Commentary on Ezekiel 1

The eyes of the body were fashioned to be judges of shapes and colours;

and when they are healthy they judge rightly and most justly,

but when they are in a weakened condition they miss what is fitting and gravely do violence to what is just;

for either they do not see at all, or, beholding one thing in place of another, they do not rightly discern the nature of what is seen.

But the seeing faculty of the soul supplies this very activity even to these bodily eyes;

and it has received also another power from its Maker, by which it discerns not only the qualities of shapes and colours and odours and tastes and other such things, but also passes judgement by words, and by reasonings, and distinguishes the impious among these from the pious, and knows the difference between things divine and human, and, in a word, according to the wise Solomon, understands a parable and a dark saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.

But it discerns each of these things when it is well-disposed and freed from unbelief;

yet when such a mist lies before it, it suffers the same as the eyes of the body, and sees one thing in place of another, or does not see at all, once the affliction has gained the mastery.

Falling into this disease, certain persons have undertaken to accuse the divine Scripture, and especially the prophetic oracles, as being veiled in obscurity.

To such as these the inspired Paul might fittingly say:

But even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing;

To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom, but to those it is not given; and, teaching the cause, he at once adds, that Seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not understand. For they of their own will, he says, draw upon themselves the cloud of ignorance;

for if they turn to the Lord, as the divine Apostle says, the veil is taken away.

The divine things, therefore, are not obscure to all, but only to those who are wilfully blind;

whom it were fitting to consider and to perceive that among precious things nothing lies ready to hand for men.

For the pearl the deep of the sea hides away, and likewise the bloom of the royal purple dye;

and the veins of gold and silver do not lie upon the surface of the earth, but are covered over by her bosom;

and in our houses too we keep the more precious of our possessions within, in storerooms, setting bolts and bars and seals upon the doors;

and the more weighty of our counsels we are wont to disclose to the truer of our friends, but not simply to all.

But than all these things that have been mentioned the divine things are more venerable, and better by so much as the invisible surpasses the visible, and the intelligible the sensible, and the abiding the transient.

For truly the possession of things ready to hand is easily despised;

but the things gained with toil are thrice-desired and exceedingly lovely.

In addition to these things one must add yet another to what has been said, namely, that the oracles of the divine prophets contain an accusation of the transgression of the Jews, but bring to the nations a promise of good things;

and of necessity the prophecy had to be overshadowed, lest the Jews, who are wont to be enslaved to envy and dare to plot against the good things of others, should destroy the books that signified these things.

...of the prophecy, the events themselves bear witness.

For of old these things happened to be hidden from the Jews, in order that the written memorial of the blessing concerning the nations might be preserved.

But when the prediction received its fulfilment, and the events followed upon the writings, then at last the oracles of the prophets became clear and manifest;

for those who read the prophetic books receive their interpretation from the events.

Let no one, therefore, and especially among those nurtured in piety, wax bold against the divine Spirit, laying the charge of obscurity against His words;

Uncover my eyes, and I shall consider the wondrous things out of Thy law. For he will assuredly obtain his request, since He has promised knowledge unto profit.

Come then, before the interpretation let us set forth the subject-matter summarily in a chapter.

This prophet began his prophecy in the fifth year of the captivity of Joachim, who is also Jechonias;

and this captivity was not the first, as it has seemed to some, but the third of Jerusalem, the fourth of Judah, and the sixth of all Israel.

For first Theglathphalasar took captive the greater part of the ten tribes;

and second, Salmanasar, having enslaved Samaria and the cities around it, departed;

and third, Sennacherim besieged the other cities of Judea and carried off many captives;

but having, with great impiety, undertaken to march against Jerusalem, he received the wages of his blasphemy, and, losing his army by a heaven-sent plague, he reached his native land with but a few.

After him, fourth, Nabuchodonosor, having become king in the third year of the reign of Joachim the son of Josiah, came with a great host into Judea;

and, having taken many talents of gold and silver, and many captives from the royal line, and some of the sacred vessels, he departed thence, having laid a bond upon the king.

But when a little time had passed, Joachim was unwilling to pay the tribute that had been agreed upon;

and Nabuchodonosor, in the eleventh year of that king's reign, and the eighth of his own rule, again marched against Jerusalem;

and he slew Joachim, and commanded that he be cast from the wall, and left him unburied for a very long time;

and, taking all those in office as captives, and having appointed as king over those who were left Joachim, who is also Jechonias (and this one was the son of Joachim), he set off for Babylon.

