Ezekiel 1:1-3

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 1:1

Exile and captivity. It is not the soil which a people till that makes that people a nation. The Jews have more than once furnished a striking illustration of this principle; for no nation has suffered more from banishment and dispersion, and no nation has more tenaciously clung to its nationality, or more effectively preserved it in circumstances the most unfavourable. It is its religion which makes a people a nation; even more than a common language, a common ancestry, and common... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 1:1

Visions of God. God is; God lives; God everywhere and forever works and manifests himself. But spirit is only apprehensible by spirit. And the created intelligence finds its noblest exercise in tracing the presence and recognizing the attributes of the Supreme. An especial revelation was accorded to the prophets; but one great end of this special revelation doubtless was that by their intermediation and ministry men generally might be encouraged to look upwards, and to behold the gracious... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 1:1-3

Introduction respecting the person and mission of the prophet. I. HIS PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS . A real, though sometimes undiscoverable, fitness between the instrument and the task, is an invariable law in the procedure of God. 1 . Mark the significance of his name, "God becomes strength." Most probably the name had originated with God, who had, either secretly or openly, influenced his father Buzi in selecting it. A name, when God-given, is a revelation of what is unique and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 1:1-3

The Divine summons to the prophetic mission. "Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year," etc. Our text authorizes the following observations. The Divine summons to the prophetic mission - I. WAS ADDRESSED TO EZEKIEL AT A TIME WHICH HE VERY MINUTELY RECORDS . "Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity." This statement made with... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 1:1-28

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 1:2

The fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity. The date of this deportation stands as B.C. 599 ( 2 Kings 24:8-16 ; 2 Chronicles 36:9 , 2 Chronicles 36:10 ), and thus brings us to B.C. 595 4 as the time of Ezekiel's first vision. It was for him and for his fellow exiles a natural starting point to reckon from. It would have been, in one sense, as natural to reckon from the beginning of Zedekiah's reign, as Jeremiah does ( Jeremiah 39:1 , Jeremiah 39:2 ), but Ezekiel does not... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 1:3

The word of the Lord came expressly, etc.; literally, coming, there come the word of the Lord; the iteration having (as commonly in this combination in Hebrew) the force of emphasis. The phrase stands, as elsewhere, for the conscious inspiration which made men feel that Jehovah had indeed spoken unto them, and that they had a message from him to deliver. To give parallel passages would be to copy several pages from a concordance, but it may not be without interest to note its first ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 1:3

The Lord's word and the Lord's hand. The prophet felt and knew that God was drawing near to him. This experience he could only express in language drawn from human relations. Spiritual realities were by him expressed in terms derived from the acts of bodily life. The "word" and the "hand" here spoken of are metaphorical, but they are strictly true; i.e. the just idea is, as far as may be by language and emblem, thus conveyed to our mind. If God reveal himself to man, it must be by means... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 1:1

The thirtieth year - being closely connected with as I, is rather in favor of considering this a personal date. It is not improbable that Ezekiel was called to his office at the age prescribed in the Law for Levites Numbers 4:23, Numbers 4:30, at which age both John the Baptist and our Lord began their ministry. His call is probably to be connected with the letter sent by Jeremiah to the captives Jeremiah 29:0 written a few months previously. Some reckon this date from the accession of... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 1:2

The Jewish date. This verse and Ezekiel 1:3, which seem rather to interrupt the course of the narrative, may have been added by the prophet when he revised and put together the whole book. The word “captivity” (as in Ezekiel 1:1) refers to the “transportation” of the king and others from their native to foreign soil. This policy of settling a conquered people in lands distant from their home, begun by the Assyrians, was continued by the Persians and by Alexander the Great. The Jews were... read more

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