John Gill Commentary Ezekiel 1:3

"the word of Jehovah came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of Jehovah was there upon him." — Ezekiel 1:3 (ASV)

The word of the Lord came expressly
Or, "in being was" {d}; which phrase denotes the reality, certainty, substantiality and evidence of the word of the Lord to him:

unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi ;
which Buzi, some say, was Jeremiah. Kimchi observes, that, in the Jerusalem Targum, the Prophet Ezekiel is called the son of Jeremiah the prophet: and Jeremiah was called Buzi because they despised him; this is rejected by Abarbinel; nor is there any reason to believe it, any more than what Nazianzen ^F5 says, that Ezekiel was a servant of Jeremiah:

in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar ;
(See Gill on Ezekiel 1:1). The Chaldee paraphrase makes the word of the Lord to come to him at two distinct times and places;

``the word of prophecy from before the Lord was with Ezekiel the son of Buzi the priest in the land of Israel: it returned a second time, and spoke with him in the province, the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar:''

and the hand of the Lord was there upon him ;
by which is meant the gift and word of prophecy, which came with power and efficacy, clearness and evidence; so the Targum, and the ``spirit of prophecy from before the Lord there abode by him;'' by which he saw all later visions, and delivered out the following prophecies; see (2 Peter 1:21) .

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FOOTNOTES:

1. 
   F4 (hyh hyh) "essendo fuit", Pagninus, Montanus. Heb. ; "existendo exstitit", Polanus.

FOOTNOTES:

• F5: Orat. 47. vol. 1. p. 724.