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.
10:6 When the Lord 12 commanded the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man 13 went in and stood by one of the wheels. 14 10:7 Then one of the cherubim 15 stretched out his hand 16 toward the fire which was among the cherubim. He took some and put it into the hands of the man dressed in linen, who took it and left.
15:6 “Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Like the wood of the vine is among the trees of the forest which I have provided as fuel for the fire – so I will provide the residents of Jerusalem 17 as fuel. 18
19:12 But it was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground.
The east wind 19 dried up its fruit;
its strong branches broke off and withered –
a fire consumed them.
19:14 A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit. 20
No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.’
This is a lament song, and has become a lament song.”
21:31 I will pour out my anger on you;
the fire of my fury I will blow on you.
I will hand you over to brutal men,
who are skilled in destruction.
28:16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, 28 and you sinned;
so I defiled you and banished you 29 from the mountain of God –
the guardian cherub expelled you 30 from the midst of the stones of fire.
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 The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb (so also throughout the chapter).
8 tc The MT reads “fire” rather than “man,” the reading of the LXX. The nouns are very similar in Hebrew.
9 tc The MT reads “what appeared to be his waist and downwards was fire.” The LXX omits “what appeared to be,” reading “from his waist to below was fire.” Suggesting that “like what appeared to be” belongs before “fire,” D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:277) points out the resulting poetic symmetry of form with the next line as followed in the translation here.
10 tc The LXX omits “like a brightness.”
11 tn See Ezek 1:4.
12 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man dressed in linen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “the wheel.”
15 tn Heb “the cherub.”
16 tn The Hebrew text adds, “from among the cherubim.”
17 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
18 tn The words “as fuel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
19 sn The east wind symbolizes the Babylonians.
20 tn The verse describes the similar situation recorded in Judg 9:20.
21 tn Or “gifts.”
22 sn This act is prohibited in Deut 12:29-31 and Jer 7:31; 19:5; 32:35. See also 2 Kgs 21:6; 23:10. This custom indicates that the laws the Israelites were following were the disastrous laws of pagan nations (see Ezek 16:20-21).
23 sn God sometimes punishes sin by inciting the sinner to sin even more, as the biblical examples of divine hardening and deceit make clear. See Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., “Divine Hardening in the Old Testament,” BSac 153 (1996): 410-34; idem, “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 11-28. For other instances where the Lord causes individuals to act unwisely or even sinfully as punishment for sin, see 1 Sam 2:25; 2 Sam 17:14; 1 Kgs 12:15; 2 Chr 25:20.
24 tn Heb “I will put.” No object is supplied in the Hebrew, prompting many to emend the text to “I will blow.” See BHS and verse 21.
25 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.”
26 sn The Lord speaks here in the role of the husband of the sisters.
27 tn Heb “they have passed to them for food.” The verb is commonly taken to refer to passing children through fire, especially as an offering to the pagan god Molech. See Jer 32:35.
28 tn Heb “they filled your midst with violence.”
29 tn Heb “I defiled you.” The presence of the preposition “from” following the verb indicates that a verb of motion is implied as well. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.
30 tn Heb “and I expelled you, O guardian cherub.” The Hebrew text takes the verb as first person and understands “guardian cherub” as a vocative, in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the verb. However, if the emendation in verse 14a is accepted (see the note above), then one may follow the LXX here as well and emend the verb to a third person perfect. In this case the subject of the verb is the guardian cherub. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.