Ezekiel study section
Ezekiel word studies
A handful of Hebrew words carry the theology of Ezekiel. Tap the speaker next to any word to hear it pronounced.
Key words
כָּבוֹד (kavod) — “Glory”
Usage: Ezekiel 1:28; 3:23; 10:4, 18; 43:2-5
Meaning: Glory, weight, honor, splendor — especially the radiant, visible presence of God. Its departure and return structure the whole book.
Theological Significance: The kavod that left the defiled temple and returns to the renewed one points to Christ, “the radiance of the glory of God,” who tabernacled among us so that we beheld His glory (Hebrews 1:3; John 1:14), and to the new creation where God’s glory is its light (Revelation 21:23).
בֶּן־אָדָם (ben-adam) — “Son of Man”
Usage: Ezekiel 2:1, 3; 3:1; and over ninety times throughout
Meaning: “Son of man,” simply “human being” or “mortal,” God’s constant address to the prophet, emphasizing his humanity before the glorious God.
Theological Significance: Ezekiel as “son of man” foreshadows the title Jesus most often took for Himself, “the Son of Man,” the truly human One who is also the divine, glorious Son who comes with the clouds (Daniel 7:13; Mark 14:62).
רוּחַ (ruach) — “Spirit, Breath, Wind”
Usage: Ezekiel 2:2; 36:26-27; 37:1, 9-14
Meaning: Spirit, breath, or wind. The ruach lifts and empowers Ezekiel, is promised as God’s own Spirit within His people, and breathes life into the dry bones.
Theological Significance: The Spirit who gives the new heart and raises the dead bones is the Holy Spirit poured out in the new covenant through Christ, who gives new birth and resurrection life (John 3:5-8; Romans 8:11).
לֵב (lev) — “Heart”
Usage: Ezekiel 11:19; 18:31; 36:26
Meaning: The heart — the inner person of will, thought, and desire. God promises to replace the “heart of stone” with a “heart of flesh.”
Theological Significance: The new heart Ezekiel promises is the regeneration Christ brings, fulfilling the new covenant in which God writes His law within and transforms the inner person (Jeremiah 31:33; 2 Corinthians 3:3).
יָדַע (yada) — “To Know”
Usage: Ezekiel 6:7; 20:42; 36:23; 37:14 (“you shall know that I am the LORD”)
Meaning: To know, recognize, acknowledge. The refrain “then they will know that I am the LORD” states the purpose of God’s acts of judgment and salvation.
Theological Significance: The aim of all God’s works is that His people and the nations know Him. This saving knowledge of God is given fully in Christ, for “this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
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