King James Version
Ezekiel
Ezekiel in the King James Version (1769), public domain in the United States.
Background and History
The chapters above are the King James text. This essay is the setting of Ezekiel: who is said to have written it, when and where, what happens in it, and how the text has been copied.
At a Glance
| Author | Ezekiel the priest, in the book’s first person. The Talmud says the men of the Great Assembly wrote it, which is usually read as editing or copying. Most scholars accept Ezekiel as the main source. |
|---|---|
| Date | About 593–571 BC in one survey, by the dated oracles in the book. |
| Place written | By the river Chebar in Babylonia, near modern Nippur, Iraq. |
| Genre | Prophecy with visions and symbolic acts. |
| Chapters | 48 |
| Verses | 1273 in the King James Version |
| Key verse | Ezekiel 36:26Ezekiel 36:26 · King James VersionA new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.Ezekiel 36:26 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
Who Wrote It
Ezekiel 1:1–3Ezekiel 1:1–3 · King James Version1:1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
1:2 In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,
1:3 The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.
Ezekiel 1:1–3 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1) gives Ezekiel’s name, his priestly family, and the year of his first vision among the captives by the river Chebar. Most of the book is in his first person. The Talmud says the men of the Great Assembly wrote Ezekiel. (2) Many interpret that as editing or copying in the land. Critical scholars see some later editing but generally accept Ezekiel as the source.
Who It Is Not
The book is not by Jeremiah, his contemporary.
When and Where
Bible Gateway gives 593–571 BC. (5) The book dates its oracles by the years of Jehoiachin’s captivity, from Ezekiel 1:2Ezekiel 1:2 · King James VersionIn the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,
Ezekiel 1:2 · King James VersionOpen the Source to Ezekiel 40:1Ezekiel 40:1 · King James VersionIn the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither.
Ezekiel 40:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1).
Audience and Setting
The exiles in Babylon. The purpose is to explain Jerusalem’s fall, call for repentance, and promise restoration.
Rulers at the Time
Jehoiachin and Zedekiah of Judah, and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Reign dates were not checked for this essay and are omitted.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Call vision | Ezekiel 1–3 |
| Judgment on Jerusalem | Ezekiel 4–24 |
| Oracles against nations | Ezekiel 25–32 |
| Restoration | Ezekiel 33–39 |
| New temple | Ezekiel 40–48 |
| Composition | 593–571 BC in one survey. (5) |
Places in This Book
| Ancient name | Modern-day location | References |
|---|---|---|
| Chebar | A canal near Nippur, Iraq. | Ezekiel 1:1Ezekiel 1:1 · King James VersionNow it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.Ezekiel 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
| Jerusalem | Jerusalem. | Ezekiel 8:3Ezekiel 8:3 · King James VersionAnd he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.Ezekiel 8:3 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
| Tyre | Tyre, Lebanon. | Ezekiel 26:3Ezekiel 26:3 · King James VersionTherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.Ezekiel 26:3 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
What Is Happening
Ezekiel 1–24 announce Jerusalem’s fall. Ezekiel 25–32 judge the nations. Ezekiel 33–39 promise a new heart, the valley of dry bones, and a shepherd. Ezekiel 40–48 envision a new temple.
Key Themes
The glory of the Lord in Ezekiel 1:28Ezekiel 1:28 · King James VersionAs the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
Ezekiel 1:28 · King James VersionOpen the Source and Ezekiel 43:4Ezekiel 43:4 · King James VersionAnd the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.
Ezekiel 43:4 · King James VersionOpen the Source. A new heart in Ezekiel 36:26Ezekiel 36:26 · King James VersionA new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Personal responsibility in Ezekiel 18:20Ezekiel 18:20 · King James VersionThe soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Ezekiel 18:20 · King James VersionOpen the Source.
Apologetics Questions
The prophecy against Tyre in Ezekiel 26 is debated, since Nebuchadnezzar did not destroy the island city and Ezekiel 29:18Ezekiel 29:18 · King James VersionSon of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it:
Ezekiel 29:18 · King James VersionOpen the Source acknowledges that. Readers note that the oracle speaks of many nations in Ezekiel 26:3Ezekiel 26:3 · King James VersionTherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
Ezekiel 26:3 · King James VersionOpen the Source, and Alexander later took the island.
How the Book Points to Christ
The good shepherd of Ezekiel 34:11–24Ezekiel 34:11–24 · King James Version34:11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
34:12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
34:13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
34:14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
34:15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.
34:16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
34:17 And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.
34:18 Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?
34:19 And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.
34:20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.
34:21 Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad;
34:22 Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.
34:23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
34:24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.
Ezekiel 34:11–24 · King James VersionOpen the Source is both God himself and David his servant. Jesus says I am the good shepherd in John 10:11John 10:11 · King James VersionI am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
John 10:11 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Jesus is God.
Text and Manuscripts
Ezekiel is among the books found at Qumran. (6)
Canon Reception
Some rabbis questioned Ezekiel because of differences from the Torah. It was received. (3) (4)
Further Reading
References
- Book of Ezekiel, 1:1–3; 40:1Ezekiel 1:1–3 · King James Version1:1
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
1:2In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,
1:3The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.
Ezekiel 1:1–3 · King James VersionOpen the Source. King James Version - Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 15a, 15a (The William Davidson English on Sefaria is copyrighted. This page paraphrases it and does not reprint it. The page continues the list of writers and the debate about it.)
- Against Apion, 1.8Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William Whiston
For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from, and contradicting one another: [as the Greeks have:] but only twenty two books: which contain the records of all the past times: which are justly believed to be divine. And of them five belong to Moses: which contain his laws, and the traditions of the origin of mankind, till his death.
Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William WhistonOpen the Source (Flavius Josephus, Against Apion 1.8, translated by William Whiston. Josephus counts twenty-two books: five of Moses, thirteen of the prophets from Moses to Artaxerxes, and four of hymns and precepts.) - Festal Letter 39, 39.4–5 (Athanasius of Alexandria, AD 367, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 4, on New Advent. The letter lists twenty-two Old Testament books and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, and places Esther among books to be read rather than in the canon.)
- When Was Each Book of the Bible Written?, Ezekiel (Jacob Edson, Bible Gateway, 16 September 2024. The survey gives Ezekiel as 593–571 BC. It is one editor’s approximation, not a manuscript date.)
- Dead Sea Scrolls, introduction, Biblical manuscriptsDead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities Authority
Among the Scrolls are partial or complete copies of every book in the Hebrew Bible (except the book of Esther).
Dead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities AuthorityOpen the Source (Israel Antiquities Authority. Biblical manuscripts from the Qumran caves date from the third century BC into the first century AD, and every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther is represented.)
The King James Version (1769) is in the public domain in the United States.