Bible Strands
Ezekiel 20:1
In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ezekiel addresses a delegation of Israelite elders who traveled to him to seek guidance. The encounter occurs in the seventh year of exile, specifically on the tenth day of the fifth month, with the elders sitting before the prophet.
The words — The Hebrew terms בַּ/שָּׁנָ֣ה (ba./sha.Nah, "in the year"), הַ/שְּׁבִיעִ֗ית (ha./she.vi.'It, "the seventh"), and בַּֽ/חֲמִשִׁי֙ (ba./cha.mi.Shi, "the fifth") establish a precise chronological anchor. The verb בָּ֧אוּ (Ba.'u, "they came") documents their physical arrival to petition God.
The thread — This opening formula matches the dated introductions in Ezekiel 8:1, 24:1, and 26:1, which each begin with a specific year, month, and day before delivering divine speech.
Why it lands — The text records that prophetic revelation is triggered by human inquiry within a documented historical timeline. It requires the reader to acknowledge that divine communication meets people at specific points in time rather than outside of it.
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 it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the Lord, and sat before me.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 8:1 In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; and there the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me.
- Ezekiel 24:1 In the ninth year, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Ezekiel 26:1 In the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Ezekiel 29:1 In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Ezekiel 29:17 In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Ezekiel 30:20 In the eleventh year, on the seventh day of the first month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Ezekiel 31:1 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Ezekiel 32:1 In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Ezekiel 40:1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down—on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He took me there.
- 1 Kings 14:2 and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Now get up, disguise yourself so they will not recognize you as my wife, and go to Shiloh. For Ahijah the prophet is there; it was he who spoke about my kingship over this people.