But when three months and a few days had passed, learning that this man had rebelled, he came again;

and this man he bound and led away captive together with no small multitude, and he set up as king this man's uncle, brother of the former Joachim and son of Josiah, Mathanias, who is also Sedekias, having taken oaths from him that he would both keep his goodwill toward him and render the tribute at the appointed time.

But when this man too again transgressed his oaths, and was neither willing to render the tribute nor kept his goodwill, but had fled for refuge to the Egyptians, Nabuchodonosor, having gathered a great host, came, and, taking the city with all its inhabitants, he set fire to the palace, and the divine temple, and every splendid dwelling;

and all those who had escaped the destruction of famine and the slaughter of war he led away as captives;

and all the vessels also, not only those which were made of the material of silver and gold, but also the pillars fashioned of bronze, and all the rest, he transported to Babylon.

for thus indeed does the prophecy begin:

In the third year of the reign of Joachim king of Judah, came Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and besieged it, and the Lord gave into his hand Joachim king of Judah, and part of the vessels of the house of God; and, a little further on:

And the king, it says, spoke to Asphanez, his chief eunuch, to bring in some of the sons of the captivity of the sons of Israel, and of the seed of the kingdom.

The first captivity of Jerusalem, then, took place in the third year of the reign of Joachim;

and this was the first year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor.

And this the same prophet teaches us, speaking thus:

and the third [captivity took place] in the first year of the reign of Jechonias son of Joachim, and the ninth of the rule of Nabuchodonosor.

Ezekiel, therefore, began his prophecy in the fifth year of the captivity of Joachim, who is also Jechonias;

and this was also the fifth year of the reign of Sedekias, who had been appointed king of the Jews in place of Jechonias.

In these same times, then, these men were prophesying in Babylon;

while in Judea Jeremiah, and Sophonias, and Urias the son of Samaias.

For in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah the blessed Jeremiah began his prophecy, and Sophonias too, it says, made his prophecy in the time of King Josiah.

But Urias the son of Samaias, having prophesied in the time of the former Joachim and having foretold grievous things, endured an unjust slaughter at the hands of that king's murderous cruelty.

Of those, therefore, who prophesied at the time of the captivity, the last is the divine prophet Ezekiel.

But Aggaeus, and Zacharias, and Malachias prophesied after the return;

and this prophet beholds divine revelations full of awe and dread;

and he foretells not only the utter destruction of the Jews, but also that of the Tyrians, and Sidonians, and of the other foreign peoples, both Moabites and Ammonites, and Idumeans, and, in addition to these, the Egyptians.

And he foretells also the deliverance of the Jews from the captivity, and the rebuilding of the divine temple, and countless other things, which we shall reserve for the detailed interpretation, lest we extend the introduction to too great a length.

Having therefore besought, through the prophet, the very God of the prophet to impart to us the gift of knowledge, come, let us lay hold of the interpretation.

And it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month.

To some it has seemed that the thirtieth year is that of the Jubilee;

and the Jews call the Jubilee the number of the fifty years.

For just as the Romans reckon the recurring cycle of time by fifteen years, so the Jews reckon it by fifty.

Some have said that the time of the prophecy was the thirtieth year of these fifty years.

But I, first searching for the time in the chronicles, found that it was the fifth year of the captivity of Jeconiah, contemporaneous not with the thirtieth year of the Jubilee, but with the twenty-fifth year.

Then, considering how none of the holy prophets had ever anywhere indicated this time, I searched and found that this was the thirtieth year of the captivity.

For a little further on this same prophet is commanded to lie upon his right side and to take upon himself the sins of Judah for forty days, each day being reckoned as a year.

But going back and searching out the time, I find that the captivity had come to pass not thirty years before, but thirteen years before.

Yet God, being good and loving toward mankind, is accustomed to reckon the time of chastisement from His own sentence, not from the outcome of events.

So also He did in the case of the patriarch Abraham.

For having said, 'Your seed shall be a sojourner in a land not their own, and they shall enslave it and afflict it four hundred years,' He did not allow it to spend all this time among the Egyptians, but reckons the number of the four hundred years from the sentence.

