Introduction to the Book of Ezekiel

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Introduction to the Book of Ezekiel
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1. Name

• Like its immediate predecessor in the Hebrew
  canon, the book of Ezekiel was name after its
  principal prophetic figure. His cognomen laqzxy
  probably means may God make strong. It is
  rendered VIezekih,l in the LXX and Ezechiel in
  the Vulgate. Apart from its two occurrences in
  the prophecy, the name of Ezekiel does not occur
  elsewhere in the Old Testament. Harrison, 822
• Everywhere else, some 93 times in all, Yahweh
  calls him mortal, my translation for the title
  conventionally and literally rendered as son of
  man. Klein, Ezekiel, 3 Note also that the
  NRSV uses Mortal

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2. Canonical Location

• Our Rabbis taught The order of the Prophets is,
  Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
  Isaiah, and the Twelve Minor Prophets. Let us
  examine this. Hosea came first, as it is written,
  God spake first to Hosea. But did God speak first
  to Hosea? Were there not many prophets between
  Moses and Hosea? R. Johanan, however, has
  explained that what It means is that he was the
  first of the four prophets who prophesied at that
  period, namely, Hosea, Isaiah, Amos and Micah.
  Should not then Hosea come first? Since his
  prophecy is written along with those of Haggai,
  Zechariah and Malachi, and Haggai, Zechariah and
  Malachi came at the end of the prophets, he is
  reckoned with them. But why should he not be
  written separately and placed first? Since his
  book is so small, it might be lost if copied
  separately. Let us see again. Isaiah was prior
  to Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Then why should not
  Isaiah be placed first? Because the Book of
  Kings ends with a record of destruction and
  Jeremiah speaks throughout of destruction and
  Ezekiel commences with destruction and ends with
  consolation and Isaiah is full of consolation
  therefore we put destruction next to destruction
  and consolation next to consolation. Talmud,
  Mas. Baba Bathra, 14b

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2. Canonical Location

• The shift was in the Middle ages in terms of the
  MT, while the English bible reflects the LXX by
  having Lamentations between Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

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3. Outline of General Schema

• 1. Chapters 1-24 Threats Against Judah and
  Jerusalem
• 2. Chapters 25-32 Threats Against Foreign Nations
• 3. Chapters 33-48 Promises for Ezekiels Nation

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4. Time Outline of Three Basic Periods

• 1. 593/2-587 BC Unconditional Destruction
• 2. 586-585 BC Period of Comfort
• 3. 585ff BC Unconditional Salvation

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5. Outline

• I. Judgments Against Judah and Jerusalem 1-24
• A. Introduction and Call Vision 1.1-3.3
• B. Instructions to Ezekiel 3.4-21
• C. Symbolic and Oracular Judgments 3.22-7.27
• D. Vision of the Judgment of Jerusalem 8.1-11.25
• E. Oracles Predicting the Captivity of Jerusalem
  12.1-19.14
• F. Final Warnings prior to the Fall of the City
  20.1-24.27

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5. Outline

• II. Oracles Against the Foreign Nations 25-32
• A. Against Ammon 25.1-7
• B. Against Moab 25.8-11
• C. Against Edom 25.12-14
• D. Against Philistia 25.15-17
• E. Against Tyre 26.1-28.19
• F. Against Sidon 28.20-26
• G. Against Egypt 29.1-32.32

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5. Outline

• III. Prophecies of Hope after the Fall of
  Jerusalem 33-48
• A. The New Covenant 33.1-22
• B. Spiritual Revival 34.1-31
• C. The Devastation of Edom 35.1-15
• D. The Restoration of Israel 36.1-37.28
• E. The Gog Battle 38.1-39.29
• F. The Temple in the Vision 40.1-46.24
• G. The Land in the Vision 47.1-48.35

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5. Outline

• Note Two Structural Keys
• The reuse of the Ezekiels commissioning as a
  watchman in chaps. 3 and 33.
• The series of visions of Gods glory in 1, 8-11,
  43.

