The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 20

The motion ,of what we may oe.11 the com- dome of the earth were but aervo.nts of his, posite quadrilateral was simply rectilinear. to do his plea.sure ? The reproduotiou of Did the symbolism represent the direct- the fourfold form, with tho variation alreo.cly ness, the straightforwardness, of the Diline noticed, in Rev. iv. 7, is every way suggestive, energy manifested in the universe? and it is, at least, a no.tural inferouce that Ver. 10.-As for the likeness, etc. The the symbols had acquired a new significance Re'l"ised Version rightly strikes out the through theuew truths thatho.d bcenrovealecl comma after "lion." The human face meets to the seer of Patmos; that the human face the prophet's gaze. On the right he sees the may have connected itself with the thought lion, on the left the ox, while the face of the of the Son of man who shared in the glory ee.gle is behind. What did the symbols of the Father; the ox with that of bis sacri- mean? (1) The human face represents the fice; the lion with that of hie sovereignty thonghtthatrnan, as made" nftertheimage of over Israet, as thEI Lion of the tribe of Judah God" (Gen. i. 27), is the highest symbol of (Rev. v. 5); the eagle with that of his bear- the Eternal. So long as we remember that ing his people as on eagles' wings, into the it is but a symbol, anthropomorphism is highest heavens (E:xod. xix. 4; Deut. xxxii. legitimate in thought, and appropriate in 11). The patristic interpretation, which visions; thongh, like theriornorphism, it finds in the four living creatures the symbols becomes perilous, and is therefore forbidden of the four evangelists (an interpretation by (Exod. xx. 4; Deut. iv. 17) when it takes no means constant or unvarying-the lion concrete form in metal or in stone. So Daniel being sometimes identified with St. Matthew, (vii. 9, 13) sees the" Ancient of Days" and and the man with St. Mark, and conversely, "one like unto a son of man; " and St. while the ox and the eagle are uniformly John's vision (Rev. i. 13) represents the same assigned to St. Luke and St. John respec- symbolism. (2) The lion had been the tively), must be considered as the play of a familiar emblem of sovereignty, both in devout imagination, but not as unfolding the temple of Solomon (1 Kings vii. 29) the meaning of either Ezekiel or St. John. and in his palace (1 Kings x. 20 ; 2 Chron. In the later Jewish tradition the four forms ix. 18, 19). So, in Gen. xliL 9, it is the are assigned, taking Ezekiel's order, to the symbol of the kingly power of Judah, and tribes of Reuben, Judah, Ephraim, and appears with a yet higher application in Dan, as the "standards" (Numb. ii. 2) Rev. v. 5; while, on the other hanq, it which they genera.Hy bore when encamped represents one of the great monarchies of in the wilderness; but this is obviously the world in Dan. vii. 4. Its modern he- outside the range of the prophet's though ta. raldic use in the arms of England and else- Ver. ll.-Thus were their faces: aud, w liere presents yet another analogue. (3) etc.; better, with Revised Version, and their The ox had appeared, as here, so also in faces and their wings were separate above; I Kings vii. 25, 44, in company with the i.e. were stretched upward, touching the lion, notably in the twelve oxen that sup- neighbouring wings at the tip, and so ported the" sea" or" !aver" in the temple. "joined," while the other two covered the Here also we have a kind of sovereignty- bodies and were never stretched (comp. the natural symbol of a strength made sub- Isa. vi. 2). servient to human u.«es. Both tl.ie lion and Ver. 12.-Whither the spirit was to go, the ox, e.s we have seen, may have become etc. The description pe.sses on to the familiar to Ezekiel as a priest ministering originating force of the movement of the in the temple or as an exile. (4) The mysterious forms. The Hebrew noun may eagle was, in like manner, though not taking mean "breath," "wind, ' or "spirit," the its place in the symbolism of foe temple, meanings often overlapping one another. the emblem of kingly power, and is so Here the higher meaning is probably the true employed by Ezekiel himself in eh. xvii. 3, one. The "Spirit" (as in Gen. i. I; vi. 3; 7; while in Dan. vii 4 the lion has eagle's Ps. civ. 30 ; c:xxxi:x. 7; Isa. :xl. 7, 13; and wings (comp. Hos. viii. I; Isa. xlvi. 11; in Ezekiel himself, passim) is the Divine Obad. 4; Hab. i. 8). In Assyrian sculpture Source of life in all its forms, especially in its Nisroch (the name is cognate with the Hebrew highest form, moral, intellectual, spiritual. for "eagle," nesher) appears as an eagle- It is this which gave unity and harmony to headed human figure, and is always repre- the movements of the "living creatures," as sented e.s contending with or conquering it gives a life, harmony, and unity to all the the lion and the bull (La;rard, • Nineveh,' ii. manifold manifestations of the might of God 458, 459). The facts suggest the inference of which they were the symbols. (On "they (1) that Ezekiel may have seen this symbol; turned not," see note on ver. 9.) (2) that over and above the general thought Ver. 13.-Like burning coals of fire, etc. that all the powers of nature are subject to It may not be amiss to note the faot tht,t the the government of God, there was also the phrase throughout the Bible denotes incan- more specinc thought that the great king- descent wood. The nearest approach to it~ tltt. i. 1-28.] THE BbOK OF THll: PROPHET EZEKiEL. 5