Discovery BoxEzekiel 2:2 
Context2:2 As he spoke to me, 1 a wind 2 came into me and stood me on my feet, and I heard the one speaking to me.
Ezekiel 3:12
Context3:12 Then a wind lifted me up 3 and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me as the glory of the Lord rose from its place, 4
Ezekiel 11:1
Context11:1 A wind 5 lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s temple that faces the east. There, at the entrance of the gate, I noticed twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people. 6
Ezekiel 11:5
Context11:5 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
1 tc The phrase “as he spoke to me” is absent from the LXX.
2 tn Or “spirit.” NIV has “the Spirit,” but the absence of the article in the Hebrew text makes this unlikely. Elsewhere in Ezekiel the Lord’s Spirit is referred to as “the Spirit of the Lord” (11:5; 37:1), “the Spirit of God” (11:24), or “my (that is, the Lord’s) Spirit” (36:27; 37:14; 39:29). Some identify the “spirit” of 2:2 as the spirit that energized the living beings, however, that “spirit” is called “the spirit” (1:12, 20) or “the spirit of the living beings” (1:20-21; 10:17). Still others see the term as referring to an impersonal “spirit” of strength or courage, that is, the term may also be understood as a disposition or attitude. The Hebrew word often refers to a wind in Ezekiel (1:4; 5:10, 12; 12:4; 13:11, 13; 17:10, 21; 19:12; 27:26; 37:9). In 37:5-10 a “breath” originates in the “four winds” and is associated with the Lord’s life-giving breath (see v. 14). This breath enters into the dry bones and gives them life. In a similar fashion the breath of 2:2 (see also 3:24) energizes paralyzed Ezekiel. Breath and wind are related. On the one hand it is a more normal picture to think of breath rather than wind entering someone, but since wind represents an external force it seems more likely for wind rather than breath to stand someone up (unless we should understand it as a disposition). It may be that one should envision the breath of the speaker moving like a wind to revive Ezekiel, helping him to regain his breath and invigorating him to stand. A wind also transports the prophet from one place to another (3:12, 14; 8:3; 11:1, 24; 43:5).
3 sn See note on “wind” in 2:2.
4 tc This translation accepts the emendation suggested in BHS of בְּרוּם (bÿrum) for בָּרוּךְ (barukh). The letters mem (מ) and kaph (כ) were easily confused in the old script while בָּרוּךְ (“blessed be”) both implies a quotation which is out of place here and also does not fit the later phrase, “from its place,” which requires a verb of motion.
5 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
6 sn The phrase officials of the people occurs in Neh 11:1; 1 Chr 21:2; 2 Chr 24:23.
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.”
