Ezekiel 1:1

The book begins with an introductory formula that is typical of narrative literature: "Now it came about" (Heb. wayhi; cf. Joshua 1:1; Judges 1:1; Ruth 1:1; 1 Samuel 1:1; Esther 1:1; Jonah 1:1). Ezekiel is essentially a narrative that contains other types of literature.

Ezekiel dated his vision of God that follows as coming to him on the fifth day of the fourth month (the equivalent of July 31) and in the thirtieth year. The thirtieth year evidently refers to the prophet’s thirtieth year, when he was 30 years old. [Note: Allen, pp. 20-21.] Other views are that this was the thirtieth year following the discovery of the Law and Josiah’s reforms, the thirtieth year since the Exile began in 605 B.C., the thirtieth year of Nabopolassar’s reign, the thirtieth year of Jehoiachin (the date of compilation of the book), or the thirtieth year after the last observed year of jubilee. [Note: See Anthony D. York, "Ezekiel I: Inaugural and Restoration Visions?" Vetus Testamentum 27 (1977):82-98.] Frequently when someone recorded personal reminiscences he gave the person’s age (cf. Genesis 8:13). Thirty was the age at which priests entered into their ministry in Israel (Numbers 4:3; Numbers 4:23; Numbers 4:30; Numbers 4:39; Numbers 4:43; 1 Chronicles 23:3), and Ezekiel was a priest (Ezekiel 1:3).

These visions came to Ezekiel while he was among the Jewish exiles who settled by the Chebar River in Babylonia. The Chebar River was a large, navigable canal that tied into the Euphrates River north and south of Babylon. It made a semicircular loop around the city.

"It was part of a complex network of canals that came into being in the Mesopotamian heartland to provide artificial irrigation from the Euphrates and, to a lesser extent, the Tigris for the grain crops and date orchards, and also, in the case of larger watercourses, transportation of these and other goods." [Note: Allen, p. 22.]

Ezekiel saw the heavens opened, and he beheld the heavenly throne room of God (cf. Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:21; John 1:32; John 1:51; Acts 7:56; Acts 10:11; Revelation 4:1; Revelation 19:11). [Note: See Allan J. McNicol, "The Heavenly Sanctuary in Judaism: A Model for Tracing the Origin of an Apocalypse," Journal of Religious Studies 13:2 (1987):66-94.]