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Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ezekiel 1:5-6

Ezekiel 1:5-6. Out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures Termed cherubim, Ezekiel 9:3; Ezekiel 9:10. throughout. These seem to have been a hieroglyphical representation of the holy angels, attendants on the king of glory, and the ministers of his providence, as well when he executes judgments on sinners, as when he confers benefits on his people. They were four, probably to denote that they were employed in all the four quarters of the world. They had the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 1:1-28

1:1-3:27 THE CALL OF EZEKIELA vision of God’s glory (1:1-28)Ezekiel lived in a Jewish settlement that bordered the Chebar River. He had been in Babylon five years and was now thirty years of age, the age at which he normally would have begun his priestly service in the temple in Jerusalem (cf. Numbers 4:2-3). But he had no chance now of returning to Jerusalem. Instead God called him to be a prophet, who would take his message to his people in Babylon (1:1-3).The call came as Ezekiel was... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Ezekiel 1:6

Ezekiel 1:6. Every one had four wings— In the most ancient hieroglyphic writings, a supreme governor was designed by a man with four wings, and his lieutenants or princes by a man with two: and their being out-stretched signified action or design. So the other particulars of the straightness of their feet, the brightness of their colour, their going forward, Eze 1:12 their being actuated by the Spirit, and the like, seem hieroglyphically to denote the several qualifications necessary in the... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 1:6

6. Not only were there four distinct living creatures, but each of the four had four faces, making sixteen in all. The four living creatures of the cherubim answer by contrast to the four world monarchies represented by four beasts, Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome ( :-). The Fathers identified them with the four Gospels: Matthew the lion, Mark the ox, Luke the man, John the eagle. Two cherubim only stood over the ark in the temple; two more are now added, to imply that, while the law is... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ezekiel 1:4-28

2. The vision proper 1:4-28Ezekiel saw three things in this vision: living beings (Ezekiel 1:4-14), wheels in motion (Ezekiel 1:15-21), and a great expanse (Ezekiel 1:22-28). read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ezekiel 1:5-7

Within the cloud the prophet saw four figures that resembled living beings (cf. Revelation 4). They had human form, but each of them had four faces and four wings. [Note: See Allen, pp. 27-30, for some illustrations reproduced from a German work by O. Keel, which is "a lavishly illustrated study of ancient Near Eastern and Anatolian royal and religious iconography that sheds light on the particular throne imagery reflected here." (Ibid., p. 27.)] Each face represents the highest form of animal... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 1:1-27

§ 1. Ezekiel’s Call and Consecration as a Prophet (Ezekiel 1-3)Date, June-July, 592 b.c.Ezekiel’s call and consecration to his prophetic work took place by means of a vision of God’s glory (Ezekiel 1), and of a divine commission, or rather series of commissions, conveyed partly in speech and partly in symbol (Ezekiel 2, 3). read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 1:1-28

The Vision of God’s GloryThis vision, unlike the inaugural visions of Isaiah and Jeremiah, came to Ezekiel not only at the beginning of his prophetic ministry, but also several times during the course of it. It was early repeated in connexion with his call and commission (Ezekiel 3:23), and it appeared on two other occasions (Ezekiel 8-11, Ezekiel 43:1-5). In Ezekiel 10 in particular the account in Ezekiel 1 is closely reproduced, with some additional details.In a state of trance, or ecstasy,... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Ezekiel 1:6

(6) Four faces.—The cherubim, being merely symbolical figures, are variously represented. Those placed in the Tabernacle and in the Temple of Solomon appear to have had only a single face; those described in Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple (Ezekiel 41:18-19) had two; the four living creatures of Revelation 4:7 were each different from the other: one like a man, one like a lion, one like an ox, and one like an eagle, and these four are combined here in each one of the cherubim (Ezekiel 1:10). Man... read more

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