And in the case of Noah, too, having granted a fixed term of a hundred and twenty years for repentance, when He beheld the increase of lawlessness, He did not wait for the completion of the sentence, so that He might halt the course of sin.

So then here too we shall find the number of thirty years, taking the sentence of God as the beginning of the reckoning.

Now God decreed the captivity and servitude of the Jews in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.

For when Hilkiah the high priest had found the Mosaic Law buried out of sight (for so great a lawlessness prevailed in Judea that even the divine ordinances had been consigned to utter oblivion), and then when the king had read it and had considered how directly contrary to the Law were the deeds daringly committed by the people, and being on this account greatly terrified, and having entreated the high priest to render God propitious, the high priest went to Huldah the prophetess, a godly woman and a keeper of the divine laws;

And she, becoming inspired and full of the divine Spirit, said to him:

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:

Say to the man who sent you to me:

Behold, I am bringing evils upon this place and upon those who dwell in it, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read;

because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands;

and My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it shall not be quenched;

But to the king of Judah, who also sent you to seek the Lord, thus shall you say to him:

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:

Because you have heard My words, and your heart has been touched with repentance, and you have humbled yourself before My face, when you heard all that I spoke against this place and against those who dwell in it, that it should become a desolation, and you have torn your garments and wept before Me, I also have heard you, says the Lord;

is it not so? Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be brought to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the evils which I am bringing upon this place and upon those who dwell in it. These things the book of Chronicles also teaches.

Now these things were done and spoken in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah;

and he reigned thirty-one years.

So then from the eighteenth to the thirty-first year there are fourteen years;

and after him Jehoahaz reigned three months, which must be joined together with these years, because the prophecy took place in the eighth month of the eighteenth year;

then, joining the eleven years of Jehoiakim to the preceding years, we shall find twenty-five.

But the three months of Jeconiah and the few days we shall in turn substitute for the remaining months of the eighteenth year.

And having added the five years of the captivity of Jeconiah to the twenty-five, we shall find the number of thirty years;

and thus we shall be able to grasp the truth of the seventy years of the captivity as well.

the time is completed as seventy years.

But whoever wishes to reckon the seventy years of the desolation of the temple, let him begin from the eleventh year of Zedekiah;

for it was at that time that the divine temple was set on fire;

The prophet therefore says that:

In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was in the midst of the captivity by the river Chebar, and the heavens were opened, and I saw a vision of God.

this is the fifth year of the captivity of King Joachim.

And he himself taught us plainly that it is not simply the fifth year of the captivity, but of the captivity of King Joachim;

and this man, as I said, was Jeconiah, who reigned three months and a few days;

for his father Joachim was slain in Jerusalem in the eleventh year of his own reign.

And he said that the heavens were opened, not in truth and reality, but in spiritual contemplation;

'And I saw,' he says, 'a vision of God.' Not the essence of God, but a vision; a certain revelation, and as it were an impression, such as is attainable by human nature.

'And I was in the midst of the captivity.' The godly man among the ungodly, the righteous man among the lawless.

'And the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar.'

and both are gifts of the Spirit;

and he mentions both the country and the place where he was deemed worthy of the divine revelation, indicating many things by these words;

first, that the Deity is uncircumscribed, having His authority not in Jerusalem alone, nor being Lord of the Jews only, but existing as Maker and Ruler of all;

and this also declares His ineffable goodness, that even when He had delivered them over to captivity, He does not leave them uncared for, but deems them worthy of all forethought and of the befitting solicitude.

And He deems him worthy of the vision by the waters, foreshadowing the salvation of all mankind, and prefiguring the knowledge of God that shall come to the godly through the regeneration of water.

so too the well itself and the water occasioned the marriage;

and this happened also to the patriarchs before him, not to Jacob only, but also to Isaac. But let us return to the interpretation;

for the discourse does not at present have its impulse toward these matters.

'And the hand of the Lord was upon me.' Thus he called the working of the divine Spirit.

For indeed the divinely-inspired Paul, when he brought chastisement upon Elymas who resisted him, spoke thus:

'Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a season.' And it was the working of the divine Spirit, as Paul himself says, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God.

'The hand of the Lord came upon me,' he says.

'And I looked, and behold, an uplifting wind came from the north, and a great cloud was in it, and brightness round about it, and flashing fire.'

It is necessary first to state the cause of the revelation, and then in this way to bring forward the interpretation part by part.

