Exposition of the Whole Bible

HIS Book is rightly placed after eremiah, fince Ezekiel was among the captives in. Chaldea, when he prophefied;

whereas Feremiah began to prophefy long before that captivity, and concerning it. The name of this prophet fignifies, as it is commonly interpreted, the firength of God, or ftrengthened by God; as he was, and as he needed to be, having great work to do, and a perverfe people to deal with; fee ch. iii. 8. but the learned Hillerus * chufs to render it, God /hall prevail, with which compare Fer, xx. 7. There was a Levite of this name, of whom mention is made in 1 Chron. xxiv. 16. whofe name is there read Febexekel; and this prophet was a prieft, ch. i. 3. and both Clemens Alexandrinus®, and Eufebius *, cite a Fewifh writer of tragedies, of the fame name; which fome have very wrongly thought to be the fame with our prophet; but whether Ezekiel is not the fame with Nazaratus or Zabratus, the mafter of Pythagoras, mentioned by Clemens as fuch, according to the opinion of fome, is a matter of queftion; and which the learned Se/den * feems to think probable. According to the judgment and opinion of Ferom‘, his ftile is neither very eloquent, nor very ruftic; but between both, and has a mixture of each. The vifions he faw are very abftrufe and difficult of interpretation, efpecially the vifion of the living creatures and wheels; wherefore the Fews ‘ forbad the reading of it, as well as the end of this prophecy, until perfons were thirty years of age. The divine vifions in this book; the whole fubje¢t-matter of it; its agreement with the _~ prophecy of Feremiah, and the accomplifhment of events predicted in it, prove the authority of it;

and its divine authority has always been allowed, both by the Fewi/h fynagogue, and the Chriftian church. There were indeed fome ancient Fewifh Rabbins, who were perplexed: about fome things in it, and confulted about laying it afide, becaufe of fome words in it, which feemed to them to be contrary to the law of Mofes; but R. Chananiab ben Goron, a very famous doctor in thofe times, withdrew to: his chamber, and wrote a commentary, in order to remove thofe difficulties to fatis~- faction §. This book, in general, contains various vifions: the prophet faw; feveral threatnings againft the people of the Yews; and prophecies againft other nations; and an abundance of comfortable promifes of the Meffiah, and of bleffings of grace by him; and’ of the ftate and condition of the gofpel-church, and the worfhip of it. ‘fo- Jepbous * fays, Ezekiel left two books written by him; one of which Athanafus *, or the author of the Syzopfis under his name, thinks is loft; but the learned Hivetius * is of opinion, that the prophecy of Ezekiel, in the times of Fofephus, was divided into two parts; the firft containing the firft thirtynine chapters; and the other the nine laft chapters; which is not improbable. If the authorities of Epipbanius'; or the writer of the lives of the prophets that goes by his name; and of I/dorus *, are of any weight, Ezekiel was born in the land of Sarera; killed by the governor in Babylon, and buried by the people in the field of Maur or Mahurim, in the fepulchre of “Shem and <Arphaxad. The account R. Benjamin Tudelenfis " gives is, that there is a fynagogue of the prophet Ezekiel’by the river Euphrates; and over-againft the fynagogue, fixty towers; and between every tower, a fynagogue, © Prepar. Evangel. 1. 9. c. 28. p. 436. © Prefat. in Ezek. Tom.III. fol. 9. D. - € T.Bab. Sabbat, fol. 13.2. & Taanith, fol. 17.1.2. & Antig. 1. 10, ¢. 5. §-1. 1 Synopf. Sacr. Script. 1 De Prophet. Vit. ¢. 9.

gogue. In the court of the fynagogue is a library; and behind it, the grave of Ezekiel the fon —» of Buzi the prieft; and over it a large yault, of a beautiful building, erected by Yeconiah king of udab, and thirty-five thoufand Jews, who came with him, when E£vil-Meredach brought him out introduétion to the prophet’s call and com- “miffion to perform his*office; in the account of

