At Tel-Abib, etc; We now enter on the first scene of the prophet's ministry. The LXX. leaves the proper name. The Vulgate rightly translates it as acervus novarum frugum, the "mound of ears of corn" (the meaning appears in the name of the Passover month, Abib).
Luther gives, strangely enough, "where the almond trees stood, in the mouth Abib"). Jerome's suggestion, that here also there was a nomen et omen. and that those who shared Ezekiel's exile were regarded as the "firstfruits" of the future, is at least ingenious, and finds some support in Psalms 126:5, Psalms 126:6.
The place has not been identified, and its position depends on that of the river with which it is connected (see note on Ezekiel 1:1). The word "Tel" is commonly applied to the mounds formed out of masses of ruins, which are common all over the plains of Mesopotamia.
The name in this case may suggest that the earth had gathered over it, and that it was cultivated. I sat where they sat, etc. The ministry begins not with speech, but silence. Our Western habits hardly enable us to enter into the impressiveness of such a procedure.
The conduct of Job's friends (Job 2:13) presents a parallel, and as Ezekiel seems to have known that book (Ezekiel 14:14, Ezekiel 14:20), he may have been influenced by it. Like actions meet us in Ezra 9:3-5; Daniel 4:19.