Ezekiel

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Third book in the Prophetical section of the Bible. Presented in the first person by the prophet Ezekiel, it consists of 48 chapters and is divided into 1,273 verses. According to Jewish tradition, the book was edited by the Men of the Great Assembly (BB. 15a). Notwithstanding the occasional interweaving of heterogeneous prophetic utterances, it may be thematically divided into the following sections: a) Chapters 1-24: Denunciations of Judah and Jerusalem. Ezekiel portrays a very gloomy picture of the entire history of Israel, as one of continuous sinfulness and rebellion against God. Consequently, his message is essentially of utter and inevitable doom. The dramatic representations and bizarre symbolic acts which often accompany his utterances give color and forcefulness to his message. Notable among the acts representing the impending doom are the eating of a scroll in which "lamentations and mourning and woe" are inscribed (2:9-3:3); the representation of the city of Jerusalem on a clay tablet and raising a siege against it as a symbol of its fate (4:1-4:8); baking barley loaves over human excrement, representing the unclean food the Israelites will eat in exile (4:12-4:13); shaving his head and beard with a sharp razor and burning a third of the hair in fire, striking another third with a sword, and scattering the last third in the wind. Even the death of the prophet's wife and his dramatic abstention from mourning serve as a powerful symbol of doom (24:15-24:23). Ezekiel's denunciation and his dramatic representations, though attracting a wide audience, were looked upon as a kind of entertainment (33:31-32). b) Chapters 25-32: Oracles of doom against foreign nations---Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Sidon, Tyre, and Egypt ---all severely denounced for their attitude toward Judah, particularly after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Tyre and Egypt are the main targets of the oracles. The acts of chastisement against the foreign nations are intended to achieve a grand divine purpose: the sanctification of God's name and the magnification of His glory. Each of the oracles against the nations includes variations of the well-known Ezekelian recognition formula: "That they may know that I am the Lord God." c) Chapters 33-48: Oracles of consolation and restoration. These chapters include the celebrated vision relating to the revival of the dry bones, symbolizing the Israelites in exile (ch. 37) and the Gog and Magog oracles (38-39). The last nine chapters of the book (40-48) provide visions of the new Jerusalem and a sketch of the constitution of the new Israel, centered around the newly restored sanctuary, to which the glory of God will return.

Ezekiel is noted for the introduction of unusual themes, some being unique to him, others the product of elaboration and forceful articulation of diverse biblical notions. They include: a) restoration of Israel as a coercive act of God; b) total rejection of corporate responsibility and a strong emphasis on the individual's responsibility for his own deeds; c) the Gog prophecy, in which he envisions a vast invasion by Gog and his hordes against the restored people of Israel which will be repelled. This victory will demonstrate God's superiority to the world.

The legal, ritual, and theological teachings contained in the Book of Ezekiel conflict in a number of points with those of the Torah. The rabbis were troubled by the many divergences and only admitted the book into the canon after long discussions. As the Talmud states it, the sages wished to exclude the book from the canon, until Hananiah son of Yehezkiah reconciled Ezekiel's rulings with Jewish law (Shab. 13b). Yet, because of the numerous rulings it contains and the prophecy concerning the rebuilding of the Temple, the book is considered by Jewish tradition to be the most sacrosanct of all books of the Bible after the Pentateuch. At the same time, the sages are adamant in asserting that there is no law originated by Ezekiel, for no prophet has the right to originate any new commandment. Instead, his work is seen as being based on the Oral Law, which, by tradition, was handed down with the Pentateuch and explains it. Ezekiel is often used by the sages to expound on the meaning of laws in the Pentateuch. The Book of Ezekiel is also the source for laws pertaining to Mourning, as deduced from Chapter 24 (MK 15a-b, 27b).

Scholars over the last century have disputed the unity and authorship of the book, with views ranging from a strictly traditional approach affirming its unity to a highly critical view questioning its unity, authorship, and date. Recent studies tend to a basically conservative approach, reaffirming the book's own assertions about the time and place of the prophet's proclamations while maintaining that portions of the text have been distorted by corruptions and are therefore confused.

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The book, which is presented in the first person, consists of 48 chapters; notwithstanding the occasional interweaving of heterogenous prophetic utterances, it may be thematically divided into the following sections: (a) Chapters 1-24: Denunciations addressed against Judah and Jerusalem. Ezekiel portrays a very gloomy picture of the entire history of Israel, as that of continuous sinfulness and rebellion against God. Consequently, his message is essentially one of utter and inevitable doom. The dramatic representations and bizarre symbolic acts which often accompany his utterances give color and forcefulness to his message. Notable among the acts representing the impending doom are the eating of a scroll in which "lamentations and mourning and woe" are inscribed (chaps. 2:9-3:3); the drawing of the city of Jerusalem on a clay tablet and raising a siege against it as a symbol of its fate (4:1-8); baking barley loaves over human excrement, representing the unclean food which the Israelites will eat in exile (4:12-13); shaving his head and beard with a sharp razor, and burning one third of the hair in the fire, striking another third with the sword and strewing the last in the wind. Even the death of the prophet's wife and his dramatic abstention from mourning serve as a powerful symbol of doom (24:15-23). The prophet also employs parables, one of which depicts Israel as a nymphomaniacal and depraved adultress (chaps. 16 and 23). It is hardly surprising that Ezekiel's denunciation and his dramatic representations, through attracting a wide audience, were looked upon as a sort of entertainment (33:31-32). (b) Chapters 25-32: Oracles of doom against foreign nations; Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Sidon, Tyre and Egypt – all severely denounced for their attitude toward Judah, particularly after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Most of the oracles are, however, directed against Tyre and Egypt. The acts of chastisement against the foreign nations are intended to achieve a grand divine purpose: the sanctification of God's name and the magnification of his glory. Indeed each of the oracles against the nations includes variations on the well-known Ezekielian recognition formula: "That they may know that I am the Lord God". (c) Chapters 33-48: Oracles of consolation and restoration. These chapters include the celebrated vision relating to the revival of the dry bones, symbolizing the Israelites in exile (chap. 37) and the Gog and Magog Oracles (chaps. 38-39). The last nine chapters of the Book (40-48) provide visions of the new Jerusalem and a sketch of the constitution of the new Israel, centered around the newly restored sanctuary, to which the glory of God returns. It should be noted that this last section employs a new literary genre, already introduced in previous contexts (3:14; 8:3): the transportation vision, in which Ezekiel feels lifted to Jerusalem by the spirit of God and guided by an angelic being. This literary category becomes more prominent in post-exilic writings (cf Zechariah and Daniel) and particularly in the apocalyptic literature.