Many false prophets at this time were speaking against the prophets;

and the blessed Jeremiah especially teaches us this.

For when God had commanded him to wear a yoke and to foretell the captivity of both the king and all the people, a certain false prophet named Hananiah, having broken these bonds, spoke against the things declared by the prophet, lying outright, and crying aloud that not only would the city not be overthrown, but that even those who had already been taken captive before would return before long.

to foretell the enslavement, and to write to those held captive in Babylon, both to build houses and to plant vineyards;

inasmuch as the sentence of the seventy years was unerring.

It was necessary therefore that Jeremiah should not only say and write these things in Judea, but that those in the captivity should also learn them through the prophets among them;

the prophet, however, sees the utter destruction that was to come upon Jerusalem.

For this is what is signified by 'an uplifting wind came from the north,' or, as Symmachus rendered it, 'sweeping like a tempest'; and the vehemence of the wind signifies the onset of the Babylonian;

and the very great cloud signifies the deluge of spears, javelins, and arrows of every kind;

and the flashing fire signifies not only the terror that was brought on, but also the destruction of the city that came about through fire;

and the brightness round about signifies the glory of God that was manifested through the punishment.

For since they had not profited from the benefits, nor were they willing from those benefits to recognize their Benefactor, they receive the knowledge of Him through the punishment;

After my captivity I repented. — 'And in the midst of it, as the appearance of amber in the midst of the fire, and radiance within it.' Up to this point, then, he has disclosed to us the whole revelation together;

but from here on he proceeds to the exposition part by part.

'And in the midst, as the likeness of four living creatures.'

A rational being is called a 'living creature'—both man and angel;

but the one is a mortal rational being, the other an immortal rational being.

But who could clearly interpret the revelation, when the prophet himself grew faint in the very telling of it? For he did not simply say that he beheld four living creatures, nor even the likeness of living creatures, but 'as the likeness of four living creatures'—so that it is plain that the divinely-inspired prophets did not behold the very natures of the invisible beings, but certain images and impressions shown by the Bountiful One for each particular need.

He therefore tells us also the forms of the living creatures that appeared to him.

'For this,' he says, 'was their appearance: there was the likeness of a man in them.'

(6.) 'And each had four faces, and each had four wings.'

'And their legs were straight, and their feet were winged, and there were sparks like flashing bronze, and their wings were light.'

'And the hand of a man was beneath their wings upon their four sides.'

The form of the beings that appeared, then, he says was upright and resembling a man;

and each was four-faced and four-winged, and he said they had hands equal in number to their wings, and that their feet too were full of feathers.

Through the number of the faces and of the wings, of the powers that bear the divine form, he intimates the ever-pervading oversight of God the King of all.

The winged quality signifies the swiftness of their nature;

while the sparks resembling most brilliant bronze signify the brightness and the purity of their understanding;

and the hands hidden beneath the wings signify their invisible and manifold activity.

'They did not turn as they went; each moved straight before its face.'

For a man traveling toward the north, then wishing to move over to the south, is of necessity turned around, since it has fallen to his lot to have but one face;

but for those whose faces equal in number the four regions of the inhabited world, there is nothing 'southward,' for on every side a face beholds all things, and it goes wherever it wishes and has no need of turning.

'And the likeness of their faces,' he says, 'was the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right for the four, and the face of an eagle for the four, and the face of an ox on the left for the four.'

But let no one suppose that the invisible powers bear the images of wild beasts and irrational animals;

for through these he hints at other things:

through the lion, kingship;

through the ox, priesthood;

for on behalf of the high priest a single ox was offered;

and through the eagle, prophecy;

for that creature flies high and is exceedingly keen of sight,

and from afar it foresees things to come.

'And their wings,' he says, 'were spread out above for the four; for each two were joined to one another, and two covered over their bodies.'

And that they do not overstep the bounds appointed for them;

but the two wings they spread out, delighting in the contemplation granted to them;

and with the two they cover their bodies, content with their ignorance of hidden things, and not contending to learn what it is not lawful to learn.

'And each went straight before its face;'

'wherever the spirit was, there they went, and they did not turn back.'

It signifies the obedience of the invisible powers in all things, and that they did not forsake the ordained way.

'Bless the Lord, all you His angels, mighty in strength, who do His word, hearkening to the voice of His words.' (verses 13, 14)

'And in the midst of the living creatures there was, as the appearance of coals of burning fire, as the look of lamps whirling together among the living creatures, and the radiance of the fire, and out of the fire went forth lightning.'

