I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north: a great cloud, with flashing lightning, and a brightness around it, and out of the middle of it as it were glowing metal, out of the middle of the fire.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 4. North, denoting the invasion of Judea by the Chaldees. Isaiah 14:31. Sanct.—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 shews 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. Saint Jerome—It may also mean orichalchum, or a mixture of gold and brass, (Bochart, 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 Ezra 8:27. Calmet.
“Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.