Ezekiel 1:16 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 1:16
The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
resemblance · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
appearance
וּמַרְאֵיהֶם֙u.mar.'ei.Hem
H4758
a view (the act of seeing) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
work
וּמַ֣עֲשֵׂיהֶ֔םu.Ma.'a.sei.Hem
H4639
an action (good or bad) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
wheel
הָאוֹפַ֖ןha.'o.Fan
H212
a wheel · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
middle
בְּת֥וֹךְbe.Tokh
H8432
a bisection · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
wheel
הָאוֹפָֽןha.'o.Fan
H212
a wheel · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Daniel 10:6 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like…
Ezekiel 10:9-11 And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance…
Exodus 39:13 And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were inclosed in ouches of gold in their inclosings.
Job 9:10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
Psalms 36:6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
Psalms 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in orde…
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Ephesians 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 1:15-25
The prophet is very exact in making and recording his observations concerning this vision. And here we have,
I. The notice he took of the wheels, Eze 1:15-21. The glory of God appears not only in the splendour of his retinue in the upper world, but in the steadiness of his government here in this lower world. Having seen how God does according to his will in the armies of heaven, let us now see how he does according to it among the inhabitants of the earth; for there, on the earth, the prophet saw the wheels, Eze 1:15. As he beheld the living creatures, and was contemplating the glory of that vision and receiving instruction from it, this other vision presented itself to his view. Note, Thos…
appearance . . . work--their form and the material of their work.
beryl--rather, "the glancing appearance of the Tarshish stone"; the chrysolite or topaz, brought from Tarshish or Tartessus in Spain. It was one of the gems in the breastplate of the high priest (Exo 28:20; Sol 5:14; Dan 10:6).
four had one likeness--The similarity of the wheels to one another implies that there is no inequality in all God's works, that all have a beautiful analogy and proportion.
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 1:15
One wheel upon the earth - It seems at first view there were four wheels, one for each of the living creatures; that is, the creatures were compound, so were the wheels, for there was "a wheel in the middle of a wheel." And it is generally supposed that these wheels cut each other at right angles up and down: and this is the manner in which they are generally represented; but most probably the wheel within means merely the nave in which the spokes are inserted, in reference to the ring, rim, or periphery, where these spokes terminate from the center or nave. I do think this is what is meant by the wheel within a wheel; and I am the more inclined to this opinion, by some fine Chinese drawings…
If you consider the way in which the universe moves in different and contrary ways, whether you think it is in error or whether you think it is of a different nature from us, you see the meaning of "a wheel within a wheel." But as far as all that is concerned, the God of the whole universe directs everything and makes everything to move where he wills, in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
The wheel within a wheel is life under the law, life under grace; inasmuch as Jews are within the church, the law is included in grace. For one is within the church who is a Jew secretly; and circumcision of the heart is a sacrament within the church. But that Jewish people are within the church of which it is written: "In Judah is God known"; therefore as wheel runs within wheel, in the same way the wings were still and the wings were flying.
Rightly are the sacred utterances said to be similar to the vision of the sea, because in them there are great volumes of sentences, heaps of meanings. Nor is it undeservedly that Sacred Scripture is said to be similar to the sea, because the sentences of speech are confirmed in it through the sacrament of baptism. Or certainly it must be considered that we sail by ships into the sea when we proceed toward desired lands. But what is in our desire except that land about which it is written: "My portion is in the land of the living"? But he who crosses the sea is carried, as I said, by wood. And we know that Sacred Scripture announces to us the wood of the cross through the law, when it says: "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." Paul attests this concerning our Redeemer, saying: "Made a curse for us." Through the prophets also it announces the wood, when it is said: "The Lord will reign from the wood." And again: "Let us put wood in his bread." But through the Gospel the wood of the cross is openly shown, where the very passion of the Lord which was prophesied is declared. Through the apostles, moreover, this same cross is also held in words and works, when Paul says: "The world is crucified to me, and I to the world." And again: "But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Therefore for us who proceed toward the eternal homeland, Sacred Scripture through its four faces is a sea. It announces the cross, because it carries us to the land of the living by wood. But unless the prophet perceived Sacred Scripture to be similar to the sea, he would by no means have said: "The earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters covering the sea." The likeness of the four is one, because what the law preaches, the prophets also preach; what the prophets announce, the Gospel displays; what the Gospel displayed, the apostles proclaimed throughout the world. Therefore the likeness of the four is one, because the divine utterances, although distinct in time, are nevertheless united in meaning. And their appearance and their workings, as if a wheel were in the midst of a wheel. A wheel within a wheel is the New Testament, as we have said, within the Old Testament, because what the Old Testament designated, the New Testament displayed. For to speak of a few things out of many, what does it mean that while Adam slept Eve was…
Dictionary and topics
Beryl · A precious stone — A precious stone
Wheel · SYMBOLI — SYMBOLI
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Ezekiel 1:16
The appearance of the wheels, and their work, was like unto the colour of a beryl,.... Which is a precious stone; see Exodus 28:20; the Syriac version renders it a chrysolite; the Arabic, a jasper; and so may denote the preciousness, glory, and excellency of the churches, and the true members of them, which are as jewels and pearls of great price in the esteem of Christ; and the colour of this stone being a sea green, from whence it has here the name of "tarshish", a word sometimes used for the sea, may signify the fluctuating and uncertain state of the churches in this world, and in their present circumstances:
and they four had one likeness: this shows that there were four wheels, and tha…
Ezekiel 1:16
16. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: trod their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
16. Aspectus rotarum et opus [40] stent aspectus Tharsis et strutlitudo unius ad quatuor, [41] et aspectus eorum, et forma [42] quemadmodum si rota esset in medio rotae.
Now the Prophet uses the plural number, and says, there were four wheels. He says, the color was like a precious stone. Jerome translates it "sea," because the sea which looks towards Cilicia with respect to Judea is called Tharsis. But I know not why the color of the sea or the sky took his fancy. But grantin…
Description of the theophany seen by the spirit of the prophet. - Eze 1:4. And I saw, and, lo, a tempestuous wind came from the north, a great cloud, and a fire rolled together like a ball, and the brightness of light round about it, and out of its midst, as the appearance of glowing metal from the midst of the fire. - The description begins with a general outline of the phenomenon, as the same presented itself to the spiritual eye of the prophet on its approach from the north. A tempestuous wind brings hither from the north a great cloud, the centre of which appears as a lump of fire, which throws around the cloud the brightness of light, and presents in its midst the appearance of glowing…
It would be impossible to build a physical chariot in which each wheel had a second wheel turning crosswise within it. This picture depicts a chariot that could travel equally well in any direction, symbolizing God’s freedom of movement in judgment.
Rashi on Ezekiel 1:16
like the appearance of crystal Heb. תַּרְשִּׂישּׂ, like a precious stone named tarshish, cristal in French.
as...would be A wheel set within a wheel, crosswise. Since they go to every side, with their faces to the four directions, the wheel must roll in its four directions.
