סְעָרָה, sÿ’arah) may be a whirlwind (Job 38:1, 2 Kgs 2:1).
3 tn Heb “fire taking hold of itself,” perhaps repeatedly. The phrase occurs elsewhere only in Exod 9:24 in association with a hailstorm. The LXX interprets the phrase as fire flashing like lightning, but it is possibly a self-sustaining blaze of divine origin. The LXX also reverses the order of the descriptors, i.e., “light went around it and fire flashed like lightning within it.”
4 tn Or “radiance.” The term also occurs in 1:27b.
5 tc Or “was in it”; cf. LXX ἐν τῷ μέσῳ αὐτοῦ (en tw mesw autou, “in its midst”).
6 tn The LXX translates חַשְׁמַל (khashmal) with the word ἤλεκτρον (hlektron, “electrum”; so NAB), an alloy of silver and gold, perhaps envisioning a comparison to the glow of molten metal.
7 tn Heb “fell.”
8 tn The Hebrew verb commonly means “to say,” but may also mean “to think” (see also v. 3).
9 tn Heb “I know the steps of your spirits.”
10 tn The parable assumes the defection of Zedekiah to Egypt and his rejection of Babylonian lordship.
11 sn The great eagle symbolizes Nebuchadnezzar (17:12).
12 tn Hebrew has two words for wings; it is unknown whether they are fully synonymous or whether one term distinguishes a particular part of the wing such as the wing coverts (nearest the shoulder), secondaries (mid-feathers of the wing) or primaries (last and longest section of the wing).
13 tn This term was used in 16:10, 13, and 18 of embroidered cloth.
14 sn In the parable Lebanon apparently refers to Jerusalem (17:12).
15 sn The date would be August 14th, 591
16 tn Heb “men from the elders.”
17 tn See the note at 14:3.
18 tn January 19, 585
19 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
20 tn Heb “smitten.”