[p. 255; Syriac p. 298]

EZEKIEL

4.28: What is this, spoken by God: "I have given you two iniquities for the number of the days, 390 days, and you will bear the iniquity of the house of Judah for 40 days; I have given you (one) day for (one) year" [Ez. 4.5-6]?

⌜Some have said that this number signifies not the duration of time of the iniquity of the Israelites, but the time of its retribution, which (goes) from the captivity up until the return, beginning from the 9th year of Hoshea son of Elah and ending in the first year of Cyrus, the number being doubled, counting 150 twice, but the 40 years of Judah not being doubled. The exactitude of the number is understood by its doubling; for its simplicity, that is, its wording, [Syriac p. 299] they invent a meaning that is completely foreign to the words of the prophet. Because (they say) time is harsh and long for those who are cast into afflictions, and for them one day lasts two days—for this reason, he extends the number, as Daniel also says, "Until the evening (is) the morning" [Dan. 8.14], and about Jacob it is said, "In his eyes, the years of his labor for Rachel were like a few days" [Gen. 29.20].

But there are those who say that neither in its simplicity nor in its doubling does this number apply to the time of their captivity, because of the fact that it does not extend to the time of Cyrus, nor even as far as Darius, who (was) in the days of Haggai, nor to (that) of Artaxerxes, who (was) in the days of Onias. Moreover, it is not to Judah either, even if it was again measured by the time of their captivity, that God spoke and ordained, from the fact that he said, "Bear the iniquity"—not the punishment for the iniquity.

It is necessary, therefore, to say what the time of the number is, and what the word "bear" signifies. The people was one, and it was divided, but these 10 tribes departed from God and the kings descended from David. In fact, the time of the number from Solomon down to the destruction of Jerusalem is 390, common to both kingdoms, because the people was one. But for the 40 years of the iniquity of Judah, after the exile of Ephraim and its deliverance from the Assyrians, it [i.e., Judah] remained in impiety. They in fact deserved to be in exile since Jeroboam son of Nebat, but God endured them for 350 [Syriac p. 300] years, and Judah, 40, which comes without controversy to 390 years: from the death of Solomon down to the 11th year of Zedekiah, in which Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians. So it is this that he [p. 256] says to the prophet: "If it is difficult for you to bear this all the time, how much more [is it for] me, who have endured and borne their impiety since Jeroboam and [until now]!" For over these 390 days, only once did he receive the command to turn from one side to the other. [Cf. Ishodad 5.53.23-54.25 / 61.11-63.5.] The 40 years of Judah's number are included in this number.

4.29: What is the reason for the chariot that Ezekiel saw?

Although all the revelations that God showed the prophets are marvellous, that of Ezekiel is especially so. ⌜For as the children of Israel thought that God's nature was restricted to the promised land, he teaches everyone beautifully through this vision not only about the fact that his being and lordship are not limited [cf. Ishodad 5.54.15-23 / 51.14-22], but also about the punishment that those who remained in Jerusalem would have to undergo after the deportation of Jeconiah. So we will deal with the revelation itself and we will include the text here for clarity, and then we will add its meaning.

[1.4] ⌜"The storm that comes from the north" indicates the Babylonians who were going to come up to Jerusalem [Syriac p. 301] and make it captive with a complete captivity, in the time of Zedekiah [cf. Ishodad 5.45.7-8 / 51.6-7]; it also suggests the Medes who were going to destroy Babylon.

[1.4] ⌜By "the shining and burning fire around him," he is speaking of the punishment. [Cf. Ishodad 5.45.8-9 / 51.7-8.]

[Citation in full of Ez. 1.5-14]

Such was the revelation; as for us, let us come back to explain it. [p. 257]

[1.5] ⌜"Four animals": indicate the four regions, or the four seasons of the year, or the four elements. There are those who have said that (they are) also the four kings—of the Babylonians, the Medes, the Persians, and the Greeks. [Cf. Ishodad 5.46.1-4 / 52.6-10.]

[1.8] By "lion," (he refers to) all (wild) animals; ⌜by "bull," all livestock; [Syriac p. 302] by "eagle," all birds; by "human being," not only all rational (beings), but especially this one, that it is the link between all creatures. [Cf. Ishodad 5.46.10-13 / 52.15-18.]

[1.5] ⌜The "human form" was not completely [human], but only in terms of the upright position of their bodies [cf. Ishodad 5.47.15-16], because they did not walk on four (legs).

[1.10] ⌜Each one of them had "four faces: human, bull, lion, and eagle." This [means] one of three things: either the human faces were on the head, while the other three were set in place over the whole body, one after the other; or they were set in place next to the roots of the wings; [or all] four were held on the head, two on the one temple and two on the other—on the right side the human and lion faces, and on the left side the bull and eagle faces. [Cf. Ishodad 5.47.17-25 / 53.27-54.9.]

[1.7] ⌜Their "hooves" were similar to those of bulls, on account of their solidity. [Cf. Ishodad 5.47.27 / 54.12-13.]

[1.12] ⌜That "they did not turn back when they went," he says by consequence: for, having faces on all sides, they did not need to turn back, considering that it was easy for them to go wherever they wished. [Cf. Ishodad 5.47.29-48.2 / 54.14-17.]