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6. Authorship

• According to the traditions preserved in
  rabbinic circles, the men of the Great Synagogue
  wrote Ezekiel and the Twelve, a statement that
  probably means that they edited or copied out the
  book. There was some dispute between leading
  rabbinic scholars concerning its genuineness,
  however. The school of Shammai repudiated the
  prophecy, holding it to be apocryphal on the
  ground that the first ten chapters appeared to be
  theosophical in character, and that the book
  conflicted at certain important points with the
  Torah, which for them was the norm of canonical
  Scripture. In this connection the school of
  Shammai pointed out that, whereas the Torah
  required two bullocks, seven lambs, and one ram
  as the new moon offering (Num 28.11), Ezekiel
  prescribed only one unblemished bullock, six
  lambs, and one ram (Ezk 46.6).Harrison, 823

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6. Authorship

• The Men of the Great Assembly wrote (Mnemonic
  KNDG) Ezekiel, the Twelve Minor Prophets, Daniel
  and the Scroll of Esther. Talmud, Mas. Baba
  Bathra, 14b

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6. Authorship

• Six main reasons for ascribing the book to a
  single author, the prophet Ezekiel Taylor, John
  B. Tyndal Old Testament Commentaries Ezekiel,
  14-16
• The book has a balanced structure... and this
  logical arrangement extends from Chapter 1 to 48.
  There are no breaks in the continuity of the
  prophecy, except where (as in the case of the
  oracles against the nations, 25-32) this is done
  for deliberate effect. Taylor, 14

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6. Authorship

• The message of the book has an inner consistency
  which fits in with the structural balance. The
  center-point is the fall of Jerusalem and the
  destruction of the Temple. Taylor, 15
• The book shows a remarkable uniformity of style
  and language. This is largely due to the
  repetitious phraseology. Taylor, 15
• The book has a clear chronological sequence,
  with dates appearing at 1.1, 2 8.1 20.1 24.1
  26.1 29.1 30.20 31.1 32.1, 17 33.21 40.1.
  Taylor, 15

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6. Authorship

• Unlike Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos and
  Zechariah, which all combine material in the
  first and third persons singular, a feature which
  is usually regarded as a sure sign of editorial
  compilation, Ezekiel is written
  autobiographically throughout. The only exception
  is the duplicated introduction (1.2,3), which
  looks very much as if it was an editors
  explanation of an opening verse.... Taylor, 16
• The picture of the character and personality of
  Ezekiel appears consistent through the whole
  book there is the same earnestness, the same
  eccentricity, the same priestly love of
  symbolism, the same fastidious concern with
  detail, the same sense of the majesty and
  transcendence of God. Taylor, 16

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7. Dates in Ezekiel

• This book, unlike any other, specifically dates
  several of its sections. Albright and others are
  right in accepting the correctness of these dates
  and in understanding them as reckoned from the
  time of Jehoiachins captivity, which would also
  coincide with the year of his reign. The
  thirtieth year mentioned in 1.1 refers to the
  thirtieth year of Jehoiachin, who was still
  considered the rightful ruler of the exile
  nation, and it was in their thirtieth year that
  Ezekiel or some editor published his book. The
  twelfth year in Eze. 32.1 33.21 should be read
  the eleventh year. Otherwise the dates are
  substantially correct however, all the material
  appears between two dates should not be
  understood as being in proper chronological
  sequence. The general date for Ezekiel must
  therefore remain the first half of the sixth
  century until such times as new evidence is
  discovered. Howie, C.G. Ezekiel, IDB, 207

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8. Style Form in Ezekiel

• 8.1 Dramatic Signs and Symbolic Actions
• 3.22-27 4.1-5.17 12.1-20 21.6-7, 18-23
  24.15-24, 25-27 33.21-22.
• They are not to be seen as magical acts, but
  rather as a form of teaching aid they have a
  performative character that makes them a kind of
  street theater to provoke the people to listen.
  Boadt, ABD, II, 716b-717a

