Eze 1:4 | NETfull | STEP | As I watched, I noticed a windstorm coming from the north – an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, such that bright light rimmed it and came from it like glowing amber from the middle of a fire.

Ezekiel 1:4

4 As I watched, I noticed ^{▼▼ The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.} a windstorm ^{▼▼ Storms are often associated with appearances of God (see Nah 1:3; Ps 18:12). In some passages, the “storm” (סְעָרָה, s^e’arah) may be a whirlwind (Job 38:1, 2 Kgs 2:1).} coming from the north – an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, ^{▼▼ Heb “fire taking hold of itself,” perhaps repeatedly. The phrase occurs elsewhere only in Exod 9:24 in association with a hailstorm. The LXX interprets the phrase as fire flashing like lightning, but it is possibly a self-sustaining blaze of divine origin. The LXX also reverses the order of the descriptors, i.e., “light went around it and fire flashed like lightning within it.”} such that bright light ^{▼▼ Or “radiance.” The term also occurs in 1:27b.} rimmed it and came from ^{▼▼ Or “was in it”; cf. LXX ἐν τῷ μέσῳ αὐτοῦ (en tō mesō autou, “in its midst”).} it like glowing amber ^{▼▼ The LXX translates חַשְׁמַל (khashmal) with the word ἤλεκτρον (ēlektron, “electrum”; so NAB), an alloy of silver and gold, perhaps envisioning a comparison to the glow of molten metal.} from the middle of a fire.