Ezekiel 1:22

“And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature, &c.] This was not a real firmament, but the likeness of one; it was like the firmament which God created on the second day, which divided between the waters above and below, and which he called Heaven; and is no other than the airy and starry heavens. Its name is in Hebrew [yqr, “an expanse”; from its being stretched out as a curtain, and a tent to dwell in; and a “firmament” from its firmness and continuance; and therefore called the firmament of his power, (<010108>Genesis 1:8 <234022>Isaiah 40:22) (<19F001>Psalm 150:1); and this visionary one was “over the heads of the living creatures”; which shows that they could…”

“upon the heads--rather, "above the heads" [FAIRBAIRN]. colour--glitter. terrible crystal--dazzling the spectator by its brightness.”

““The color” (Hebrew, “eye”) “of the terrible crystal” refers to the dazzling brightness of the “firmament,” a clear bright expanse between the “throne” and the “living creatures,” separating heaven from earth. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Likeness - The appearance or resemblance. As crystal - For splendor, purity, and solidity, all that was above these creatures and wheels was beautiful and very majestic, and 'tis therefore called terrible, because it impressed a veneration upon the mind of the beholders. Ezekiel 1:23”

“1:22-25 The surface like the sky, glittering like crystal separated the realm of God’s presence (heaven) from the realm of humanity (earth). References to the sky, the cherubim (see study note on 1:11-14), and the rainbow (1:28) remind us of the opening chapters of Genesis and suggest that the narrative about to unfold concerns the destruction of what God had created, followed by its re-creation. Just as God destroyed the world he had made with a flood and then restored it through Noah, Ezekiel’s world was also being unmade and restored.”

“the likeness: Eze 1:26, Eze 10:1; Exo 24:10; Job 37:22; Rev 4:3, Rev 4:6, Rev 21:11 crystal: The Hebrew kerach which generally denotes ice, doubtless here signifies crystal (κρυσταλλος, from κρυος, cold, ice, and στελλομαι, to concrete), as it is rendered by the LXX and Vulgate. It is a very large class of silicious minerals, hard, pellucid, naturally colourless, of regularly angular figures, and of simple plates; not flexible, nor elastic, but giving fire with steel; not fermenting by acid menstrua, but calcinable in a strong fire. There are three orders of pure crystal. The first is perfect columnar crystals, with double pyramids, of eighteen planes, in an hexangular pyramid at each end;…”

“The throne of Jehovah. - Eze 1:22. And over the heads of the creature there appeared an expanse like the appearance of the terrible crystal, stretched out over their heads above. Eze 1:23. And under the expanse were their wings, extended straight one towards another: each had two wings, covering to these, and each two (wings), covering to those, their bodies. Eze 1:24. And I heard the sound of their wings, as the sound of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, as they went: a loud rushing like the clamour of a camp: when they stood, they let down their wings. Eze 1:25. And there came a voice from above the expanse which was above their heads; when they stood, they let their wings sink…”