a voice or sound · noun, common masculine singular absolute
firmament
לָרָקִ֖יעַla.ra.Ki.a'
H7549
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
heads
רֹאשָׁ֑םro.Sham
H7218
the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
stood
בְּעָמְדָ֖םbe.'a.me.Dam
H5975
to stand · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
down
תְּרַפֶּ֥ינָהte.ra.Pei.nah
H7503
to slacken (in many applications · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person feminine plural
wings
כַנְפֵיהֶֽןkhan.fei.Hen
H3671
an edge or extremity · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine plural
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
Ezekiel 1:22 And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over thei…
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…
let down . . . wings--While the Almighty gave forth His voice, they reverently let their wings fall, to listen stilly to His communication.
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 1:24
The noise of their wings - When the whirlwind drove the wheels, the wind rustling among the wings was like the noise of many waters; like a waterfall, or waters dashing continually against the rocks, or rushing down precipices.
As the voice of the Almighty - Like distant thunder; for this is termed the voice of God Psa 18:13; Exo 9:23, Exo 9:28, Exo 9:29; Exo 20:18.
John Gill on Ezekiel 1:25
And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads,.... Which was the voice of Christ upon the throne, above the firmament, over the heads of the living creatures; which directed them when and where to go, and what to do, and when and where to stop:
when they stood, and had let down their wings; either encouraging them to lift them up, and go on in their work, notwithstanding the sense they had of their own weakness and unworthiness; or, having done their work, calling them to himself in heaven.
John Calvin on Ezekiel 1:25-26
The Church Fathers
"For when there was a voice above the firmament that was over their head, they stood and lowered their wings." We have judged that the upper firmament should be expounded under a twofold understanding. For, as has been said, by the name of firmament the celestial powers can be understood. And by the name of firmament the incarnate Only-begotten can be designated, through the fact that in him our nature has been made firm unto eternity. Let us therefore first speak of what we think concerning the angels, and afterwards concerning the Lord of angels. For behold it is said: When there was a voice above the firmament, they stood and lowered their wings. In this passage, this must first be known, that "to lower" should be understood not as stretching from lower to higher things, but as putting down their wings from higher to lower things, on account of what was stated before: When they stood, their feathers were let down. Therefore we must inquire what the voice is that occurs above the firmament. But we understand that same voice better if, ascending from the lowest things to higher ones, we climb as if by certain steps. Just as the hearing of the body is aroused by a voice, so the sense of the mind is aroused by understanding, which is exercised concerning interior things. Therefore the voice in the mind is, as it were, a certain sound of understanding. But it must be known that sometimes the voice of the flesh speaks to our senses, sometimes the voice of the soul, sometimes the voice of the firmament, sometimes the voice that is above the firmament. Let us set before our eyes the case of someone who has been injured by a neighbor, who thinks according to human reasoning to repay the injury in kind, to return evil for evil. To this person the voice of the flesh speaks in his mind, because when the divine commandments order us to do good to those who hate us, whoever thinks of doing evil to those who hate him, in his soul the voice of the flesh sounds. We do many earthly things daily, and after these we return to prayer. The soul is kindled to compunction, but images of those things which we have done turn about in the mind and impede the intention of compunction in prayer; and what we willingly did outwardly, we suffer inwardly against our will, so that certain phantasms of thoughts scatter the mind through bodily images, lest it gather itself wholly together…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Ezekiel 1:25-26
25. And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.
25. Et fuit vox desuper expansione quae erat super caput eorum; cum ipsa starent remittebant alas suns.
26. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
26. Et super firmamentum [52] quae erat super caput eorum tanquam visio, vel aspectus lapidis saphiri similitudo solii: et super similitudinem solii similitudo tanquam aspectus hominis super ipsum desuper.
Is a former lecture we said, th…
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…
The surface like the sky, glittering like crystal separated the realm of God’s presence (heaven) from the realm of humanity (earth). References to the sky, the cherubim (see study note on 1:11-14), and the rainbow (1:28) remind us of the opening chapters of Genesis and suggest that the narrative about to unfold concerns the destruction of what God had created, followed by its re-creation. Just as God destroyed the world he had made with a flood and then restored it through Noah, Ezekiel’s world was also being unmade and restored.
Rashi on Ezekiel 1:25
And there was a voice above the expanse Jonathan rendered: And at the time that there was a will before Him to make His speech heard to His servantsthe prophets of Israelthere was a voice, and it was heard from above the expanse, from between the cherubim, from beneath the expanse that was over their heads.
they would let down their wings out of the fear of the speech.
