Ezekiel 1:3 - Exposition

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 ( Genesis 15:1 ) and last ( Malachi 1:1 ) occurrences in the Old Testament, and its reappear, race in the New Testament ( Luke 3:2 ). Unto Ezekiel. We note the transition from the first person to the third; but it does not give sufficient ground for rejecting either verse 1 or verse 2, 3 as an interpolation. (For the prophet's name, which appears only here and in Ezekiel 24:24 , see Introduction; and for "land of Chaldeans," note on Ezekiel 24:1 .) The hand of the Lord. Here again we haw a phrase of frequent occurrence, used of Elijah ( 1 Kings 18:46 ), of Elisha ( 2 Kings 3:15 ), of Daniel ( Daniel 8:18 ; Daniel 10:10 ), of Isaiah ( Isaiah 8:11 ), of St. John ( Revelation 1:17 ). The "hand" of the Lord is the natural symbol of his power, and the phrase seems to be used to add to the consciousness of inspiration, that of a constraining, irresistible power. Ezekiel continually uses it ( Ezekiel 3:14 , Ezekiel 3:22 ; Ezekiel 8:1 ; Ezekiel 33:22 ; Ezekiel 37:1 ; Ezekiel 40:1 ).