'And the living creatures ran and returned, like the appearance of the bezek.'

This Symmachus rendered as 'like the appearance of a ray of lightning.' The vision is fearful, and full of shuddering, and forewarns of a threat of punishment;

for the coals of fire, and the whirling lamps, and the lightning sent forth from thence, and the running of the living creatures hither and thither, and the flash emitted from their coursing—all these are indicative of the evils to come;

'Send forth Your arrows, and You shall throw them into confusion.' (verses 15, 16)

'And I looked, and behold, one wheel was upon the earth, close beside the four living creatures.'

'And the appearance of the wheels and their construction was like the appearance of Tharshish.'

According to Symmachus, 'like the appearance of jacinth.' — 'And there was one likeness in the four, and their appearance and their working was one.' In each of the living creatures he beheld one wheel following it, having the appearance of jacinth;

and he said he beheld no difference among them, but that the four exactly resembled one another.

'For their appearance,' he says, 'and their working was one, as it were a wheel within a wheel.'

'They went upon their four sides, and they did not turn as they went, nor did their backs.'

'And they had height, and they were fearful.'

Just as he calls the living creatures four-faced, the word thereby intimating the all-pervading oversight of God,

so also he interprets the form of the wheels: 'as it were,' he says, 'a wheel within a wheel;'

and this a man could perceive by taking two circles in his mind and threading the one through the other crosswise;

for such a figure, though set upon the same base, admits of motion toward the four quarters—I mean the eastern and the western, the northern and the southern.

This, then, the blessed prophet says: 'As it were a wheel within a wheel, they went upon their four sides, and they did not turn as they went;'

for such a figure needs no turning about;

for moving from the same base into each of the quarters, it readily sets off.

And this likewise signifies the everywhere-present presence of God, these things being contemplated in a grosser and more corporeal manner because of human weakness.

'And I saw them, and behold, their backs were full of eyes round about, for the four.' (verses 19–21)

'And when the living creatures went, the wheels went close beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.'

'Wherever the cloud was, thither the spirit pressed on to go;'

'the living creatures went, and the wheels were lifted up together with them, because the spirit of life was in the wheels.'

'When they went, these went; and when they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up from the earth, these were lifted up together with them, because the spirit of life was in the wheels.'

This the blessed Paul clearly teaches us, when he enumerates the orders of the invisible natures and ranks certain 'Thrones' together with the other powers.

'For in Him,' he says, 'were all things created;'

'all things were created through Him and unto Him.' Therefore the Thrones too are a rational and incorporeal system;

wherefore the prophet also says that the spirit of life was in the wheels, whence too the motion was spontaneous and willing;

for neither pole nor yoke was laid upon the living creatures;

but the cloud led the way, while that forceful and vehement spirit followed after.

The divine chariot ran of itself, the living creatures going before, and the wheels moving spontaneously, and being borne toward the four quarters without turning about.

'For their backs,' he says, 'were full of eyes'—that is, they were filled with knowledge;

This too the interpretation of the word 'Cherubim' makes clear;

for when rendered into the Greek tongue, the name means 'a multitude of knowledge.'

'And a likeness,' he says, 'was over the head of the living creatures, as it were a firmament, like the appearance of terrible crystal, stretched out over their heads above.'

'And under the firmament their wings were stretched out, fluttering the one toward the other;'

'each had two covering their bodies.'

'And I heard the sound of their wings as they fluttered, like the sound of many waters, like the voice of God Shaddai;'

'and when they went, the sound of speech, like the sound of a camp; and when they stood still, their wings were let down.'

'And behold, there was a voice from above the firmament that was over their heads;'

'when they stood still, their wings were let down.'

Everywhere the divine prophet sets down the word 'likeness,' teaching us that he beheld a kind of shadowy sketch of divine things, and not the very nature of things invisible;

for having said above that he saw the heavens opened, now above the living creatures he beholds as it were a likeness of a firmament, and the living creatures lying beneath, moving their wings—not without reason, but in response to the voice borne from above;

for obeying that voice, they both moved them, and again kept them motionless.

And at the last, being at a loss, he introduced a comparison: 'like the voice of God Shaddai,' which Aquila and Symmachus rendered 'of the Almighty.'

