Ezekiel 3:14
So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.
Study Note
Study Note
The transported prophet arrives at the Tel-abib exilic community 'in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me' — a remarkable confession of interior resistance to divine commission that has few parallels in prophetic literature. The 'bitterness' (mar) and 'heat of spirit' suggest that Ezekiel does not arrive as a willing herald but is compelled by an overpowering divine grip (chazaqah) — a tension between prophetic resistance and divine compulsion that humanizes the prophetic office. The detail contributes to Ezekiel's distinctive prophetic psychology in which identification with the community's suffering (he eats their food, lies on his side) is combined with the transcendent otherness of the divine commission. Jeremiah's similar experience of prophetic reluctance (Jeremiah 20:7–9) suggests a shared tradition of honest psychological engagement with prophetic calling.
Other Translations
So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of Jehovah was strong upon me.
And a spirit hath lifted me up, and doth take me away, and I go bitterly, in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Jehovah on me <FI>is<Fi> strong.
And the wind, lifting me up, took me away: and I went in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of the Lord was strong on me.
Cross References
Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it …
O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am …
Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word …
Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with …
The word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the …
Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be …
And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, …
And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the …
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set …