c Cf. note at 24.9.
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
e A cipher for Babel, Babylon.
a Cf. note at 24.9.
b-b So many mss. and ancient versions; other mss. and the editions omit these words.
c Cf. Mic. 3.12.
a Emendation yields “Zedekiah”; so a few mss. and Syriac; cf. vv. 3 and 12.
b-b Emendation yields “And send,” i.e., a message.
c Lit. “dreams.”
d Lit. “sea”; cf. 1 Kings 7.23 ff.
a-a Septuagint reads “I will.”
a Heb. “you.”
b This verse is continued in vv. 20 ff.
c Cf. 24.1 ff.
d Cf. note at 18.16.
e I.e., Jeremiah.
f-f Lit. “that there might be officials.”
g Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b I.e., on the mound of ruins left after its previous destruction.
c In some editions this verse is 30.25.
a Emendation yields “him.”
b Lit. “head.”
c-c Emendation yields “The LORD has saved His people.”
d For this meaning, cf. Zech. 12.10.
e-e Or “on a height.”
f I.e., as a gesture of self-reproach.
g Lit. “spoken.”
h Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
i-i Lit. “they shall travel.”
j I.e., the vision in the preceding verses.
k Others “set on edge.”
l Meaning of Heb. uncertain; compare 3.14.
a-a Lit. “and his mouth shall speak with his mouth, and his eyes shall see his eyes.”
b-b Lit. “for yours is the procedure of redemption by purchase.”
c-c Force of Heb. uncertain.
d-d With many mss. and ancient versions; so ancient Near Eastern practice. Other mss. and the editions read “who wrote” (i.e., signed their names).
e-e Lit. “to this day.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b I.e., for Judah and Israel.
a-a For the idiom see note at 32.4.
b Lit. “burnings.”
c Others “liberty.”
d I.e., of servitude. Lit. “After a period of seven years”; cf. Deut. 14.28 and 15.1.
e-e Or “who sells himself.”
f Cf. Gen. 15.9–10, 17–21.
a Lit. “seed.”
a-a Change of vocalization yields “Read it again”; cf. Targum and Septuagint.
b-b Force of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Lit. “and let me not die there.”
a-a Lit. “he shall have his life as booty”; cf. 21.9.
b Lit. “weakens the hands of.”
c One ms. reads “three.”
d-d Emendation yields “the wardrobe of.”
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
f-f So Targum and Septuagint and some mss. Most mss. and the editions read “you will burn down this city by fire.”
g-g Lit. “that you may not die.”
h-h Lit. “that we may not kill you.”
i This clause would read well before 39.3.
a Titles of officers.
b Hoping to escape across the Jordan.
c Taking Heb. singular as collective, with Kimhi.
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
e-e See note at 38.2.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Lit. “swore to.”
c Lit. “summer fruit.”
a-a Septuagint read; “was a large cistern, which….”
b-b Emendation yields “Ishmael son of Nethaniah had carried off.”
cAquila reads “the sheepfolds of.”
a-a Change of vocalization yields “let you dwell in.”
b-b I.e., a standard by which men execrate and curse; cf. note at 24.9.
a Septuagint reads “he.”
b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c I.e., the gods.
a See note at 24.9; 42.18.
b Heb. “his.”
c Heb. “They.”
d-d Lit. “everything that has gone forth from our mouth.”
e Cf. 7.18.
f-f Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
g-g Lit. “spoken with your mouth and fulfilled by your hands.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Cf. note at 21.9.
a-a Lit. “Let not the swift get away, / Let not the warrior escape.”
b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c Or “butcher”; meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d-d Many mss. read “will come upon her.”
c Tutelary deity of the city No (Thebes); cf. Nah. 3.8.
a-a Lit. “weakness of hands.”
b Shaving the head and gashing the body were expressions of mourning; cf. Deut. 14.1.
c-c Septuagint reads “the Anakites”; cf. Josh. 11.22.
d Heb. “you.”
a A number of parallels to this chapter occur in Isa. 15–16.
b-b Or “Misgab.”
c Heb. hashebu, play on Heshbon.
d Heb. tiddommi, play on Madmen, the name of a town.
e-e Emendation yields “They cry aloud as far as Zoar”; cf. Isa. 15.5.
f-f Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
g-g I.e., in mockery.
h Cf. note at Isa. 16.6.
i-i Heb. “they have.”
j Heb. “He.”
k-k See note at Isa. 24.17.
l Emendation yields “house.”
m Or “tumult.”
a The name of the Ammonite deity; vocalized Malcam here and in v. 3.
b Heb. “his.”
