Ezekiel 3:23 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
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: and I fell on my face.
to rise (in various applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
forth
וָאֵצֵ֣אva.'e.Tze'
H3318
to go (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
plain
הַבִּקְעָה֒ha.bik.'Ah
H1237
properly · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
glory
כְּבוֹדke.Vod-
H3519
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָה֙Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
stood
עֹמֵ֔ד'o.Med
H5975
to stand · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
glory
כַּכָּב֕וֹדka.ka.Vod
H3519
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
saw
רָאִ֖יתִיra.'I.ti
H7200
to see · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
river
נְהַרne.har-
H5104
a stream (including the sea · noun, common masculine singular construct
Chebar
כְּבָ֑רke.Var
H3529
Kebar · proper noun, a place name
fell
וָאֶפֹּ֖לva.'e.Pol
H5307
to fall · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
face
פָּנָֽיpa.Nai
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
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 1:28 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 appe…
Revelation 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
Acts 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of Go…
Numbers 16:19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared…
Numbers 16:42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congr…
Ezekiel 1:1-4 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of C…
Ezekiel 9:3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man cl…
Ezekiel 10:18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 3:22–end
After all this large and magnificent discovery which God had made of himself to the prophet, and the full instructions he had given him how to deal with those to whom he sent him with an ample commission, we should have expected presently to see him preaching the word of God to a great congregation of Israel; but here we find it quite otherwise. his work here, at first, seems not at all proportionable to the pomp of his call.
I. We have him here retired for further learning. By his unwillingness to go it should seem as if he were not so thoroughly convinced as he might have been of the ability of him that sent him to bear him out; and therefore, to encourage him against the difficulties he f…
Arise, go forth into the plain - Into a place remote from observation and noise; a place where the glory of God might have sufficient room to manifest itself, that the prophet might see all its movements distinctly.
John Gill on Ezekiel 3:23
Then I arose and went forth into the plain,.... He was obedient to the heavenly vision, which was owing to the hand of the Lord being upon him; the power of the Spirit and grace of God influences and engages to obedience; he went forth where he was ordered, though he knew not what would be said to him, or what he should see there:
and, behold, the glory of the Lord stood there; the glorious Person described in Ezekiel 1:26;
as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar; Ezekiel 1:1; which vision was repeated for greater certainty, and to confirm the prophecies delivered to him, and to encourage him in the performance of his office:
and I fell on my face; as he did before, when he first…
"And rising I went out into the plain, and behold, there the glory of the Lord stood, like the glory which I saw beside the river Chebar." The prophet saw in the plain the glory of the Lord, which he had seen beside the river Chebar in the midst of the Israelites, because that same majesty appeared to the Gentiles which had first revealed itself to the elect among the Jewish people through the revealing Spirit. "And I fell upon my face." Having seen the glory of the Lord, the prophet falls on his face, because although a man may be elevated to understand sublime things, nevertheless from the contemplation of God's majesty he understands the weakness of his own condition; and he who sees himself to be ashes and dust before God's eyes has, as it were, no standing.
(Verse 23.) And I arose ((Vulg. arose)) and went out into the field, and behold there the glory of the Lord was standing, as the glory that I saw by the river Chobar. At the Lord's command, it enters and at the Lord's command, it goes out, and it sits among those who sit; for those who stand could not hear him. And going out into the width of the field, he saw the standing glory of the Lord, which he had seen before walking and lifting itself up, and sometimes standing. Because next to the river of this age, called Chobar, which can be interpreted as very serious, glory was seen: which signifies that all the glory of this world overflows and does not have a stable position. But the standing and enduring glory of the Lord, when seen with the standing Prophet in the field, could not stand nor be seen amidst the captives.
(Verse 24.) And I fell upon my face, and the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet: and he spoke to me, and said to me: Go in, and shut thyself up in the midst of thy house. Unable to bear the weight of the glory of the Lord standing, he fell on his face, so that he could be lifted up by the entering spirit. The spirit stood him upon his feet, and spoke to him, saying: Enter and shut thyself up in the midst of thy house. And this is the meaning: Because you have been strengthened by the vision of the Lord's majesty, you should not fear anyone or be afraid of anything; but rather return to your home or tend to the needs of the body, as some think, or as a sign of the future siege. And just as Isaiah, barefoot and naked (Isaiah 20), proclaimed the captivity of three years and the nakedness of the people, so you, confined to your home, by the action itself, foretell the imminent siege of the city of Jerusalem.
Dictionary and topics
Chebar — Length, a river in the “land of the Chaldeans” (Ezek. 1:3), on the banks of which were located some of the Jews of the Captivity (Ezek. 1:1; 3:15, 23; 10:15, 20, 22). It has been supposed to be…
Plain — (1.) Heb. ‘abel (Judg. 11:33), a “grassy plain” or “meadow.” Instead of “plains of the vineyards,” as in the Authorized Version, the Revised Version has “Abel-cheramim” (q.v.), comp. Judg. 11:22; 2…
Plains — This one term does duty in the Authorized Version for no less than seven distinct Hebrew words.
Chebar · A river of Me — A river of Me
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).
John Calvin on Ezekiel 3:22-23
Ezekiel 3:22-23
22. And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.
22. Et fuit super me illic marius Iehovae et dixit mihi, surge et egredere in planiciem, et illic loquar tecum.
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: and I fell on my face.
23. Et surrexi, et egressus sum in planiciem: et ecce illic gloria Iehovae stetit stans sicuti gloria quam conspexeram super flumen Chebar: et cecidi in faciem meam.
God seems in some way to play with his Prophet, when he sends him about, and apparently changes hi…
After the Lord had pointed out to the prophet the difficulties of the call laid upon him, He prepared him for the performance of his office, by inspiring him with the divine word which he is to announce. - Eze 2:8. And thou, son of man, hear what I say to thee, Be not stiff-necked like the stiff-necked race; open thy mouth, and eat what I give unto thee. Eze 2:9. Then I saw, and, lo, a hand outstretched towards me; and, lo, in the same a roll of a book. Eze 2:10. And He spread it out before me; the same was written upon the front and back: and there were written upon it lamentations, and sighing, and woe. Eze 3:1. And He said to me: Son of man, what thou findest eat; eat the roll, and go and…
The Lord summoned Ezekiel out into the valley, into a wilderness that was away from other people. • Although this was the second time he had seen the glory of the Lord, it was not something to which Ezekiel had grown accustomed. Its awesome magnificence prostrated him.
Rashi on Ezekiel 3:23
and behold, there the glory of the Lord we standing He went there before me, [thereby demonstrating] a trait of extreme humility, such as is not conventional for a flesh and blood person to practice: [As a rule,] the disciple awaits the Master, whereas here, the Master awaits the disciple.