Fe IS chapter contains a vifion, which is the which may be obferved the time when it was {een, |

¥.1,2. and the place, both where the prophet was when he faw it; and the object or things that were beheld by him;_and the original, form and manner of the vifion, ¥. 3, 4. next follow the particulars of it; and firft, four living creatures appear, defcribed by their general likenefs, as human, ¥.5. and, in particular, by their faces, feet; hands and wings, ¥. 6, 7,8, 9, 10,11. by their motion and progrefs, and the fpirit by which they were infltienced, ¥. 12. and by their forms of light, brighthefs and heat, in which they appeared and moved, ¥. 13, 14. and next the wheels, defcribed by their number; for tho’ they feemed to be as one, they -were four; and by their fituation on the earth, and by the fide of the living creatures, ¥, 15. by their appearance, which was alike in them all, and as the colour of beryl, and as a wheel within a wheel;'y..16. by their motion, which was on their fides, and not retrograde, ¥. 17. by their rings or circumferences, which were high, dreadful, and full of.eyes, ¥. 18. by their dependence on the living creatures, moving as they, having the fame fpirit they had, ¥. 19, 20, 21. and then a firmament is feen, defcribed by its fituation, over the heads of the living creatures; and by its colour, as the terrible cryftal, ¥. 22. by what were under it, the wings of the living creatures; of which a more particular account is given, ¥. 23, 24. by what was heard from it, a voice, ¥. 25. and by what was above it, a throne; defcribed by its co- Jour, as a fapphire-ftone; and by a perfon on it, who had the appearance of a man, y. 26. who, in general, looked like the colour of amber; within which was the appearance of fire from his loins upwards, and from his loins downwards; the fire had a brightnefs round about it; and that brightnefs was like a rain-bow in a cloud, ona rainy day; and this appearance was no other than that of a divine and glorious perfon; which, when feen by the prophet, caufed him thro’ reverence to fall upon his face; when he heard a voice fpeaking to him, what is recorded in the following chapter, Meu 2575. 20.

¥.1. Now it came to pafs in the thirtieth year, &c.] Either from the. laft jubilee, as R. Fofepb Kimchi*, Farchi and Abendana; or from the time that the book of the law was found by Hilkiah the pricft *; fo the Yeargum, which paraphrafes the words thus, ‘* and it was in the thirtieth year “* after Hilkiab the high-prieft found the book of ** the law, in the houfe of the fanctuary, in the of prifon; and over the grave, a lamp burns. ight and day. The Cippi Hebraici fay *, he was buried by the river Hiddekel, and Menafeb bemTfrael » affirms, that he died in Babylon, and was Fs buried” there; and ~fo- Krmchi-* fays,; the tradie tion is. ‘ ea te 5 mag,:;; * M 6 & e P. i - ta, - | i i Ne “court under,the porch, in the middle o "1 “night, after the moon was down, in the ¢ ‘ * of Jofich fon of Amon king of Fudab;” or according to Ferom ‘, from the time of the prophet’s bisth, who was now thirty years of age; and was | juft@ntered into his prieftly office; or rather it was che thirtieth year of Nabepolafar, or.the father of Nebuchadnezzar: this was the twelfth, of the captivity, reckoning from the third of Febsiakim, which was the firft captivity, and from whence the feventy years are to be reckoned, and allo the =" twelfth of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign; and if two years are taken, as Vitringa * obferves; trot ‘twenty one years, which are given to Nabopo. ‘ingen ‘Ee: lemy’s canon; in which Nebuchadnezzar his, fon — 24 reigned with him; there will be found thirty yee “2 from the beginning of Nabopclaffar’s reign, to the fifth of Feconieb’s captivity, when Ezekiel began his prophecy; and which, as bifhop Umer *, Mr. Bedjord*, Mr. Whifton x, and the authors of the Univerfal Hiffory*, place in the year 593, before. the birth of Chrift: in the fourth month month Tammuz, as the Targum exprefles it; whicl anfwers to part of Fune, and part of July: im the fifth day of the month; which fome take to be*on a fabbath-day; becaufe feven days, after, the wordt of the Lord came to him again, ch, iii, 16. jufh as ‘Yobn was in the fpirit on the Tost salete Rev. i. 10, between one of whofe vifions and this there is a very great likenefs, as will be feen hereafter > (as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar)s which is another agreement in circumitance betweem Ezekiel and ohn, when they had their vifions> Fobn was an exile in Patmos, and Ezekiel among; the captives by the river Chebar.in Chaldea, Some think this is the {ame river, which is-called by Piolemy *, Chaboras, and is faid by him to pafs thro’? Mefopetamia: others fay, it was a river that was drawn off from the river Lapbrates, by the order of one Cabaris or Gobaris a governor, from whence it had its name; that the river Euphrates might not, by its rapid courfe, hurt the city of. Babylon; and by the Affyrians it was called Armalchar, or Narmalcha*, the king’s,river; tho” it. feems to be no other than Euphrates itfelf; and Kimchi obferves, that in fome copies of the Zargum on this place, it is interpreted of the river Euphrates, and he fays their Rabbins of blefied — £. memory fay, that'Cheber is Euphrates 3 and fo Aba; binel, fee Pf. cxxxvii. 1. MonfieurT hevenot © ipez of a river called Chadur, whichiis lefs than Achabour, another mentioned by him; and i fource