For 'why,' he says, 'should I toil seeking images worthy of the reality, and nowhere find them? It suffices to point to the One who acts, and through Him to intimate the greatness of the sound;'

for being all-sufficient and almighty, He does all things easily, as He wills.

'And above,' he says, 'the firmament that was over their heads, there was as the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne upon it.'

And this form too hints at the profundity and invisibility of the divine nature.

'For a cloud,' he says, 'and thick darkness are round about Him.' And again the same prophet: 'He made darkness His hiding place.' Now the darkness, the cloud, and the thick gloom are indicative of the divine invisibility;

for that unmingled and unapproachable light is to us darkness, since we cannot gaze upon it because of the weakness of our nature.

For if one who wishes to look closely at the sun's disc fixes his eye upon it more than he ought, he loses even his ordinary sight and reaps darkness from light; what would a man not suffer who dared to look upon the divine and unapproachable light? 'And upon the likeness,' he says, 'of the throne, there was a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it above.'

(vv. 27, 28) 'And I saw as it were the appearance of amber, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of the loins and upward;'

'and I saw, from the appearance of the loins and downward;'

'I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and its brightness round about.'

'As on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about.'

Everywhere he adds both 'likeness' and 'as,' teaching us not to stop at this point, but to know that each of the visions is fitted to the need at hand.

For the promise made to Isaac also embraces the birth according to the flesh of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ;

wherefore also the blessing of the nations was joined to the promise given to Isaac.

'For in thy seed,' He says, 'shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.' But when He foretold to him the bondage of his race, He did not appear so kindly, but showed also a smoking furnace and torches of fire passing between the divided pieces.

So too, wishing to console Jacob who feared Esau, He appeared as a man.

But to Moses at first He showed things full of dread—the fire in the bush, and the bush burning yet not consumed;

and after these things He conversed with him gently, showing nothing of the things able to produce terror.

And wishing to strike fear into Israel and to make known His own power, He shows the whole mountain smoking, and thunders crashing, and trumpets sounding, and thick darkness, and simply so terrified them that they brought a supplication to the prophet, that God should not speak with them, but that he himself should convey the divine words.

This same difference of visions He also showed to the great Elijah;

first an earthquake, then fire, then a wind rending the mountains and shattering the rocks, and after these a sound of a gentle breeze, and in it the Lord;

for He Himself delights in goodness, and with longsuffering and gentleness wills to dispense the affairs of men;

but great impiety and lawlessness prepares Him to use those other means as well.

For those means proceed not from His own disposition, but from the need of men;

whereas goodness and love toward mankind are proper to His own nature.

When, therefore, you hear of various visions of God, do not suppose the Divine to be of many forms;

for He is altogether incorporeal and formless, simple and uncompounded, without shape, invisible and unseen, and circumscribed by no boundary;

yet He displays the appearances, shaping them to the need at hand;

and here too, accordingly, He showed those fearful things;

but He also showed the benefaction to come for all men—I mean the incarnate dispensation of our God and Saviour.

the one appearance of amber, the other of fire; the one bearing, the other borne;

for the divine nature clothed itself with the human;

wherefore he says he beheld the upper part as the appearance of amber;

but the part from the loins and downward as the appearance of fire;

the fire hinting at the divine nature ('For the Lord your God,' He says, 'is a consuming fire');

and the amber the human.

For such is amber, having as it were a mixed appearance, and resembling neither gold nor silver, but being like a blend of both.

And such too is the human body;

for it is not earth alone, nor water by itself, nor fire, nor air, but is compounded of the four elements;

or rather, such is the nature of man: neither a rational soul only, nor a mortal body only, but both together according to him.

For indeed the humanity of God the Word became radiant and bright and glorious, immortal and incorruptible, through the nature that dwelt within it;

'And I saw as the appearance of amber, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of the loins and downward, as the appearance of fire.' For the divine nature bore the human.

'And its brightness round about.'

'As the appearance of the bow, when it is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about.' And these things too are significant of the divine gifts;

for they benefit the human race, signifying and bringing the rain that comes from thence.

Having thus narrated all these things, the prophet added:

'This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.'

And he did not say, 'This is the nature of the Lord,' nor 'the glory of the Lord,' but 'the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.' For 'as He willed,' he says, 'having fashioned the appearance, He deemed me worthy of the vision.'

