Ezekiel 1:16

The workmanship of the wheels looked like the gleam of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. Their workmanship looked like a wheel within a wheel.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Ezekiel records his vision while observing the living creatures and the wheels positioned beside them. He describes the structural and visual details of these wheels as they appear in the prophetic scene.

The words — The Hebrew term תַּרְשִׁישׁ (tar.Shish) denotes beryl or chrysolite, describing the metallic gleam of the wheels. The word דְמוּת (de.Mut) signifies "likeness," emphasizing that the visual form of each wheel was identical.

The thread — The beryl gleam reappears in Ezekiel 10:9 alongside the four wheels, while Exodus 39:13 places beryl in the high priest's breastplate and Daniel 10:6 applies the stone's radiance to a heavenly figure's body.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition of the wheels' precise construction and uniform appearance, grounding the vision in tangible, crafted reality. Readers must observe how the described materials and geometry establish the mechanical order of the divine apparatus before moving to any symbolic interpretation.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

מַרְאֵ֨הmar.'Eh[the] appearance of הָאוֹפַנִּ֤יםha./'o.fa.Nimthe/ wheels וּמַעֲשֵׂיהֶם֙u./ma.'a.sei./Hemand/ construction<s>/ their כְּעֵ֣יןke./'Ein[was] like/ [the] appearance of תַּרְשִׁ֔ישׁtar.Shishchrysolite וּדְמ֥וּתu./de.Mutand/ a likeness אֶחָ֖ד'e.Chadone לְאַרְבַּעְתָּ֑ןle./'ar.ba'.Ta/n[belonged] to/ [the] four of/ them וּמַרְאֵיהֶם֙u./mar.'ei./Hemand/ appearance/ their וּמַ֣עֲשֵׂיהֶ֔םu./Ma.'a.sei./Hemand/ construction<s>/ their כַּאֲשֶׁ֛רka./'a.Sher[was] just/ as יִהְיֶ֥הyih.Yehit was הָאוֹפַ֖ןha./'o.Fanthe/ wheel בְּת֥וֹךְbe./Tokhin/ [the] middle of הָאוֹפָֽן׃ha./'o.Fanthe/ wheel

King James Version

The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

Cross-references

Daniel 10:6 His body was like beryl, his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of polished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.
Ezekiel 10:9 Then I looked and saw four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub. And the wheels gleamed like a beryl stone.
Exodus 39:13 and the fourth row had a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. These stones were mounted in gold filigree settings.
Job 9:10 He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number.
Psalms 36:6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains; Your judgments are like the deepest sea. O LORD, You preserve man and beast.
Psalms 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us—none can compare to You—if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I can count.
Romans 11:33 O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
Ephesians 3:10 His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,