In the thirtieth year, &c.— Archbishop Usher, Prideaux, Calmet, and others, are of opinion, that these thirty years are to be reckoned from the time when Josiah, and all the people of Judah, entered into that solemn covenant mentioned Exodus 23:3 which was in the 18th year of Josiah; from which time the same learned writers compute the forty years of Judah's transgression, mentioned ch. Ezekiel 4:6. This thirtieth year, according to Usher, was in the 3410th year of the world, the 5th after the captivity of Jechoniah, and the 5th of the reign of Zedekiah. Ezekiel was then in captivity by Chebar, a river of Mesopotamia, where he saw visions of God; that is to say, prophetical visions. See Ezekiel 1:3. Houbigant reads the verses thus: It came to pass in the thirtieth year, Ezekiel 1:2 which was the fifth year after the carrying away of king Jehoiachin, in the fourth month, in the fifth day, &c.
Related Commentaries of Ezekiel 1:1
Ezekiel 1:1
1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captivesa by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.