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain; for “strength” cf. Akkadian emuqu.
e-e Lit. “each man straight ahead.”
f-f Obad. 1.5 reads: “If thieves were to come to you, / Marauders by night, / They would steal no more than they needed. / If vintagers came to you, / They would surely leave some gleanings.”
g-g Some Septuagint mss. read “And there is none to say.”
h Cf. note at 24.9 and 42.18.
i Cf. note at 18.16.
j-j Emendation yields “he can harry them [i.e., the sheep] out of it; and what champion could one place in charge of them?”
k So a few mss. Most mss. and editions read “In.”
l-l Emendation yields “How has the glorious city been deserted”; so Vulgate.
a Names of the city god of Babylon.
b-b Heb. “come ye.”
c-c So many mss., editions, and versions; other mss. and editions read “a warrior who bereaves.”
d-d Lit. “She has given her hand”; meaning of Heb. uncertain.
e Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
f-f Emendation yields “A sword against”; cf. vv. 35 ff.
g Horeb, play on hereb, “sword” in preceding verses.
h-h See note at 49.19.
a A cipher for Kasdim, “Chaldea.”
b Change of vocalization yields “winnowers.”
c Some Heb. mss. and ancient versions read “Let not” here and in next line.
d Lit. “widowed.”
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
f-f Lit. “At the sound of His making.”
g See note at 18.16.
h-h Emendation yields “With poison [so Syriac] will I set out their drink! And get them drunk till they fall unconscious” (so ancient versions).
i See note at 25.26.
j Emendation yields “at the instance of.”
k Cf. v. 58, last line.
a For this chapter cf. chap. 39 above and 2 Kings 24–25.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c I.e., Zedekiah’s.
d See note at 39.4.
e-e Lit. “he stood before.”
f Apparently after the deportation of 2 Kings 24.14; meaning of Heb. uncertain.
g-g Lit. “raised the head of.”
Ezekiel
1 In the thirtieth year,a on the fifth day of the fourth month, when I was in the community of exiles by the Chebar Canal, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God. 2On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—3the word of the LORD came to the priest Ezekiel son of Buzi, by the Chebar Canal, in the land of the Chaldeans. And the hand of the LORD came upon him there.
4I looked, and lo, a stormy wind came sweeping out of the north—a huge cloud and flashing fire, surrounded by a radiance; and in the center of it, in the center of the fire, a gleam as of amber. 5In the center of it were also the figures of four creatures. And this was their appearance:
They had the figures of human beings. 6However, each had four faces, and each of them had four wings; 7the legs of each were [fused into] a single rigid leg, and the feet of each were like a single calf’s hoof;b and their sparklec was like the luster of burnished bronze. 8They had human hands below their wings. The four of them had their faces and their wings on their four sides. 9Each one’s wings touched those of the other. They did not turn when they moved; each could move in the direction of any of its faces.
10Each of them had a human face [at the front]; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right; each of the four had the face of an ox on the left; and each of the four had the face of an eagle [at the back]. 11Such were their faces. As for their wings, they were separated: above, each had two touching those of the others, while the other two covered its body. 12And each could move in the direction of any of its faces; they went wherever the spirit impelled them to go, without turning when they moved.
13Such then was the appearance of the creatures. With them was something that looked like burning coals of fire. This fire, suggestive of torches, kept moving about among the creatures; the fire had a radiance, and lightning issued from the fire. 14d-Dashing to and fro [among] the creatures was something that looked like flares.-d
15As I gazed on the creatures, I saw one wheel on the ground next to each of the four-faced creatures. 16As for the appearance and structure of the wheels, they gleamed like beryl. All four had the same form; the appearance and structure of each was as of two wheels cutting through each other. 17And when they moved, each could move in the direction of any of its four quarters; they did not veer when they moved. 18Their rims were tall and frightening, for the rims of all four were covered all over with eyes. 19And when the creatures moved forward, the wheels moved at their sides; and when the creatures were borne above the earth, the wheels were borne too. 20Wherever the spirit impelled them to go, they went—wherever the spirit impelled them—and the wheels were borne alongside them; for the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels. 21When those moved, these moved; and when those stood still, these stood still; and when those were borne above the earth, the wheels were borne alongside them—for the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels.
22Above the heads of the creatures was a form: an expanse, with an awe-inspiring gleam as of crystal, was spread out above their heads. 23Under the expanse, each had one pair of wings extended toward those of the others; and each had another pair covering its body. 24When they moved, I could hear the sound of their wings like the sound of mighty waters, like the sound of Shaddai,e a tumult like the din of an army. When they stood
