Bible Strands
Ezekiel 1:24
When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings like the roar of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ezekiel reports what he heard during the vision of the four living creatures, describing both their motion and their rest. He is the prophet in exile, recording the theophany at the Chebar canal.
The words — The Hebrew qol (קוֹל, "sound, voice") is repeated three times, each instance yoked to a different comparison: many waters, the Almighty, an army. The repetition builds the scale of what is being heard.
The thread — The same "voice like the roar of many waters" returns in Ezekiel 43:2 for the return of the glory to the temple, and in Psalm 29:3 where the voice of the LORD is over many waters.
Why it lands — The verse refuses to soften the image of God's presence into something manageable; it is a flood and a war-cry simultaneously. The stillness that follows—wings lowered—is not peace but a held breath, the sound cut off while the presence remains.
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
King James Version
And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 43:2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.
- 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.
- Psalms 29:3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the LORD is heard over many waters.
- Revelation 1:15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.
- Revelation 19:6 And I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude, like the rushing of many waters, and like a mighty rumbling of thunder, crying out: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
- Psalms 68:33 to Him who rides upon the highest heavens of old; behold, His mighty voice resounds.
- Psalms 18:13 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded—hailstones and coals of fire.
- Job 37:4 Then there comes a roaring sound; He thunders with His majestic voice. He does not restrain the lightning when His voice resounds.
- Job 37:2 Listen closely to the thunder of His voice and the rumbling that comes from His mouth.
- 2 Kings 7:6 For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us.”