Bible Strands
Ezekiel 1:28
The appearance of the brilliant light all around Him was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ezekiel records a visionary encounter with the divine presence during his prophetic call. He describes the immediate aftermath of a radiant vision where he falls facedown upon hearing a voice.
The words — The Hebrew מַרְאֶה (mar'eh) denotes "appearance" or "vision," while קֶשֶת (qeshet) literally means "bow" or "rainbow." The text explicitly links the visual phenomenon of a rainbow in a rainy cloud to the manifestation of divine glory.
The thread — This imagery reappears in Revelation 4:3 encircling the throne and Revelation 10:1 above a mighty angel. The posture of falling facedown echoes Abraham’s response in Genesis 17:3 when encountering divine speech.
Why it lands — The text states that the brilliant light surrounding the divine figure resembles a rainbow in a rainy cloud, identifying it as the likeness of the LORD's glory. It requires the reader to acknowledge that direct encounters with this glory interrupt human posture and demand physical prostration.
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
As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
Cross-references
- Revelation 10:1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like pillars of fire.
- Revelation 4:3 The One seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow that gleamed like an emerald encircled the throne.
- Genesis 17:3 Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,
- Ezekiel 3:23 So I got up and went out to the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD was present there, like the glory I had seen by the River Kebar, and I fell facedown.
- Exodus 24:16 and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered it, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud.
- Ezekiel 8:4 And there I saw the glory of the God of Israel, like the vision I had seen in the plain.
- Daniel 8:17 As he came near to where I stood, I was terrified and fell facedown. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.”
- Acts 9:4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
- Genesis 9:13 I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
- Exodus 33:18 Then Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.”