And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire engulfing itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of its midst as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
All Commentaries on Ezekiel 1:4 Go To Ezekiel 1
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
North, denoting the invasion of Judea by the Chaldeans, Isaias xiv. 31. (Sanctius)
The Jews thought the following vision inexplicable, and deliberated about rejecting the book, when Ananias offered to answer every difficulty. They assigned him three hundred barrels of oil to light his lamp, while he performed the task. (Rabbins)
This hyperbole shows their idea of its obscurity. (Calmet)
Amber, (electri) a compound of four parts of gold and one of silver, (Pliny, xxxiii. 4.) more precious than either. (St. Jerome)
It may also mean orichalchum, or a mixture of gold and brass, (Bo chart, anim. 2 b. vi. 16.) which was also preferred before gold alone, as it had the hardness of brass. (Lucret. Serv. in xii. Æneid.)
--alboque orichalcho Circumdat loricam humeris.
Two vessels are mentioned, probably of this composition, 1 Esdras viii. 27. (Calmet)
