Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · 에스겔 1장

Ezekiel 1:1. In the thirtieth year, &c.— Archbishop Usher, Prideaux, Calmet, and others, are of opinion, that these thirty years are to be reckoned from the time when Josiah, and all the people of Judah, entered into that solemn covenant mentioned 2Ki 23:3 which was in the 18th year of Josiah; from which time the same learned writers compute the forty years of Judah's transgression, mentioned ch. Ezekiel 4:6. This thirtieth year, according to Usher, was in the 3410th year of the world, the 5th after the captivity of Jechoniah, and the 5th of the reign of Zedekiah. Ezekiel was then in captivity by Chebar, a river of Mesopotamia, where he saw visions of God; that is to say, prophetical visions. See Ezekiel 1:3. Houbigant reads the verses thus: It came to pass in the thirtieth year, Eze 1:2 which was the fifth year after the carrying away of king Jehoiachin, in the fourth month, in the fifth day, &c.

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Ezekiel 1:4. And I looked, &c.— God's anger and judgments are frequently compared to a whirlwind; and this whirlwind is represented as coming out of the north, to denote Nebuchadnezzar, who was to come from that quarter to destroy Jerusalem. Though Ezekiel was in Mesopotamia, God represented objects to him as if he had been in Judaea. As Nebuchadnezzar was only the instrument of God's vengeance upon the Jews, God himself is here described as coming to take that vengeance. It is very evident from this whole description, that the appearance of God, as emblematically represented after the fall of man at the gate of paradise, Gen 3:24 and afterwards in the holy of holies, is here described by the prophet. The second divine Person, the Jehovah of the Jews, is particularly spoken of in the 26th and following verses, as seated upon this throne of the cherubim, this seat of glory, which is spoken of as in motion and activity, from the peculiar circumstances of those providential judgments which the Almighty was now about to take upon the ungrateful people among whom he had condescended to fix this throne of his glory. The reader will find in the fourth chapter of the book of Revelation the same grand scene opened by St. John, as introductory to those prophetic denunciations which he is about to make in that book. In the interpretation of Scripture, it is always of the first importance to consider the connection and coherence of the parts: Ezekiel tells us, that he saw visions of God; plain and prophetical revelations of the divine will; and, in the introduction to these revelations, he gives us a striking description of the Divinity in glory, and as preparing to execute his judgments, taken from the temple, whence only, as a priest and a prophet, he could properly derive his ideas. And as it is on all hands allowed, that the holy of holies was a type of the true heavens, (see Hebrews 9:24.) and as from all the representations of Scripture we are assured, that the divine throne in those true heavens is surrounded by adoring angels, there seems the utmost reason to conclude that the cherubim, or living creatures, spoken of here, in the Revelation, and in other parts of Scripture, are representative of the angels; an opinion which I have mentioned before in the note on Exodus 25:18. I am very well aware with what severity this opinion will be treated by some, and at the same time I have candour enough to confess, that there are many and great difficulties in it. But I find still greater in every other; and, from the most mature and impartial consideration, do sincerely believe, that this interpretation is most agreeable to the tenor of Scripture. The cherubim represented by a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle, have been thought by some to be the symbols of strength, address, prudence, and irresistible wisdom, which is excluded from no place, and is superior to all difficulties; and in this view the whole vision is considered as a strong representation of the majesty and power of God, under the appearance of a warrior in a triumphal chariot; which coincides, in a great measure, with what I have advanced above; namely, that this vision represents God in glory, attended by his great ones, those angels who excel in wisdom and strength, coming with a mighty prince from the north, to take vengeance on that people, and that temple where, under this emblematical representation, he had been pleased to make his residence in the holy of holies.

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Ezekiel 1:6. Every one had four wings— In the most ancient hieroglyphic writings, a supreme governor was designed by a man with four wings, and his lieutenants or princes by a man with two: and their being out-stretched signified action or design. So the other particulars of the straightness of their feet, the brightness of their colour, their going forward, Eze 1:12 their being actuated by the Spirit, and the like, seem hieroglyphically to denote the several qualifications necessary in the divine ministers and executors of the Almighty's commands.

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Ezekiel 1:9. ——Joined one to another— Of the two in front, and of the two behind, the right wing of one reached to the left wing of the other; the extremities of the expanded inner wings forming an arch.

They turned not— This circumstance is repeated Ezekiel 1:12; Eze 1:17 ch. Ezekiel 10:11.: and is explained by its opposite, "they went every one straight forward." The wheels and horses of chariots bend, and make a circuit, in turning: but this divine machine, actuated by one spirit, moved uniformly together; the same line being always preserved between the corresponding cherubs and wheels, the sides of the rectangle limiting the whole, being always parallel, and the same faces of each cherub always looking onward in the same direction with the face of the charioteer.

This proceeding directly on, in the same undeviating inflexible position, seems to shew their steadiness in performing the divine will, which advances to its destined goal right onwards.

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Ezekiel 1:10. They four—and they four— Milton had a right notion of this hieroglyphic, when he says of the cherubic shapes, "Four faces each had wondrous;" and afterwards calls them "The fourfold-visaged four." Par. Lost. vi. 753. 845.

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Ezekiel 1:11. And their wings were stretched upward— And the wings of every one were parted above (in the act of flying): two wings of every one were joined, and two covered their bodies.

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Ezekiel 1:12. Whither the spirit was to go, they went— Whither the wind or tempest bore them, they were borne: that great whirlwind spoken of in the fourth verse, which bore this magnificent chariot of the Lord.

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Ezekiel 1:13. Like the appearance, &c.— Like the appearance of lamps which went up and down among the living creatures. That is, the fire moved itself up and down. Milton's expression is, "And careering fires between:" that is, fires which ran swiftly, and as it were tilted at each other.See Par. Lost, vi. 756. and Newton's note.

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Ezekiel 1:16. Beryl—wheel in the middle of a wheel— Chrysolite—wheel put cross within another wheel.

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Ezekiel 1:17. Returned not— Turned not.

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Ezekiel 1:18. Rings—rings— Strakes.

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Ezekiel 1:19. By them— Beside them; and so in Eze 1:20-21 instead of over-against them.

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Ezekiel 1:22. The likeness of the firmament, &c.— Over the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of a clear sky or firmament, where the Son of Man appears in divine glory, as upon a throne: see Ezekiel 1:26. By terrible crystal is meant such as dazzles the eyes with its lustre. It may be rendered, the brightest—the clearest. It is compared to a sapphire stone; chap. Ezekiel 10:1.

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Ezekiel 1:23. Their wings straight, &c.— Their wings stretched out, &c. Houbigant.

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Ezekiel 1:24. And when they went, &c.— To denote the terribleness of the judgments which they were to execute upon Jerusalem and the whole Jewish nation. See chap. Eze 43:2 where the prophet foretels the return of the God of Israel in such a manner, as strongly confirms the interpretation that we have given of this chapter. Houbigant connects the latter part of this verse with that following; When they stood they let down their wings; but then a sound arose from the firmament, &c.

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Ezekiel 1:26. And upon the likeness of the throne— After having particularly described the chariot and throne of the Almighty, the prophet proceeds to speak of him who sat upon the throne, who was undoubtedly no other than the Son of God, as he was represented in the holy of holies, prefiguring his gracious incarnation. The rainbow, a grand symbol of the covenant of grace, both here and in Rev 4:3 is described as about the throne. And it plainly appears from the subsequent chapters, that this divine Person, who became man for our salvation, was the Lord God, the sovereign, the Jehovah of the Jews. See the next chapter, Ezekiel 1:3-4.

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