[1.11] ⌜The "two wings of each one of them, stretched out above them" held the place of eight columns for the roof, which, like a [sea], was placed above them; [on] that which he [calls] a "platform" had been placed a sapphire stone, and above this, the throne on which the glorious form was [sitting] in majesty. The "two lower wings" of necessity [Syriac p. 303] served not only to cover their bodies, but also for flying and for moving from one place to another. [Cf. Ishodad 5.48.11-19 / 54.26-55.3.]

[1.13] ⌜The vision of "coals and lamps" demonstrates their glorious and formidable character; the lightning flash, the agility and quickness of their travel. [Cf. Ishodad 5.48.20-22 / 55.4-6.]

[1.15] One marvellous things was that ⌜in the midst of the animals there were "four wheels"; but he does not say that they were attached to the animals. It [p. 258] seems that a wheel was positioned between one animal and its neighbor, such that each of the animals was positioned between two wheels [cf. Ishodad 5.48.27-49.2 / 55.11-14], while demonstrating through the wheels the agility of the rotation, ⌜even though this is a facet of the revelation in keeping with the [number of the] four animals; for he says that in the wheels there was also an animal [spirit], such that they also turned in all directions like animals. [Phrase with variants: not in Ishodad.]

[1.16] ⌜"A wheel in a wheel": such that it was easy for them to turn. [Cf. Ishodad 5.49.6-7 / 55.17-19.]

[1.16] ⌜"Tarshish": a color that shines and resembles fire. [Cf. Ishodad 5.49.4-6 / 55.15-16.]

[1.17] ⌜"Their head," about which he says that it "went": (this indicates) either the human form, as being more noble, or else the driver of the chariot. [Cf. Ishodad 5.49.8-13 / 55.20-56.2.]

[1.8] ⌜The form of the "hand that was under the four wings," in accord with the four wings, demonstrates the providence ["économie" Hespel-Draguet] of God. [Cf. Ishodad 5.48.8-10 / 54.23-24.]

[1.18] ⌜He says that "their back" had "loftiness" and that "they saw much"—either because their back in effect went beyond the equal surface of body, or else because there was a form of eyes over all [Syriac p. 304] their body, to teach that nothing is hidden from the knowledge of their driver. [Cf. Ishodad 5.49.14-16 / 56.3-7.]

[1.26] ⌜"The form of a human being who was sitting on the throne": firstly, to demonstrate that (by means of similar things) his [/ its?] revelation had been made to the ancients; and secondly, he was thereby sketching out beforehand the mystery which would be taken as first-fruits by us and would be [seated] in majesty on the throne of divinity. [Cf. Ishodad 5.50.13-15 / 57.6-11.] Some explain it in reference to the duality of Christ's natures: from the back and upwards, divinity, and from the back and downwards, humanity, the link of the back being unity. But this is not credible [cf. Ishodad 5.51.1-3 / 58.1-4], because it was not separated.

[1.27] "From his back and downwards," he says that "he was similar to fire"; and "from his back and upwards, the brightness of fire surrounded him.": ⌜the Greek says, "form of electrum"—the meaning of which is "gold-silver," something mixed and without precise form. [Cf. Ishodad 5.50.26-29 / 57.22-25.]

[1.28] ⌜"Like the appearance of a rainbow": this signifies the diversity of his beauty. [Cf. Ishodad 5.51.9-12 / 58.10-14.] [p. 259]

⌜Others say that the whole of the chariot was bearing the mystery of the (things) of Christ: the four animals (are) the four evangelists; the charioteer, Christ; the wings, the speed of the message; the lion, the Apostles' courage; the eagle, the capture of the nations and the destruction of the demons; the bull, the submission of the world under the yoke of their teaching; the wheels one inside the other, the two Testaments; the wheels' going along with the animals, the fact that along with the Apostles there went out the preaching [Syriac p. 305] and a "new and ancient" [Mt. 13.52] teaching among the nations; the "living spirit" in the wheels, the fact that there is only one Spirit, their giver; the eyes with which its / his body was full, the perfection of knowledge; the hand under the wings, the [divine] activity that held the Apostles; the fact that the revelation appeared in the land of the nations [i.e., Gentiles], the proof of the abolition of the (things) of the Law. [Cf. Ishodad 5.46.22-47.8 / 53.1-18.]

…

[p. 260]

[Syriac p. 307]

4.31: At what time do we think the blessed Ezekiel prophesied?

There have been different opinions on what was set down at the beginning of the book, (namely) that it was in the "30th year, the fifth of the fourth month." ⌜Some say that these years are (counted) on the basis of the "great week" [i.e., the Jubilee]; others have said that it is from the beginning of the captivity; and others counted them on the basis of the number of years of the prophet's life.

But he is speaking of the 30th year since the 18th year of Josiah, in which the book of (Deutero)nomy was found in the temple at the feast of Tabernacles. [Cf. Ishodad 5.44.6-12 / 49.15-23.] ⌜This number is arrived at as follows: 13 of Josiah, who in fact reigned for 31 years; 11 of Jehoiakim; one year between Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin, and five of the captivity: In all, 30 years. [Cf. Ishodad 5.44.26-30 / 50.15-19.]