Ezekiel 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.
The word of the Lord came expressly,.... Or, "in being was" {d}; which phrase denotes the reality, certainty, substantiality and evidence of the word of the Lord to him:
unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi; which Buzi, some say, was Jeremiah. Kimchi observes, that, in the Jerusalem Targum, the Prophet Ezekiel is called the son of Jeremiah the prophet: and Jeremiah was called Buzi because they despised him; this is rejected by Abarbinel; nor is there any reason to believe it, any more than what Nazianzen {e} says, that Ezekiel was a servant of Jeremiah:
in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar;
See Gill on "Ezekiel 1:1". The Chaldee paraphrase makes the word of the Lord to come to him at two distinct times and places;
"the word of prophecy from before the Lord was with Ezekiel the son of Buzi the priest in the land of Israel: it returned a second time, and spoke with him in the province, the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar:''
and the hand of the LORD was there upon him; by which is meant the gift and word of prophecy, which came with power and efficacy, clearness and evidence; so the Targum, and the
"spirit of prophecy from before the Lord there abode by him;''
by which he saw all later visions, and delivered out the following prophecies; see 2 Peter 1:21.
{d} hyh hyh "essendo fuit", Pagninus, Montanus. Heb. ; "existendo exstitit", Polanus.
{e} Orat. 47. vol. 1. p. 724.