| below Mo/ul, and on the left-hand to thofe | hat. go down the Tigris, and at Bagdat lofes itfelf the Tzg7is, which he takes to be the fame as heres ~ that the heavens were opened, as at aitiaeonel bap-

tifm, and at the ftoning of Stephen; and fo when Fohn had his vifion, which correfponds with the following, a door was opened in heaven, Rev. iv. 1: and I faw the vifions of God, which God fhewed unto him, and which were great and excellent; as excellent things are called things of God, as mountains of God, and cedars of God, Pf. xxxvi. 6. and Ixxx. 10. and indeed he had a vifion of a divine perfon, in an human form; to which agrees the Targum, ‘‘ and I faw in the vifion of prophecy, *¢ which abode on me, the vifion of the glory of *© the majefty of the Lord.” The Arabic and Syriac verfions read, the vifion of God. ¥.2. In the fifth day of the month, &c.] The month Tammuz, as before: (which was the fifth year of Feboiachin’s captivity), the fame with Feconiah and Coniab, as he is fometimes called; he was taken by the king of Babylon, when he had reigned but thtee months, and his captivity held feven and thirty years, 2 Kings xxiv. 8, 12. and XXV. 27. ¥. 3. The word of the Lord came exprefsly, &c.] Or, in being was*; which phrafe denotes the reality, certainty, fubftantiality and evidence of the word of the Lord to him: unio Ezekiel the prieft, the fon of Buzi; which Buzi, fome fay, was Feremiah. Kimchi obferves, that in the ‘Yerufalem Targum, the prophet Ezekiel is called the fon of Feremiab the prophet; and Feremiah was called Buzi, becaufe they defpifed him: this is rejected by darbinel, nor is there any reafon to believe it, any more than what Nazianzen ° fays, that Ezekiel was a fervant of Feremiab: in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar; fee the note on ¥.1. The Chaldee paraphrafe makes the word of the Lord to come to him at two diftinct times and places, ‘‘ the _** word of prophecy from before the Lord was *¢ with Ezekiel the fon of Buzi the prieft, in the ** land of J/rael: it returned a fecond time, and ‘© fpake with him in the province, the land of the “* Chaldeans, by the river Chebar:” and the hand of the Lord was there upon him, by which is meant the gift and word of prophecy, which came with power and efficacy, clearnefs and evidence; fo the Targum, “* and the fpirit of prophecy from before