'And I saw, and I fall upon my face.' And very fittingly;

'for I heard,' he says, 'one speaking to me, and He said to me:'

'Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak to thee.' And He addresses him as 'son of man,' all but saying: 'Do not forget thy nature, having been deemed worthy of a vision above thy nature, but know thyself;'

'neither remain in immoderate dread, since I pledge thee to take courage, but stand and hear the things spoken by me, not being overturned, but by thy standing signifying steadfastness.'

'For there came upon me,' he says, 'a spirit, and it took me up, and lifted me up, and set me upon my feet, and I heard Him speaking to me.'

For a certain divine energy, laying hold of me, drew me together, dissolved as I was by fear, and prepared me to stand and to hear the words that were being uttered.

'Son of man, I am sending thee to the house of Israel, those who provoke me, who have provoked me—they themselves and their fathers—and have transgressed against me even to this present day.'

Who could measure in words the divine love toward mankind? What mind could reach the ocean of His goodness? After their countless impieties and lawless deeds, He does not renounce their salvation, but while indeed accusing both them and their fathers as having transgressed and broken the covenants that had been established, and as having persisted in their wickedness even to this day;

yet He calls them back, and summons to health those who are incurably sick, and this even though He knows their obstinacy and unwillingness to hear;

'And they are children stiff of face and hard of heart, to whom I send you, even to them.'

That is to say, they are shameless, not knowing how to blush, unwilling to be softened;

neither persuaded by words of counsel, nor changed by the compulsion of punishments.

'Thus saith Adonai the Lord.' Now the word Adonai itself also signifies 'Lord';

yet it carries in addition another slight nuance:

'Thus saith the Lord,' he means, 'my Lord.'

'If then they will hear, or be dismayed—for it is a provoking house—yet shall they know that thou art a prophet in the midst of them.'

The phrase 'if then' is not indicative of ignorance.

For He who knows all things before they come to pass is ignorant of nothing that is to be;

'Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and the first.' Knowing therefore precisely their obduracy, He sets down the 'if then,' teaching through these words the free self-determination of the will, that it is possible for them to be changed if they should so will;

of the same kind is that which is spoken in the Gospel in the person of the Father:

'I will send my son to the husbandmen; perhaps they will reverence him.' For neither there does the 'perhaps' imply doubt;

for He knew that they would not reverence him;

yet He does what befits His own righteousness.

For lest anyone should suppose His foreknowledge to be the cause of the outcome of events, He necessarily sets down the words of uncertainty, showing the self-determining power of the will, and reserving for Himself a defense in the day of judgment.

Being disobedient and unheeding, He sets every device in motion for their turning away from wickedness.

'What more shall I do to this my vineyard that I have not done?' And again through Hosea:

'What shall I do unto thee, O Ephraim? what shall I do unto thee, O Judah?' Yet nevertheless, though He knows them to be incurably sick, He offers the remedies, that in the day of judgment the disobedient may without contradiction receive the sentence pronounced against them, the divine benefactions being brought forward into the midst.

'That thou mightest be justified in thy words, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.' For our transgression, being examined side by side with the divine benefactions, justly subjects us to punishments;

and the righteous Judge Himself receives the victorious verdict even from the very persons being punished, since He has displayed every kind of loving-kindness, and has left no avenue of beneficence unmoved.

The phrase, then, 'If then they will hear or be dismayed,' does not signify ignorance on God's part, but gives them room for repentance;

since God, knowing also the disobedience of Pharaoh—for He says, 'I know that Pharaoh will not let you go, except by a mighty hand and by a high arm'—continued nonetheless in longsuffering.

'Do thou therefore also, O prophet,' He says, 'convey me and what is from me to those of thy own kind, that thou mayest become to them a procurer of benefit, and that they may learn that thou art a prophet in the midst of them, a minister of the divine words.'

'And thou, son of man, fear them not, neither be dismayed at their countenance; for they will be maddened, and will rise up against thee round about, and thou dwellest in the midst of scorpions;

be not afraid of their words, neither be dismayed at their countenance, for it is a provoking house.'

The wickedness of those who attempt to plot against one is a sufficient ground for contempt;

for they are transgressors, and destitute of the divine help;

there is no need, then, He says, to dread such as these, though they dart like scorpions, though they bring forward insolent words, though they rush on with much frenzy and madness;

for this He intimated by the phrase 'they will be maddened,' drawing a metaphor from oxen, which the gadfly drives as they graze, and often forces to be carried headlong down precipices;

for it is a kind of fly, sharper than any goad, that drives the oxen.

