Verse 13
13. “As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels” (R.V.). The last word galgal is very difficult to translate. Dean Plumptre translates it by “chariot,” saying that the prophet “recognized that as the right name of the whole mysterious and complex form. It was nothing less than the chariot throne of the King of the universe” ( Pulpit Commentary). But, while this is an easy way out of the difficulty, unfortunately this word never has this meaning in any other passage. It is almost the word wheel, with an emphasis upon the fact that the wheel is whirling. Perhaps the most sensible rendering which would retain the literal meaning would be, “They were called in my hearing, ‘whorl,’ or ‘whirlwind.’” (Compare Kautzsch.) The reference is to their lightning-like rapidity of movement. (Compare Ezekiel 1:14.)
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