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 captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
Now it came to pass - rather, And it came, etc. This formula in Joshua 1:1 has reference to the written history of previous times; but here, and in Ruth 1:1 and Esther 1:1, it refers to the unwritten history which was before the mind of the writer. The prophet by it, as it were, continues the history of the preceding times. In the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign (Jeremiah 51:59) Jeremiah sent by Seraiah a message to the captives (Jeremiah 29:1-32) to submit themselves to God, and lay aside their flattering hopes of a speedy restoration. This communication was in the next year, the fifth, and the fourth month of the same king (for Jehoiachin's captivity and Zedekiah's accession coincide in time), followed up by a prophet raised up among the captives themselves, the energetic Ezekiel.
Thirtieth year - i:e., counting from the beginning of the reign of Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, the era of the Babylonian empire, 625 BC, which epoch coincides with the 18th year of Josiah, that in which the book of the law was found, and the consequent reformation begun (Scaliger). Or, the 30th year of Ezekiel's life. As the Lord was about to be a "little sanctuary" (Ezekiel 11:16) to the exiles on the Chebar, so Ezekiel was to be the ministering priest; therefore he marks his priestly relation to God and the people at the outset; the close, which describes the future temple, thus answering to the beginning. By designating himself expressly as "the priest" (Ezekiel 1:3), and having reached his thirtieth year, the regular year of priests commencing their office, he marks his office as the priest among the prophets. Thus the opening vision follows naturally as the formal institution of that spiritual temple in which he was to minister (Fairbairn).
Chebar - the same as Chabor or Habor, where the ten tribes had been transported by Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser (2 Kings 17:6; 1 Chronicles 5:26). It flows into the Euphrates near Carchemish or Circesium, 200 miles north of Babylon.
I saw visions of God. Four expressions are used as to the revelation granted to Ezekiel, the three first having respect to what was presented from without, to assure him of its reality, the fourth to his being internally made fit to receive the revelation; "the heavens were opened" (so Matthew 3:16; Acts 7:56; Acts 10:11; Revelation 19:11); "he saw visions of God;" 'the word of Yahweh came verily (as the meaning is, rather than "expressly," the English version, Ezekiel 1:3) unto him' - i:e., it was no unreal hallucination; and "the hand of Yahweh was upon him" (Isaiah 8:11; Daniel 10:10; Daniel 10:18; Revelation 1:17); the Lord by his touch strengthening him for his high and arduous ministry, that he might be able to witness and report aright the revelations made to him.