Ezekiel is noted for the introduction of unusual themes, some being unique to him, others the products of elaboration and forceful articulation of scattered biblical notions. Among these are:

(a) The restoration of Israel, an overriding theme in biblical prophecy, is presented as a coercive act on the part of God; it will be forced upon the people of Israel, along with God's kingship, not for their own sake but for the sake of God himself. Israel's suffering and wretchedness, explains Ezekiel, not being commensurate with its attributes as "the people of the Lord," are understood by the nations as a sign of God's impotence and consequently greatly discredit God's reputation, causing his name to be profaned. Israel's redemption, a demonstration of God's supreme power, will, therefore, serve a grand divine purpose: the vindication of God's power and sanctification of his name (chap. 36).

(b) A total rejection of corporate responsibility and a strong emphasis on the individual's responsibility for his own deeds. There will be no vertical or horizontal bequeathal of sins or merits, declares Ezekiel: a son shall not suffer for the iniquity of his father, nor shall the father suffer for the iniquity of his son (18:20). Each will be judged according to his own ways. Ezekiel goes on to say that a person will not be judged by his past actions but by his new state of attitude toward God: a wicked person who casts off his past transgressions and carefully observes God's laws shall be forgiven. None of the sins he committed shall be held against him. Thus Ezekiel enunciated a powerful message of a highly rewarding repentance.

(c) The Gog Prophecy (chaps. 38-39), although spun with threads of motifs already familiar from other biblical contexts, is nevertheless one of the most enigmatic prophecies in the Bible. The prophet envisions a gigantic invasion of Gog and his hordes, who will advance against the restored people of Israel like a sudden storm, like a cloud to cover the earth (38:9), lured by wanton lust for spoil and stimulated by the prospect of easy victory against a people securely living in their habitation. The annihilation of the invaders on the mountains of Israel serves to reassert God's superiority. This resumption of hostilities, as well as the necessity of vindicating God's name after the restoration of Israel is, however, alien to the whole picture of the restoration as depicted in the Hebrew Scriptures, which envision the redemption of Israel as inaugurating a new age of perpetual peace, never to be disturbed again by hostile activities. It is also in disharmony with Ezekiel's own concept of the process of Israel's redemption (see e.g. Ezek 34:25-28). Moreover, the content, mood and outlook of the prophecy seems to be quite different from the rest of the Book of Ezekiel, which is usually anchored in a historical and realistic background. Even the visions of the restoration, despite their imaginative elements, are marked with clarity and precision, featuring such particulars as precise measurements and detailed cultic rules. In contrast, the Gog Prophecy embodies the totally unrealistic and imaginative. The elements of exaggeration and fantasy are so dominant that all logic and discipline of consistent thought are markedly absent. The prophecy does not supply any clue as to a time setting that can correspond to the historical events known to us, nor with any data that may correspond to any known historical context. The figure of Gog himself, the chief protagonist of this prophecy, has always been one of the enigmas of biblical prophecy. All the details of the prophecy indicate that Gog is to be perceived, not as a historical figure, but as a personification of the Foe of the North, embodying both cosmic destructiveness and demonic powers opposed to God, and historical enemies of Israel who appear in Israelite history in various guises. The prophecy, replete with obscurities and symbolic language, exhibits an esoteric character. It falls within the literary domains of the apocalyptic; there are suggestions that it is a product of post-exilic times and thus a late interpolation in the Book of Ezekiel.

The legal, ritual and theological teachings contained in the Book of Ezekiel conflict in a number of points with those of the Torah. For example, Ezekiel's statement that only priests who are descendants of Zadok may minister before God, and his relegation of all other priests to serve as Temple servants (44:10-15), is clearly in sharp contrast with the Deuteronomic and priestly codes, which place all the descendants of Aaron on an equal footing. The rabbis were troubled by the many divergences exhibited to the book and only admitted it to the Canon after long discussions.

Scholars over the past century have disputed the unity and authorship of the book with views ranging from a strictly traditional approach, affirming its unity, to a highly critical view questioning its unity, authorship and date. Recent studies tend to a basically conservative approach, adhering to the book's own assertions concerning the time and place of the prophet's proclamations while maintaining that portions of the text have been disfigured by corruptions and are therefore badly confused.

NT traces of the teachings of Ezekiel can be discerned most strikingly in the Book of Revelation (compare Rev 21:16 with Ezek 48:16, 30 and Rev 22:1 with Ezek 47:1), although there are no direct quotations.

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For a list of words related to Ezekiel, see:

• Old Testament

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See words rhyming with "Ezekiel."

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