Ezequiel 10
Bob Utley · You Can Understand the Bible
Ezequiel 10:1-2
10:1-2 This is YHWH's portable throne chariot of Ezek. 1:13-25. It will return to the temple in Ezek. 43:1-9. 10:1 "the expanse" See note at Ezek. 1:22. ▣ NASB, NKJV, LXX, JPSOA "like a sapphire stone" "like a sapphire" "a throne made of sapphire" "a sapphire in the shape of a throne" "something like sapphire" "something with the appearance of a sapphire stone" The MT has a NOUN CONSTRUCT (BDB 6 "stone" and BDB 705 "sapphire) in Ezek. 10:1. This jewel appears several times. a pavement under YHWH's feet at Mt. Sinai ‒ Exod. 24:10 a jewel in the ephod of the High Priest ‒ Exod. 28:18; 39:11 foundation of the restored people of God to the Promised Land ‒ Isa. 54:11 YHWH's throne in the midst of His portable throne chariot ‒ Ezek. 1:26; 10:1 the covering of a cherub in Eden, used as imagery of the King of Tyre ‒ Ezek. 28:13 This jewel's name comes into Hebrew as a loan word from Sanskrit. It is a bluish (i.e. the color of the sky), brittle composite stone from Afghanistan. In Akkadian texts, it is mentioned as part of the temple structure dedicated to "the high god." Since Pliny it has been identified as lapis lazuli (i.e. Persian loan word). 10:2 YHWH gives three commands to the angelic being dressed in linen. "enter," BDB 97, KB 112, Qal IMPERATIVE "fill," BDB 569, KB 583, Piel IMPERATIVE "scatter," BDB 284, KB 283, Qal IMPERATIVE The imagery comes from the vision of Isa. 6:6, where it is initially a purification ritual inaugurating Isaiah's ministry. Here it is a judgment ritual, which is repeated in Rev. 8:5. In may ways Isaiah (i.e. chapter 24) and Ezekiel are an initial example of apocalyptic imagery. This is developed in Daniel and Zechariah and becomes a significant Jewish genre during the interbiblical period. SPECIAL TOPIC: APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE
Ezequiel 10:3-5
10:3 "the cloud filled the inner court" This is the theophanic cloud (BDB 777) of glory (a visual symbol of the presence of YHWH) that was present at the crossing of the Red Sea (cf. Exod. 13:21) on Mount Sinai (cf. Exod. 24:14-18) at the tabernacle of Moses (cf. Exod. 40:34-38; Num. 14:14) at the dedication of Solomon's temple (cf. 1 Kgs. 8:11; 2 Chr. 5:13-14) in Isaiah's vision (cf. Isa. 6:4) in Ezekiel's vision (cf. Ezek. 1:4) at the baptism of Jesus (cf. Mark 1:10-11) at the transfiguration of Jesus (cf. Matt. 17:5) at the ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:9) at the return of Jesus (cf. Matt. 24:30; 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 21:27; 1 Thess. 4:17; Rev. 1:7) This ADJECTIVE "inner" (BDB 819) refers to parts of the temple or a king's palace (cf. Esther 4:11; 5:1). The VERB form means "to turn a specific direction" (cf. Ezek. 8:3). Ezekiel uses this term twenty-four times in his discussions of the Jerusalem temple and his eschatological temple. SPECIAL TOPIC: SHEKINAH 10:4 "the glory of the Lord. . .brightness of the glory of the Lord" Brightness becomes an added characteristic of His glory (cf. Ezek. 1:4,28) during the Wilderness Wandering period (i.e. the Shekinah Cloud of Glory). SPECIAL TOPIC: GLORY (kabod, OT) ▣ "the threshold" See full note at Ezek. 9:3. 10:5 "the sound of the wings of the Cherubim" For the full notes see Ezek. 1:24. SPECIAL TOPIC: CHERUBIM ▣ "God Almighty" This is the Hebrew title El Shaddai. This was the Patriarchal name for Israel's Deity (cf. Exod. 6:3). It is first used as a self-designation by YHWH to Abram in Gen. 17:6. SPECIAL TOPIC: ALMIGHTY (Shaddai)
Ezequiel 10:6-8
10:6 "Take fire from between the whirling wheels and from between the Cherubim" The VERB (BDB 542, KB 534, Qal IMPERATIVE) is the fourth command to this angelic being (i.e. "the man clothed in linen," cf. Ezek. 10:2). This is obviously a reference to the burning coals, which represent God's holiness (i.e. Isa. 6:6). 10:7-8, 11-12, 14 The full description of the Cherubim is given in Ezek. 1:5-14. SPECIAL TOPIC: CHERUBIM
Ezequiel 10:9-14
10:9-10, 13 The full description of the wheels is found in Ezek. 1:15-21. 10:9 "a Tarshish stone" See SPECIAL TOPIC: TARSHISH 10:12 "Their whole body, their back, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around" This is an expansion of the description found in chapter 1, where the eyes were only found on the wheels (cf. Ezek. 1:18; Rev. 4:6,8). It seems to be an intensification of the all-knowingness of God. This is in contrast to the statements of the idolaters in Ezek. 8:12 and which is reacted to by God in Ezek. 9:9. 10:14 "The first face was the face of a cherub" In Ezek. 1:10 it was the face of an ox. There is no real explanation for the change (cf. Rev. 4:7). Even in the book of Ezekiel it seems that the description changes even again in Ezek. 41:18-19.
Ezequiel 10:15-17
10:15, 20 "The cherubim rose up. They are the living beings that I saw at the river Chebar" Possibly, Ezekiel had not been in the inner court of the temple. Although he was in training to become a priest he was exiled before his thirtieth year. Apparently when he saw the pictures on the inside of the temple he recognized the creatures he saw in chapter 1 were the Cherubim. 10:17 NASB, NKJV, NRSV, JPSOA "for the spirit of the living being was in them" "because the creatures controlled them" "since they shared the same living spirit" LXX, Peshitta "because the spirit of life was in them" Rotherham "for the spirit of the living one was in them" The inanimate wheels followed the will of the four living creatures that supported the throne. The throne moved at YHWH's direction. It could move on the ground (i.e. wheels) and through the air (cherubim wings) in any direction.
Ezequiel 10:18-19
10:18 God returns to His throne chariot. This is anthropomorphic imagery. SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE DEITY 10:19 This is the initial sequence of YHWH leaving His temple. This is where the symbolic title "Ichabod," which means "the glory has departed" (BDB 33, cf. 1 Sam. 4:21), was put over the temple. It is one thing for YHWH to refuse to listen to His people. It is far more devastating that He leave His temple! The rabbis speculate that God stayed three and a half years on the Mount of Olives (cf. Ezek. 11:22-23) hoping that the Jews would repent, but they would not. This is surely an exaggeration. So He moved east to be with the exiles who formed a nucleus of the people of God who would return. The glory returns to this temple in Ezek. 43:12.
Ezequiel 10:20-22
10:20 "cherubim" See SPECIAL TOPIC: CHERUBIM