English Standard Version
Ezekiel 1:18
18And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around.
Ezekiel 1:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.
- New International Version (NIV)Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
- New King James Version (NKJV)As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims were full of eyes, all around the four of them.
- New Living Translation (NLT)The rims of the four wheels were tall and frightening, and they were covered with eyes all around.
Context of Ezekiel 1:18
16As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. 17When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. 19And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. 20Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
Read all of Ezekiel 1Ezekiel 1:18 word by word
וְגַ֨בֵּיהֶ֔ן וְגֹ֥בַהּ לָהֶ֖ם וְיִרְאָ֣ה לָהֶ֑ם וְגַבֹּתָ֗ם מְלֵאֹ֥ת עֵינַ֛יִם סָבִ֖יב לְאַרְבַּעְתָּֽן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ezekiel 1:18
- Job 37:22Out of the north comes golden splendor; God is clothed with awesome majesty.
- Psalms 77:16When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled.
- Psalms 97:2Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
- Isaiah 55:9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
- Ezekiel 10:12And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had.
- Proverbs 15:3The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
- Zechariah 4:10For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. "These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth."
- Revelation 4:6and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:
Commentaries on Ezekiel 1:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18As for their rings - The strakes which form the rim or periphery. They were dreadful - They were exceedingly great in their diameter, so that it was tremendous to look from the part that touched the ground to that which was opposite above. Were full of eyes - Does not this refer to the appearance of nails keeping on the spokes, or strakes or bands upon the rim?Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18Rings - The felloes (circumference) of the wheels: they were both high and terrible. The “eyes” may have been no more than dazzling spots adding to their brilliancy. But it seems more likely that they had a symbolic meaning expressing either the universal fulfillment of God‘s will through His creation (2 Chronicles 16:9; compare Ezekiel 10:12), or the constant and unceasing praise which His works are ever rendering to Him Revelation 4:8. The power of…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-25Verses 15-25 Providence, represented by the wheels, produces changes. Sometimes one spoke of the wheel is uppermost, sometimes another; but the motion of the wheel on its own axletree is regular and steady. We need not despond in adversity; the wheels are turning round and will raise us in due time, while those who presume in prosperity know not how soon they may be cast down. The wheel is near the living creatures; the angels are employed as ministers of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18The wheels were tall and frightening. They were covered with eyes (see Ezekiel 10:12). Because of this, no one could hide from the chariot. Just as no one could escape from it, no one could escape its sight.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. rings--that is, felloes or circumferences of the wheels. eyes--The multiplicity of eyes here in the wheels, and Eze 10:12, in the cherubim themselves, symbolizes the plenitude of intelligent life, the eye being the window through which "the spirit of the living creatures" in the wheels (Eze 1:20) looks forth (compare Zec 4:10). As the wheels signify the providence of God, so the eyes imply that He sees all the circumstances of each case, and does…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 1:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezekiel 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
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