Ezekiel’s Vision by the River Kebar

Ezekiel situates the experience with precise dates and place: he is among the exiles by the River Kebar when the heavens open and he sees visions of God. The chapter then repeats the date in relation to Jehoiachin's exile and identifies Ezekiel as a priest, the son of Buzi. In that foreign land the word of the LORD comes to him directly, and the LORD's hand is upon him.

I¹n the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God. ²On the fifth day of the month— it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— ³the word of the LORD came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the LORD’s hand was upon him.