Ezekiel 1:2
in Ezekiel 1On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,
KJV
In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,
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This verse in Ezekiel 1
Commentary
13 notes on this verseThe Holy Spirit descended on Christ and remained; he descends on people, assuredly, but does not remain. Furthermore, in the scroll of Ezekiel, who is properly a type of the Savior—no other prophet, I mean of the major prophets, is called, "Son of man"; the title is given strictly to Ezekiel.
This site's exposition
the heavens were opened
on Ezekiel 1:1-3
The date is doubled, the thirtieth year and the fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity, and the readings on the first number are named rather than settled: many, following an old count, take Ezekiel's own age at thirty, the year a priest entered his office, while others count from a fixed point in Judah's recent history. The vision comes to a priest without an altar, by the river Chebar among the captives, the heavens opened over an exile rather than a temple. Keil reads the setting itself as a claim, that the glory once housed in Solomon's temple will now visit a man who has nothing left of Jerusalem but memory, and Henry notes that God's hand found the prophet in a strange land as readily as in his own.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
(Verse 2) While I was among the captives by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God in the fifth month: it was the fifth year of the exile of King Joachin. As the captive people sat by the rivers of Babylon, David prophesied in the spirit: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept (Psalm 137). Now, Chebar, either it is the name of the river, or certainly, according to its interpretation, which is translated as "grave," it signifies the Tigris and Euphrates, as well as all the great and weighty rivers that are said to be in the land of the Chaldeans. And understand that the heavens are open not by the division of the firmament, but by the faith of the believer, because the celestial mysteries are revealed to them. Hence, in the baptism of the Savior, when the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove, we read of the heavens being opened (Matthew 3), and through their opening, the visions of God are revealed. Not just one vision, but multiple visions, as the Lord says through the Prophet: 'I will multiply visions and as a likeness, I have been made in the hands of the prophets' (Hosea 12:10). These are the visions that the entire prophecy of Ezekiel weaves together. According to the Hebrews and other interpreters, the migration is called Joachin and not captivity, as the LXX translated. For he was not captured when the city was conquered, but by his own will, he was taken to Babylon. Therefore, let the first migration be called Joachin, that is, Jechoniah: but let the second or final captivity be called Zedekiah.
To both Daniel and Ezekiel who were in Babylon by the river, the sacraments of the future were unfolded, I mean in the purest of waters, so that the power of baptism could be shown.
So that we can discern and understand the visions of God, it is necessary for us to have the hand and strength of God on us.
Whenever God is going to reveal some sight beyond all expectation to his servants, he leads them out of the cities to a place free from tumult.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistHomilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 2 · Written before 604.
proposed
Ezekiel indicates the time, adding: "On the fifth of the month, this is the fifth year of the captivity of King Joachin." And so that he might properly indicate the person, he also relates his lineage.
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
) that it was the fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity. But the Chaldee paraphrase fixes upon another era, and says that this was the thirtieth year after Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law in the house of the sanctuary, at midnight, after the setting of the moon, in the days of Josiah the king.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
In the fifth day of the month,.... The month Tammuz, as before: (which was the fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity); the same with Jeconiah and Coniah, as he is sometimes called; he was taken by the king of Babylon, when he had reigned but three months, and his captivity held seven and thirty years, 2Ki 24:8.
One of the quarrels God had with the Jews, when he sent them into captivity, we for mocking his messengers and misusing his prophets; and yet, when they were suffering for this sin, he favoured them with this forfeited mercy. It were ill with us if God did not sometimes graciously thrust upon us those means of grace and salvation which we have foolishly thrust from us.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Jehoiachin’s captivity - Called also Jeconiah and Coniah; see 2Ki 24:12. He was carried away by Nebuchadnezzar; see 2Ki 24:14.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Jehoiachin's captivity--In the third or fourth year of Jehoiakim, father of Jehoiachin, the first carrying away of Jewish captives to Babylon took place, and among them was Daniel. The second was under Jehoiachin, when Ezekiel was carried away.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Jewish date. This verse and Eze 1:3, which seem rather to interrupt the course of the narrative, may have been added by the prophet when he revised and put together the whole book. The word “captivity” (as in Eze 1:1) refers to the “transportation” of the king and others from their native to foreign soil. This policy of settling a conquered people in lands distant from their home, begun by the Assyrians, was continued by the Persians and by Alexander the Great. The Jews were specially selected for such settlements, and this was no doubt a Providential preparation for the Gospel, the dispersed Jews carrying with them the knowledge of the true God and the sacred Scriptures, and thus paving the way for the messengers of the kingdom of Christ.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year The prophet presented his words obscurely and did not tell his name, who he was; nor did he explain from what date he was counting.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֖ה | bachamishah | on [day] five | H2568 → | 343 times |
| לַחֹ֑דֶשׁ | lachodesh | of the month | H2320 → | 284 times |
| הִ֚יא | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| הַשָּׁנָ֣ה | hashanah | [was] the year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| הַחֲמִישִׁ֔ית | hachamishit | <the> fifth | H2549 → | |
| לְגָל֖וּת | legalut | of [the] exile of | H1546 → | 15 times |
| הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יוֹיָכִֽין׃ | yoyakhin | Jehoiachin | H3112 → |
בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֖הon [day] five
bachamishahH2568 →343 times
לַחֹ֑דֶשׁof the month
lachodeshH2320 →284 times
הִ֚יאit
hi'H1931 →1879 times
הַשָּׁנָ֣ה[was] the year
hashanahH8141 →877 times
הַחֲמִישִׁ֔ית<the> fifth
hachamishitH2549 →
לְגָל֖וּתof [the] exile of
legalutH1546 →15 times
הַמֶּ֥לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
יוֹיָכִֽין׃Jehoiachin
yoyakhinH3112 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 20:1In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 8:1
In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; and there the hand of the Lord…
- Ezekiel 24:1
In the ninth year, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 29:17
In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Ezekiel 8:1
Through
Ezekiel 8:1In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; and there the hand of the Lord…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 1:2–3
On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 20:1
In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me.
- Ezekiel 33:31
So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest…
- Ezekiel 14:1
Then some of the elders of Israel came and sat down before me.
- Ezekiel 1:2–3
Through
Ezekiel 40:1In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down—on that very day the hand…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 33:21
In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”
- Ezekiel 33:21
Where this verse is studied
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About Ezekiel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Gregory the Dialogist, Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, HOMILIES ON MARK 75 (Mk 1:1-12); Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; Jerome, COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:1.3; John Chrysostom, AGAINST THE ANOMOEANS 3:25; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.