Thus, then, He designated their madness figuratively.

'And thou, son of man, thou shalt speak my words unto them, if then they will hear or be dismayed, for it is a provoking house.'

Again He has added the uncertainty, contriving their repentance;

for it is likely, He says, that they will be dismayed by the threat of punishment, and will fear the fulfillment of the threat, since they are unwilling to yield to the kinder words.

'And thou, son of man, hear him that speaketh unto thee, and be not thou a rebel, like the rebellious house;

open thy mouth, and eat that which I give thee.'

'Do not gainsay,' He says, 'the things commanded thee by me;

neither emulate those who contradict, but fulfil the things enjoined.'

'And I looked, and behold, a hand stretched out toward me, and in it a roll of a book.'

'And He unrolled it before me, and in it there was written that which was behind and that which was before, and there was written therein lamentation, and song, and woe.'

'Son of man, eat this roll, and go and speak unto the children of Israel.'

With reason He said above, 'If then they will hear or be dismayed'; for the things brought to the prophet are full of horror—lamentation, and song, and woe—written over the whole roll, within and without.

By 'roll' he calls the rolled-up books.

For thus the ancients preserved the record of their writings.

'And He opened my mouth, and fed me with this roll.'

'And He said unto me, Son of man, thy mouth shall eat, and thy belly shall be filled with this roll that is given unto thee;

and I ate it, and it became in my mouth as honey for sweetness,'

'sweeter than honey to my mouth.' Sweet indeed, and exceedingly pleasant, is the lamentation over sins;

for 'Dejection took hold of me,' he says, 'because of the sinners who forsake thy law'; and, 'I beheld the foolish, and I pined away, because they kept not thy oracles.' And his son also exhorts, saying:

'It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of laughter.' Thus it came to pass that to the prophet the eating of the roll was like honey, though it had in it nothing delightful or pleasing, but lamentation, and song, and woe.

Let no one suppose the eating of the roll to have been sensible and bodily.

For just as he beheld that vision spiritually, so also he partakes of this tasting spiritually.

'Son of man, go, enter into the house of Israel, and speak my words unto them.'

'Not unto many peoples of strange speech or of strange tongue, nor to those of a difficult language, whose words thou shouldest not understand.'

Here He plainly shows the difference between the apostolic and the prophetic labors.

For the latter were entrusted with the care of one nation, springing from among them, and having the same language;

but the former were put in charge of the whole inhabited world, and of all the nations, according to the word of the Lord:

'Go ye,' He says, 'make disciples of all the nations'—which had countless and diverse tongues, manifold customs, and contrary laws;

yet nevertheless those who were entrusted with the many nations, and the diverse tongues, and the manifold manners, and the multifarious laws, transformed the inhabited world for the better;

but those who were entrusted with that stubborn people endured indeed much labor, yet reaped fruits not worthy of their labors;

and the cause was not the sloth of the husbandmen, but the perversity of those being cultivated.

'Even if I had sent thee to such as these, they would have hearkened unto thee.'

(7.) 'But the house of Israel will not be willing to hearken unto thee, for they are not willing to hearken unto me;

for all the house of Israel are contentious and hard-hearted.'

He also interpreted the phrase 'If then they will hear,' clearly teaching that He is not ignorant, but knows precisely their disobedience;

and He signifies at the same time that this disobedience is from choice, not from nature;

for 'the house of Israel,' He says, 'will not be willing to hearken unto thee, for they are not willing to hearken unto me'—as if to say, 'Grieve not at being disobeyed;

for in contradicting me they resist the words brought forward by thee;

and the cause of the contradiction is the contentious disposition, and the obstinacy of the heart, and the insolence of the mind;

but fear not, being sent to such as these.'

For behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and I will strengthen your strife against their strife.

And it shall be continually: harder than rock have I made your face; fear them not, neither be dismayed at their face, for it is a provoking house.

Knowing, He says, the wickedness of their disposition, banish all fear from your mind;

for I will give you strength proportioned to their gainsaying, and I will supply power commensurate with the toil, and I will make your brow harder than every rock, so that neither when reviled, nor when struck, nor when enduring any other of the terrible things, you may flee from the ministry of the word and abandon your care for these people.