Bible Strands
Ezekiel 3:15
I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who dwelt by the River Kebar. And for seven days I sat where they sat and remained there among them, overwhelmed.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ezekiel reports his arrival at Tel-abib to the Jewish exiles dwelling by the River Kebar. This moment follows the Spirit's forcible transport in Ezekiel 3:14 and precedes a seven-day interval before God speaks again in Ezekiel 3:16.
The words — The Hebrew גּוֹלָה (go.lah) and יֹשְׁבִים (yo.shvim) literally render "the exiles" who "were dwelling" by the water. These terms ground the vision in a specific geographical and demographic reality rather than an abstract prophecy.
The thread — The pattern of prolonged, silent presence appears in Job 2:13, where companions sit with a grieving man for seven days without speaking. A parallel geographic motif surfaces in Psalm 137:1, where displaced Israelites weep while seated by the rivers of Babylon.
Why it lands — The text states the prophet physically remained among the exiles for seven days without initiating speech, overwhelmed by the situation. It demands recognition that divine commission often begins with patient, unadorned presence before revelation or action.
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
Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel–abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
Cross-references
- Job 2:13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw how intense his suffering was.
- Psalms 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
- Genesis 50:10 When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, which is across the Jordan, they lamented and wailed loudly, and Joseph mourned for his father seven days.
- Ezekiel 1:1 In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God.
- Jeremiah 23:9 As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD, because of His holy words.
- Ezekiel 10:15 Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the River Kebar.
- Habakkuk 3:16 I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us.
- 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.
- Ezekiel 43:3 The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell facedown,