Ezekiel 8:2 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 8:2
Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.
a view (the act of seeing) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
brightness
זֹ֖הַרZo.har
H2096
brilliancy · noun, common masculine singular absolute
colour
כְּעֵ֥יןke.'Ein
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
amber
הַחַשְׁמַֽלָהha.chash.Ma.lah
H2830
probably bronze or polished spectrum metal · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute + directional 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 1:4 And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and…
Ezekiel 1:26-27 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…
Daniel 7:9-10 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like th…
Revelation 1:14-15 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 8:1-6
Ezekiel was now in Babylon; but the messages of wrath he had delivered in the foregoing chapters related to Jerusalem, for in the peace or trouble thereof the captives looked upon themselves to have peace or trouble, and therefore here he has a vision of what was done at Jerusalem, and this vision is continued to the close of the 11th chapter.
I. Here is the date of this vision. The first vision he had was in the fifth year of the captivity, in the fourth month and the fifth day of the month, Eze 1:1, Eze 1:2. This was just fourteen months after. Perhaps it was after he had lain 390 days on his left side, to bear the iniquity of Israel, and before he began the forty days on his right side, t…
likeness--understand, "of a man," that is, of Messiah, the Angel of the covenant, in the person of whom alone God manifests Himself (Eze 1:26; Joh 1:18). The "fire," from "His loins downward," betokens the vengeance of God kindled against the wicked Jews, while searching and purifying the remnant to be spared. The "brightness . . . upward" betokens His unapproachable majesty (Ti1 6:16). For Hebrew, eesh, "fire," the Septuagint, &c., read ish, "a man."
colour of amber--the glitter of chasmal [FAIRBAIRN], (see on Eze 1:4, "polished brass").
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 8:2
The appearance of fire - See the note on Eze 1:27.
John Gill on Ezekiel 8:2
And then one beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire,.... The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "behold the likeness of a man"; reading "a man", for "fire"; but without supposing such a reading, for which there is no foundation, this likeness may very well be understood of the likeness of a man; since mention is made of his joins in the next clause, and of his hand in Ezekiel 8:3; and the description agrees with the appearance of a man in Ezekiel 1:26; it was usual for the Son of God, who doubtless is here meant, to appear in a human form; and so Junius and Tremellius supply the words,
"and lo a likeness "of a man", as in the appearance of fire:''
it was the form of a…
The Church Fathers
(Version 2.) And there fell upon me the hand of the Lord God there. And I saw, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire from the appearance of his loins, and downward fire: and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the sight of lightning. LXX: And the hand of Adonai the Lord came upon me: and I saw and behold, a likeness as the form of a man from his loins, and downward fire, and from his loins, and upward as the sight of the aura, like the sight of lightning. The Hebrew language does not include the word "man." However, we have added the mention of the vision of the divine presence, which is not found in the Septuagint, from Theodotion. And because of what we have said, the hand of the Lord fell upon me. Symmachus translated it as 'the hand of the Lord came upon me,' which in Hebrew is Tephphol (). However, the word manus signifies 'power' or 'works,' so that one may understand the mysteries of the vision. And it should be noted that he does not see the truths themselves, but a likeness of fire, for fire appeared from the loins downwards; and from the loins upwards, it appeared as a radiant appearance, like the vision of lightning. For the splendor, which in Hebrew is called Zor, transferred the aura to Theodotus, in order to reveal the refreshing presence of God in the heavens. Finally, in the book of Kings, the blessed Elijah does not contemplate the coming of the Lord in a storm and whirlwind, nor in the burning fires, but in the sight of a thin and gentle breeze, to attest to the gentleness of Almighty God. However, the works of the body, symbolized in the loins, are purified by fire from top to bottom. And the works of virtues, which rise from the loins to the upper parts, have splendor and brightness, and yet neither fire is said to reach to the feet, nor the brightness of lightning to the head, but downwards and upwards, so that, according to the diversity of merits, one reaches to this and that member, another to those members. And just as those who hold the perfection of holiness reach to the summit, so those who are in the depths of sin are believed to hold the feet of the fiery ones.
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
Amber — (Ezek. 1:4, 27; 8:2. Heb., hashmal, rendered by the LXX. elektron, and by the Vulgate electrum), a metal compounded of silver and gold. Some translate the word by “polished brass,” others “fine…
Amber · A vegetable fossil — A vegetable fossil
Visions · Mentioned in scripture: To Ezekiel (See chapters 10, 40-48 of Ezekiel) — Mentioned in scripture: To Ezekiel (See chapters 10, 40-48 of Ezekiel)
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 8:2
2. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.
2. Et aspexi, et ecce similitudo [173] tanquam aspectus ignis: ab aspectu lumborum infra ignis: et a lumbis ejus sursum tanquam aspectus splendoris, tanquam figura chasmal.
Some translate the last word angel, but in my opinion erroneously: for yn, gnin, properly signifies color, and I have already refuted that error in the first chapter. I am not clear as to what color it was, hence I follow the received opinion that, it was like amber. Now the Prophet says, he saw a likeness…
Abominations of the Idolatry of the House of Israel
Time and place of the divine revelation. - Eze 8:1. And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth (month), on the fifth (day) of the month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; there fell upon me the hand of the Lord Jehovah there. Eze 8:2. And I saw, and behold a figure like the look of fire, from the look of its loins downwards fire, and from its loins upwards like a look of brilliance, like the sight of red-hot brass. Eze 8:3. And he stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by the locks of my head, and wind carried me away between earth and heaven, and brought me to Jerusalem in visions of…
While the leaders were gathered, Ezekiel saw in a vision what appeared to be a man. The description is similar to the description in 1:26-27. This time, however, Ezekiel was lifted . . . up into the sky and transported . . . to Jerusalem. • appeared to be . . . looked like . . . seemed to be: What Ezekiel saw defied human description (see study note on 1:4-28).
Rashi on Ezekiel 8:2
from the appearance of its loins, etc. It is forbidden to reflect on this verse.
