Ezekiel 1:1 - Exposition

Now ; literally, and. The use of the conjunction indicates here, as in Jonah 1:1 , that the narrative that follows links itself on to something that has gone before. In Exodus 1:1 and 1 Samuel 1:1 it may point to a connection with the book that precedes it. Here the sequence is subjective. We may think of Ezekiel as retracing the years of his life till he comes to the thirtieth. Then, as it were, he pulls himself up. That must be the starting point of what he has to say. Our English use of "now" is nearly equivalent to this. In the thirtieth year. I incline, following Origen, Hengstenberg, Smend, and others, to refer the date to the prophet's own life. That year in Jewish reckoning was the age of full maturity. At that age the earlier Levites ( Numbers 4:23 , Numbers 4:20 , Numbers 4:39 , Numbers 4:43 , Numbers 4:47 ) had entered on their duties. It is probable, though no written rule is found, that it was the normal age for the functions of the priesthood. In the case of our Lord ( Luke 3:23 ) and of the Baptist it appears to have been recognized as the starting point of a prophet's work. Jeremiah's call as a "child" was obviously exceptional. Other theories are:

(a) that there is no evidence that that era was in use in Ezekiel's time, and

(b) that he nowhere else uses a double historical chronology.