Ezekiel 1:2

Ezekiel 1:2

In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,

a. ASV: In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,

b. YLT: In the fifth of the month -- it is the fifth year of the removal of the king Jehoiachin --

c. Classic Amplified: On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,

d. Septuagint: On the fifth day of the month; this was the fifth year of the captivity of king Joakim.

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/ Writings: On the fifth of the month, which was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin.

1. “In the fifth day of the month…”

a. [In the] fifth [Strong: 2568 châmêsh, khaw-maysh'; masculine חֲמִשָּׁה chămishshâh; a primitive numeral; five:—fif(-teen), fifth, five (× apiece).]

b. [day of the] month [Strong: 2320 chôdesh, kho'-desh; from H2318; the new moon; by implication, a month:—month(-ly), new moon.]

2. “...which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,”

a. which [was] [Strong: 1931 huw' hoo of which the feminine (beyond the Pentateuch) is hiyw {he}; a primitive word, the third person pronoun singular, he (she or it); only expressed when emphatic or without a verb; also (intensively) self, or (especially with the article) the same; sometimes (as demonstrative) this or that; occasionally (instead of copula) as or are:--he, as for her, him(-self), it, the same, she (herself), such, that (...it), these, they, this, those, which (is), who.]

b. [the] fifth [Strong: 2549 chămîyshîy, kham-ee-shee'; or חֲמִשִּׁי chămishshîy; ordinal from H2568; fifth; also a fifth:—fifth (part).]

c. year [Strong: shâneh, shaw-neh'; (in plural or (feminine) שָׁנָה shânâh; from H8138; a year (as a revolution of time):— whole age, × long, old, year(× -ly).]

d. king [Strong: 4428 melek, meh'-lek; from H4427; a king:—king, royal.]

e. Jehoiachin's [Strong: Yôwyâkîyn, yo-yaw-keen'; a form of H3078; Jojakin, an Israelite king:—Jehoiachin.]

f. captivity [Strong: 1546 gâlûwth, gaw-looth'; feminine from H1540; captivity; concretely, exiles (collectively):—(they that are carried away) captives(-ity).]

1). Ezekiek went to Babylon with the group that went with Jehoiachin.

a). 2 Kings 24:8-16 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

24:9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done.

24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.

24:11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.

24:12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.

24:13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said.

24:14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.

24:15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

24:16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

b). 2 Chronicles 36:9, 10 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

36:10 And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the Lord, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.

2). The exile of Israel/Judah was 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10). In the 37th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, which was over the half way point of Judah’s exile of 70 years, EvilMerodach the king of Babylon at that time, released him from Babylonian prison. 

a). Jeremiah 52:31-34 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison.

52:32 And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,

52:33 And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.

52:34 And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

b). John Gill Commentary: these kings were either petty kings over the several provinces that belonged to the Chaldean monarchy, that were occasionally at Babylon; or rather the kings Nebuchadnezzar had conquered, and taken captive, as Jehoiachin; such as the kings of Moab, Ammon, Edom, &c. these, notwithstanding they were captives, had thrones of state, partly in consideration of their former dignity, and partly for the glory of the Babylonish monarch; now Jehoiachin's throne was higher and more grand and stately than the rest, to show the particular respect the king of Babylon had for him.

c). Note in Classic Amplified under jeremiah 52:31-34: The latter of these clauses is probably an afterthought in order to prevent ending the book with the word “death.” The general object too of the paragraph [the last four verses] seems to have been to leave the reader with a parting ray of comfort and encouragement in the thought that even in exile the Lord remembered His people and softened the heart of the heathen tyrant toward David’s seed (The Cambridge Bible). Note also the contrast between Zedekiah, who remained in prison till the day he died (Jer. 52:11), and Jehoiachin, who was released from prison and treated well by the Babylonian kings till the day he died.