Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 1:2
In the fifth [day] of the month, which [was] the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,
2. fifth year jehoiachin ] Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim and grandson of Josiah, reigned only three months and ten days. He is also styled Jeconiah or Coniah, Jer 22:24 seq., Eze 24:1, Eze 27:20 ; 2Ki 24:8. His captivity dates b.c. 597, and Ezekiel’s call 592, six years before the fall of Jerusalem.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The Jewish date. This verse and Eze 1:3, which seem rather to interrupt the course of the narrative, may have been added by the prophet when he revised and put together the whole book. The word captivity (as in Eze 1:1) refers to the transportation of the king and others from their native to foreign soil. This policy of settling a conquered people in lands distant from their home, begun by the Assyrians, was continued by the Persians and by Alexander the Great. The Jews were specially selected for such settlements, and this was no doubt a Providential preparation for the Gospel, the dispersed Jews carrying with them the knowledge of the true God and the sacred Scriptures, and thus paving the way for the messengers of the kingdom of Christ.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. Jehoiachin’s captivity] Called also Jeconiah and Coniah; see 2Kg 24:12. He was carried away by Nebuchadnezzar; see 2Kg 24:14.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In the fifth day; the Hebrew hath only fifth, according to its concise style; we do well to supply day, as in Eze 1:1.
Of the month Tamuz, as Eze 1:1, answering to our June and July.
Which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachins captivity: this account observed will guide us in computing the times this prophet referred to, Eze 1:1, these five of Jehoiachin, and the eleven of his predecessor, added to fourteen of Josiahs reign after he found the law, make up thirty years, Eze 1:1, which likely might be the jubilee, the most fit for so solemn a passover as Josiah kept.
Jehoiachin, who is also called Jeconiah, and Coniah, whose father Jehoiakim was slain by the Chaldeans, and he, after three months short reign, voluntarily yielded up himself to the Chaldees; of which rendition of himself and his we read 2Ki 24:12, &c. Though this man yielded up himself, yet the Babylonians made him prisoner, and carried him and his into captivity; and so the Hebrew, avers; though some distinguish this from captivity by calling it a transmigration, the Hebrew calls it
captivity.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. Jehoiachin’s captivityInthe third or fourth year of Jehoiakim, father of Jehoiachin, thefirst carrying away of Jewish captives to Babylon took place,and among them was Daniel. The second was under Jehoiachin,when Ezekiel was carried away. The third and final one was atthe taking of Jerusalem under Zedekiah.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
In the fifth [day] of the month,…. The month Tammuz, as before:
(which [was] the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity); the same with Jeconiah and Coniah, as he is sometimes called; he was taken by the king of Babylon, when he had reigned but three months, and his captivity held seven and thirty years, 2Ki 24:8.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
‘In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, the word of Yahweh came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar, and the hand of Yahweh was on him there.’
The captivity of Jehoiachin can be precisely dated on the basis of the Babylonian Chronicle tablets to March 597 BC, thus this would be in 592 BC.
The change to the third person does not necessarily indicate different authorship. Having commenced on a personal note, Ezekiel may well now be incorporating an official introduction in the third person to authenticate the book and reveal its authorship. This is especially so as the dating here does not stand by itself but requires Eze 1:1 to tell us that it was the fourth month. (It is quite possible, however, that he may have used a scribe).
The introduction affirms the work to be that of Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi (see also Eze 24:24). But what was more significant was that ‘the word of Yahweh’ came to him ‘in the land of the Chaldeans’ (that is Babylonia). God was not limited by boundaries or location. Note here that central to the visions was the coming of ‘the word of Yahweh’. God had given the visions so as to speak and act among His people.
‘And the hand of Yahweh was on him there.’ Nor was there a limit on His actions. For Ezekiel was not only aware of the word of Yahweh, but he experienced the hand of Yahweh. Indeed wherever His word comes His hand acts, to protect, to strengthen, to guide and to restore. Compare Elijah in 1Ki 18:46 and Isaiah in Isa 8:11. See also Isa 25:10; Isa 41:10; Isa 41:20). But in Ezekiel the working of ‘the hand of Yahweh’ is seen in vivid ways (Eze 3:14; Eze 3:22; Eze 8:1; Eze 33:22; Eze 37:1; Eze 40:1).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 1:2 In the fifth [day] of the month, which [was] the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,
Ver. 2. In the fifth day. ] The Sabbath day, likely, that queen of days, as the Jews call it. See on Eze 1:1 .