** the Lord there abode by him;” by which hefaw all after vifions, and delivered out the follow-

¥. 4. And I looked, &c.] Being under the influence of the Spirit and power of God: and bebold, a whirlwind came out of the north; which fome underftand of Nebuchadnezzar and his army coming from Babylon, which lay north of Fudea; fee Fer. i. 14. but it feems to me to be, with what follows, only an apparatus to the following vifion; and is defigned to awaken the mind of the prophet, and to fix his attention to what fhould proceed from hence, and be feen by him; juft as the Lord appeared in, and anfwered Fob out of, the whirl-’

wind, Yob xxxviii.1: @ great cloud, as is ufual when there is much thunder and lightning; tho’ fome underftand this alfo of Nebuchaduexzar’s army, which came in great numbers, fwiftly and powerfully, as acloud: and a fire infolding itfelf, in the cloud; rolling within it, when it burft out in thunder and lightning. The Targum renders it, fire inflamed: the fame phrafe is ufed of the ftorm of thunder, lightning and hail, in Exod. ix.24. Some underftand this of the wrath of the Bady/onian monarch; or of the wrath of God by him, or of the fins of men,’ the caufe thereof: and a brightnes was about it; that is, the cloud. This brightnefs was an emblem of the glory of the divine being; who was now prefent, and enlightened the mind of the prophet to fee the following things, and which all proceeded from him: and out of the midft thereof, as the colour of amber out of the midft of the fire; that is, out of the midft of the fire, and out of the midft of the brightnefs about it, there was fomething which was as the colour of amber, or, like the Cha/mal‘; which the Jews * fay, is the name of an angel, It is afked *, what is Chafmal? R. Fudah fays, Mobo wx nym fery animals {peaking; who, when God fpeaks, are fi— lent; and when he does not fpeak, they fpeak; but Chrift is meant; for the appearance of the man upon the throne is faid to be as the colour of Chafmal, y. 27. The word, read the contrary way, is the Meffiah, or the anointed, or to be anointed. Farchi thinks it is the name of a colour, neareft to the colour of fire. ‘funius and Tremellius render it, @ moft lively colour; and perhaps may mean the colour of a burning coal; and Buxtorf tranflates it, @ coal exceedingly fired, a clear, burning, redhot coal; which may denote the pure light of * Chrift, who is the brightnefs of his Father’s glory; his flaming love for his people; his burning zeal for the glory of God, and the good of his church; and his fiery indignation againit his enemies. We render the word amber, as do others; by which muft be meant, not that which is the juice of certain trees, which is hardened by the air, and is of a yellowifh colour; nor that liquid fubftance which comes from fea fhores and rocks, and being hardened in the fame way, is of the colour of wax; but a fort of mixed metal, compounded of gold and filver; the fifth part of it is filver, as P izy ' fays, and four parts gold; tho’ Bochart is of opinion, that the aurichalcum, a metal made of gold and brafs, is meant;. which is the moft fine brats; to which the feet of Chrift are compared in Kev, i. 15. and fo this Cha/mal may denote the two natures in Chrift; the precioufnefs of his perfon; his brightnefs and glory; and his great ftrength and power. R, Abendana * conjectures, that the colour of Chafmal means the colour of fome precious ftone, as the colour of Tar/fbifh, or Beryl, ¥. 16. and fo he that fat upon the throne, in Kev. iv. 3. was to look upon like a jafp@r and a fardine ftone. ¥. 5. Alfo out of the midfi thereof, &c.] The fire; or out of the whole that was feen; the whirlwind, cloud, fire, and the brightnefs about it: came the likene/s of four living creatures; not really four living creatures; they appeared like to fuch; they were in the form of fuch; by which we are to underftand, not the four monarchies; nor the four gofpels;. nor the angels; but minifters of the gofpel; the true key for the opening of this vifion is that which Fohn faw, Rev. iv. 6, 7, 8. the four beafts there, or living creatures, as it fhould be rendered, are the fame with thefe here, and thefe the fame with them; and who manifeftly appear. to