And behold: The Hebrew word hinneh rendered behold highlights the vividness of the vision for Ezekiel.

The glory of the God of Israel came from the east: The Hebrew word for glory does not refer to a dazzling bright light, but to the awesome, impressive presence of God (see the comments on 1.28). For the glory of the God of Israel, see 8.4. He came from the east, that is, God came back from the direction that he went when he left Jerusalem (see 11.23).

And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters: The sound of his coming is literally “his voice” (New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, King James Version / New King James Version; similarly Good News Translation, New Century Version), but Ezekiel does not record that God said anything. Therefore it is better to understand that the sound Ezekiel heard was the sound of the wings of the creatures that carried the throne of God (see 1.24), even though Ezekiel does not mention them here. Like the sound of many waters means like the loud sound of a flooding river (see the comments on 1.24).

And the earth shone with his glory: Good News Translation says “and the earth shone with the dazzling light,” which is too strong. The Hebrew word for shone refers to the softer radiance of the moon, early morning, or candles (compare 10.4).

A model for this verse is:

• And I saw the powerful presence of the God of Israel coming from the east. The noise of it was like the noise of a flooding river. All the ground was glowing brightly with his powerful presence [or, The light/radiance from his wonderful presence lit up the ground].

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .