John Gill Commentary Ezekiel 8

And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth [month], in
the fifth [day] of the month
This was the sixth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin; the sixth month was the month Elul, which answers to part of August, and part of September. The Septuagint and Arabic versions wrongly render it, the fifth month. The fifth day of the month is thought to have been the sabbath day, which seems probable by what follows; this was just a year and two months from the first vision, (Ezekiel 1:1Ezekiel 1:2) .

[as] I sat in mine house ;
in Chaldea, by the river Chebar; he was now sitting, the time of lying on his side, both right and left, being now up, even four hundred and thirty days. It was in the fifth year, and on the fifth of Tammuz, that the first vision was; seven days the prophet sat with them of the captivity at Telabib; at the end of which he was ordered to lie on his side; first on his left side three hundred ninety days, and then on his right side forty days: now reckoning from the middle of Tammuz, to the fifth of Elul in the sixth year, were but, as Kimchi observes, four hundred days; but this being, as another Jewish writer has ^F18 , an intercalated year, by the intercalation of a month, which consisted of thirty days, the whole number was completed, and the prophet was now sitting: or it may be this position is observed, because he was now teaching and instructing the people, which was frequently done sitting; (See Gill on Matthew 5:1); and this in his own private house, being now in captivity, and having neither temple nor synagogue to teach in.

and the elders of Judah sat before me ;
to hear the word of the Lord from his mouth, the law explained, or any fresh prophecy delivered by him; or to have his advice and counsel in their present circumstances. These were the elders of Judah that were carried captive along with Jehoiachin; though some think they were those that were at Jerusalem, and that all this was only in a visionary way; but the former sense seems most agreeable; seeing this was previous to the vision, and with what goes before describes the time, place, and witnesses of the vision.

that the hand of the Lord fell there upon me ;
which the Targum interprets of the spirit of prophecy, which came with power upon him: it denotes the energy and efficacy of the Spirit of God in throwing him into an ecstasy, and acting upon him, and revealing to him the things he did; which are related in the following verses.

FOOTNOTES:

• F18: Seder Olam Rabba, c. 26. p. 73. Vid. Kimchi in loc.

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 (vya) , "a man", for (va) , "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 1:26Ezekiel 1:27) ; 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 fiery man that was seen, as he is further described:

from the appearance of his loins, even downward, fire ;
his lower parts, thighs, legs, and feet; expressive either of the light of grace communicated from Christ to his people; or of his fervent love towards them, or flaming zeal for God and his house; or rather of his wrath against an idolatrous people; see (Revelation 1:15) ; a like description is in (Ezekiel 1:27) ;

and from his loins, even upward, as the appearance of brightness ;
his upper parts, back, belly, breast, shoulders, arms, head which may denote his incomprehensible majesty and glory; his glory being the glory of the only begotten, the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person. The Targum renders both the one and the other part of the description thus, ``and I saw, and twelve a likeness as the look of fire, the look of glory, which the eye cannot see, nor is it possible to look upon it; and beneath the look of fire, and the look of glory, which the eye cannot behold, nor is it possible to contemplate it; and above, as the look of brightness:''

as the colour of amber :
or "chasmal": which some take to be the name of an angel. The Syriac version is, "as the look of God"; (See Gill on Ezekiel 1:4); and (See Gill on Ezekiel 1:27).

And he put forth the form of an hand
That is, he that appeared in the likeness of a man, and with so much glory and splendour, out of the midst of the fire and brightness which were about him, put forth the form of a hand, that looked like a man's hand; for this appearance was not real, only visionary; and this seems to design the Spirit of God sent forth by Christ, sometimes called the finger of God, (Luke 11:20); as appears by what follows:

and took me by a lock of my head ;
without hurting him, showing his power over him; and by this means raising him from his seat, as it seemed to the prophet: and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and heaven ;
took him off of his seat, and out of his house, lifted him up in the air, and carried him through it, as he thought; for this was not real and local; in like manner as the spirit caught away Philip, (Acts 8:39); but in vision, as follows:

and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem ;
so it was represented to him in a true vision, which was of God, and not of Satan, that he was carried from Chaldea to Jerusalem; not that he really was, for he was still in Chaldea; and here in vision was he brought again, and found himself to be when that vision was over, (Ezekiel 11:24Ezekiel 11:25); but things so appeared to him, as if he was actually brought to Jerusalem by the power of the Spirit of God:

to the door of the inner gate :
not of Jerusalem, but the temple, or rather the court, the inner court; see (Ezekiel 10:3); and so it should be rendered "to the door of the gate of the inner court" ^F19 ; and thus it is explained by Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech: that looketh toward the north ;
for there were gates on every side: where [was] the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to
jealousy ;
some graven image, perhaps the image of Baal; so called, because it provoked the Lord to jealousy, (Deuteronomy 32:21) . Gussetius ^F20 suggests, that (lmo) , "Semel", here may be the same with Semele; who, in the opinion of the Heathens, made Juno jealous.

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: (tymynph rev xtp la) "ad ostium portae interioris, [sub.] atrii", Pagninus, Vatablus, Piscator.
• F20: Ebr. Comment. p. 903.

And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel [was] there
In the temple, between the cherubim, where the Shechinah or the glory of the divine Majesty dwelt; for as yet he had not removed, though provoked to it, and as he afterwards did; or he was here to destroy the idols, and both city and temple, for the idolatry of the people; or this is here mentioned, to show the baseness and wickedness of the people, that they should place an idol where the Lord himself was: according to the vision that I saw in the plain ;
it was the same glorious Person he saw in the temple whom he had before seen in the plain, (Ezekiel 3:22Ezekiel 3:23) ; and that was the same he had seen in the vision by the river Chebar, (Ezekiel 1:3Ezekiel 1:28) .

Then said he to me, son of man That is, the glorious Person described above in this vision, the glorious God of Israel, seen by the prophet in the temple, he spoke to him, calling him son of man; a name by which he often goes in this prophecy.

lift up your eyes now toward the north; of the mountain of the house without the court, as Jarchi interprets it.

so I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north: being obedient to the heavenly vision.

and behold northward at the gate of the altar; at the northern gate of the inner court, where was the altar of burnt offering, brought by Ahaz; to the north of the altar he built in imitation of that at Damascus, (2 Kings 16:10–14); and here stood

this image of jealousy in the entry; or the image of this jealousy; the image before mentioned, which provoked the Lord to jealousy; this stood at the entry of the northern gate, which led into the inner court, and to the altar.