New English Translation
Ezekiel 1:18
18Their rims were high and awesome, and the rims of all four wheels 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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four 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.
Context of Ezekiel 1:18
16The appearance of the wheels and their construction was like gleaming jasper, and all four wheels looked alike. Their structure was like a wheel within a wheel. 17When they moved they would go in any of the four directions they faced without turning as they moved. Their rims were high and awesome, and the rims of all four wheels were full of eyes all around. 19When the living beings moved, the wheels beside them moved; when the living beings rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up too. 20Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel.
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 37:22From the north he comes in golden splendor; around God is awesome majesty.
- Psalms 77:16The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and trembled. Yes, the depths of the sea shook with fear.
- Psalms 97:2Dark clouds surround him; equity and justice are the foundation of his throne.
- Isaiah 55:9for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans.
- Ezekiel 10:12along with their entire bodies, their backs, their hands, and their wings. The wheels of the four of them were full of eyes all around.
- Proverbs 15:3The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on those who are evil and those who are good.
- Zechariah 4:10For who dares make light of small beginnings? These seven eyes will joyfully look on the tin tablet in Zerubbabel’s hand. (These are the eyes of the Lord, which constantly range across the whole earth.)
- Revelation 4:6and in front of the throne was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. In the middle of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.
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
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