Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 8:4

"And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain." — Ezekiel 8:4 (ASV)

The glory of the God of Israel was there. Not the glory of the Lord filling the temple as in days of old, but the glory according to the vision that I saw in the plain—that is, the same vision which had previously appeared to the prophet, now in his vision—a vision within a vision—appeared to him again in the temple. The identity of the vision is again particularly mentioned in Ezekiel 10:15 and Ezekiel 10:22, and even without this would be clear from the description given of it in Ezekiel 10.

At the same time, various particulars are mentioned which were omitted in Ezekiel 1, and others are mentioned there which are omitted here, such as the cloud and the firmament (Ezekiel 1:4 and Ezekiel 1:22); and there are also some entirely new features introduced, such as six men and the man clothed in linen (Ezekiel 9:2), for which there was no need in the former vision. The God of Israel is emphatic: the God who had loved and chosen Israel, and whom Israel should have served, in contrast with the idol which they had placed in His temple.