Ezekiel 1:28

As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
appearance	כְּמַרְאֵ֣ה ke.mar.'Eh	H4758	a view (the act of seeing) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
bow	הַקֶּ֡שֶׁת ha.Ke.shet	H7198	a bow · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
cloud	בֶעָנָ֜ן ve.'a.Nan	H6051	a cloud (as covering the sky) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
day	בְּי֣וֹם be.Yom	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
rain	הַגֶּ֗שֶׁם ha.Ge.shem	H1653	a shower · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
appearance	מַרְאֵ֤ה mar.'Eh	H4758	a view (the act of seeing) · noun, common masculine singular construct
brightness	הַנֹּ֙גַהּ֙ ha.No.gah	H5051	brilliancy (literally or figuratively) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
about	סָבִ֔יב sa.Viv	H5439	(as noun) a circle · noun, common both genders singular absolute
appearance	מַרְאֵ֖ה mar.'Eh	H4758	a view (the act of seeing) · noun, common masculine singular construct
likeness	דְּמ֣וּת de.Mut	H1823	resemblance · noun, common feminine singular construct
glory	כְּבוֹד ke.Vod-	H3519	properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD	יְהוָ֑ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
saw	וָֽאֶרְאֶה֙ va.'er.'Eh	H7200	to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
fell	וָאֶפֹּ֣ל va.'e.Pol	H5307	to fall · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
face	פָּנַ֔י pa.Nai	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
heard	וָאֶשְׁמַ֖ע va.'esh.Ma'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
voice	ק֥וֹל Kol	H6963	a voice or sound · noun, common masculine singular absolute
spake	מְדַבֵּֽר me.da.Ber	H1696	perhaps properly · verb, piel active participle, 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

Revelation 10:1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the…
Revelation 4:3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an em…
Genesis 17:3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
Ezekiel 3:23 Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar…
Exodus 24:16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the mid…
Ezekiel 8:4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
Daniel 8:17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at…
Acts 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 1:26–end

All the other parts of this vision were but a preface and introduction to this. God in them had made himself known as Lord of angels and supreme director of all the affairs of this lower world, whence it is easy to infer that whatever God by his prophets either promises or threatens to do he is able to effect it. Angels are his servants; men are his tools. But now that a divine revelation is to be given to a prophet, and by him to the church, we must look higher than the living creatures or the wheels, and must expect that from the eternal Word, of whom we have an account in these verses. Ezekiel, hearing a voice from the firmament, looked up, as John did, to see the voice that spoke with hi…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 1:28

the bow . . . in . . . rain--the symbol of the sure covenant of mercy to God's children remembered amidst judgments on the wicked; as in the flood in Noah's days (Rev 4:3). "Like hanging out from the throne of the Eternal a fing of peace, assuring all that the purpose of Heaven was to preserve rather than to destroy. Even if the divine work should require a deluge of wrath, still the faithfulness of God would only shine forth the more brightly at last to the children of promise, in consequence of the tribulations needed to prepare for the ultimate good" [FAIRBAIRN]. (Isa 54:8-10). I fell upon . . . face--the right attitude, spiritually, before we enter on any active work for God (Eze 2:2;…

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Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 1:28

As the appearance of the bow - Over the canopy on which this glorious personage sat there was a fine rainbow, which, from the description here, had all its colors vivid, distinct, and in perfection - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. In all this description we must understand every metal, every color, and every natural appearance, to be in their utmost perfection of shape, color, and splendor. "And this," as above described, "was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord." Splendid and glorious as it was, it was only the "appearance of the likeness," a faint representation of the real thing. I have endeavored to explain these appearances as correctly as poss…

The Church Fathers

When you have heard of various visions of God, do not think that the divine majesty has many forms.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:1

It is clear … that Ezekiel saw the cherubim and their course, and the firmament above them and the one seated on the throne. What could be more glorious and exalted than these things?
— Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6:23

He did not say this was the nature of the Lord or the glory of the Lord but that this was the likeness of the glory of the Lord. For as he willed, so he spoke, and creating the vision, he made me worthy of contemplating it.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Cherub — Plural cherubim, the name of certain symbolical figures frequently mentioned in Scripture. They are first mentioned in connection with the expulsion of our first parents from Eden (Gen. 3:24). There…
Rainbow — Caused by the reflection and refraction of the rays of the sun shining on falling rain. It was appointed as a witness of the divine faithfulness (Gen. 9:12-17). It existed indeed before, but it was…
Anthropomorphisms · MISCELLANEOUS FIGURES — MISCELLANEOUS FIGURES
Bow · 2. A TOKEN IN THE CLOUDS — 2. A TOKEN IN THE CLOUDS
Cherubim · The glory of God exhibited upon — The glory of God exhibited upon
God · .To Ezekiel — .To Ezekiel
Rain · The rainbow often appears during — The rainbow often appears during
Rainbow · A sign that the earth will no longer be — A sign that the earth will no longer be
Voice · OF GO — OF GO

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).

Ezekiel 1:28

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 1:26–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 1:28

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 1:28

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ezekiel 1:28

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 1:26–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 1:28

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 1:28

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Ezekiel 1:28

John Calvin on Ezekiel 1:28–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezekiel 1:22–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ezekiel 1:28

Rashi on Ezekiel 1:28