Which was the fifth year of Jehoiakim’s captivity.] With whom Ezekiel and other precious persons, called by Jeremiah good figs, were carried captive. Eze 40:1
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
fifth year. B.C. 484. Compare 2Ki 24:12, 2Ki 24:15,
Jehoiachin. Called also Jeconiah, and Coniah. Compare 2Ki 24:17-20; 2Ki 25:1-21.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eze 8:1, Eze 20:1, Eze 29:1, Eze 29:17, Eze 31:1, Eze 40:1, 2Ki 24:12-15
Reciprocal: 2Ki 24:14 – Jerusalem 2Ch 36:10 – when the year was expired Isa 48:15 – General Eze 17:12 – Behold Eze 24:1 – the ninth year Eze 26:1 – General Eze 30:20 – General Eze 32:1 – in the twelfth Eze 32:17 – in the twelfth Eze 33:21 – in the twelfth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 1:2. Jehoiachins captivity. The Babylonian captivity was accomplished in three stages and the account is in 2 Kings 24, 25. After the third year of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar took posses-sion of Jerusalem which marked the start of the 70-year epoch. Yet the king of Judah was permitted to occupy his throne as a vassal under the authority of the king of Babylon, After eight years of such a reign Jehoiakim died and his son Jehoia- chin came to the throne. But he reigned only three months, and then the king of Babylon took him off the throne and carried him to the land of Babylon. At that ttme the greatest portion of the citizens of Judah were taken and among them was the prophet Ezekiel. Eleven years later the third and final stage of the captivity occurred. These three stages of the captivity are frequently referred to as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd captivities. Since Ezekiel was taken with the 2nd one, or at the time when Jeboiachin was taken, he dates his writing from that event. In other words, Ezekiel had been in Babylon five years when lie began writing.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 1:2-3. In the fifth year of King Jehoiachins captivity This was of course the fifth year of Zedekiah, who succeeded Jehoiachin. And as the city and temple were destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, (2Ki 25:2,) it follows that this vision appeared to Ezekiel six years before that event. The Hebrew writers, it must be observed, use several computations of the beginning of the Babylonish captivity: see the note on Jer 25:11. That under Jehoiachin, wherein Ezekiel was made a captive, is the computation he always follows in the succeeding parts of his prophecy. The word of the Lord This expression signifies any sort of revelation, whether by a vision, such as is related in the following verses, or by a voice, as Eze 2:3; came expressly Hebrew, , being was, or, in coming came, that is, came assuredly; unto Ezekiel It came with such clearness and conviction that he could neither doubt of its divine authority, mistake its import, nor question his being appointed to the prophetical office; the priest Being of the family of Aaron, he was a priest by birth, and was now made a prophet by an extraordinary call. In the land of the Chaldeans In the worst places God can raise up instruments for the service of his church. And the hand of the Lord was there upon him He felt sensible impressions of a divine power closing his senses to external objects, opening his eyes to see the visions, opening his ears to hear the voice, and his heart to receive both. When the hand of the Lord goes along with his word, then it becomes effectual.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Perhaps a later inspired scribe added the information in these verses to clarify exactly who Ezekiel was and when he saw this vision. King Jehoiachin’s fifth year of exile was 593 B.C. Both Ezekiel and Jehoiachin went into captivity at the same time, in the second deportation of Judean prisoners in 597 B.C. This is the reference year from which all the prophecies in Ezekiel date.
Ezekiel was a priest as well as a prophet. His father was Buzi, evidently of Zadok’s branch of Aaron’s family (cf. 1Ki 1:32-35). As a priest, Ezekiel was familiar with the Mosaic Covenant and the priestly functions and paraphernalia of the temple, which becomes clear in this book. The Chaldeans were the rulers of the Babylonian Empire at the time of Israel’s captivity.
The hand of the Lord that came upon Ezekiel is an anthropomorphism expressing the direct control and divine empowerment that Yahweh exercised over Ezekiel ("God strengthens") as He gave him these visions (Eze 3:14; cf. Isa 25:10; Isa 41:10; Isa 41:20).
"The ’hand of the Lord’ is always a metaphor for His power." [Note: Merrill, p. 368.]
"The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel" and "The hand of the Lord was upon him" are phrases that typically introduce revelations from God in this book (Eze 3:22; Eze 8:1; Eze 33:22; Eze 37:1; Eze 40:1; cf. 2Ki 3:15). The hand reference especially distinguishes Ezekiel as being under the controlling influence of God’s Spirit, compared to other prophets. [Note: See Daniel I. Block, "The Prophet of the Spirit: The Use of rwh in Ezekiel," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 32 (1989):33.] Perhaps this was important in this book since Ezekiel’s visions and actions have called his sanity into question. Several psychoanalytical studies have been done on Ezekiel. [Note: See idem, The Book . . ., pp. 10-12.]
"These three elements-vision [Eze 1:1], word [Eze 1:3}, and power (or hand) [Eze 1:3]-appear pervasively in Ezekiel’s descriptions of his call and of Yahweh’s self-revelation. The vision is the abstract message itself, the word is its interpretation, and the power is the means by which the message is effectually communicated. For the hand of the Lord to come on the prophet is to assure him of the Lord’s affirmation and enablement." [Note: Merrill, p. 367.]
The "visions of God" referred to in Eze 1:1 receive fuller exposition in Eze 1:4 to Eze 2:7. Likewise the "word of the LORD" in Eze 1:3 gets more attention in Eze 2:8 to Eze 3:11 as does the "hand of the LORD," also in Eze 1:3, in Eze 3:12-27. [Note: Charles H. Dyer, in The Old Testament Explorer, p. 660.]