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8. Style Form in Ezekiel

• 8.2 Ecstatic Prophecy Forms
• Close paralleling of the pre-classical prophets
  like Elijah, Elisha and even Balaam.
• the hand of YHWH fell upon me 1.3 3.22
  33.22 37.1 with 1 Kgs 18.46 (Elijah) and 2 Kgs
  3.15 (Elisha).
• the Spirit of YHWH coming on him 2.2 3.12
  8.3 37.1 with Elijahs 1 Kgs 18.12 and 2 Kgs
  2.16. Also note Num 11.17-19 24.2 2 Sam 23.2.
  The prophetic schools also 1 Sam 10.6, 10
  19.20, 23.

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8. Style Form in Ezekiel

• 8.2 Ecstatic Prophecy Forms
• Sitting at home for the elders visit 14.1 20.1
  33.31 with Elisha in 2 Kgs 6.32.
• Acting out his own words as a lesson Elijah in 1
  Kgs 19.9 and Ahijah in 1 Kgs 11.29-30.
• 8.3 Special and Unusual Vocabulary
• ...there are 130 words found only in Ezekiel, or
  overwhelmingly found in this book. Boadt, ABD,
  II, 718a
• Special use Son of Man as I live the
  oracle of the Lord (x85) I the Lord have
  spoken Behold, I am against you the word of
  the Lord came to me

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8. Style Form in Ezekiel

• 8.3 Special and Unusual Vocabulary
• that you (or they) may know / that I am the
  Lord. The last section is related to the
  Holiness codes because I am the Lord
• 8.4 Artistic Devices
• Alliteration, assonance, chiasmus, the breakup
  of stereotyped expressions, heightened imagery,
  climatic series, polarity, intentional
  repetitions and rhetorical euphemisms are
  common. Boadt, ABD, II, 718b

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8. Style Form in Ezekiel

• 8.4 Artistic Devices
• When combined with the other patterns, such as
  the use of allegorical and mythological language,
  it would be better to identify the style of most
  oracles as a kind of artistic prose, what the
  Germans call Kunstprosa, which owes more to
  poetry than to ordinary narrative or legal
  prose. Boadt, ABD, II, 718b

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9. Historical Background

• 9.1 Life in Judah
• 9.1.1 Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians
  in March 597 BC.
• 9.1.2 Second capture in 587 or 586.
• II Kings verses Jeremiah 40
• The removal of the landed citizens, officials
  and priests was probably partial, though it seems
  clear that a considerable social revolution was
  affected by the raising to position of greater
  influence of those who could be described as the
  poor of the land (dallat haarets), the
  presumably property less members of the community
  who now came to be landholders or tenants under
  the Babylonian authority, perhaps occupying royal
  lands, perhaps also taking over lands which had
  been expropriated from other property-owners.
  Ackroyd, Exile and Restoration, 23-24

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9. Historical Background

• 9.1 Life in Judah
• 9.1.2 Second capture in 587 or 586.
• Peoples Attitude 11.3, 15 9.9b 33.24
• It is reasonable also to assume ...that there
  were many refugees from the Babylonian attacks
  who hid themselves in caves as their forefathers
  had done before them (Judg. 6.1ff) and as their
  descendants were to do in later years. Ackroyd,
  Exile and Restoration, 24

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9. Historical Background

• 9.1 Life in Judah
• 9.1.3 Temple Conditions
• Possible continuation of sacred-site idea by
  means of prayer instead of sacrifice.
• Eze 8-10 Jer 7.17-19 44.15-18
• Whisper that Yahweh is not just Eze 18.2, 25
  Jer 31.29

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9. Historical Background

• 9.2 Life in Babylon
• 9.2.1 General Life Conditions
• A tantalizingly allusive piece of information
  about food allocations made to Jehoiachin and his
  family as well as to various craftsmen from
  Jerusalem, leaves us in doubt as to whether the
  exiles were treated as captives in the strictest
  sense, kept on small rations, or whether they
  were given reasonably generous allocations. II
  Kings 24.14,16 The subsequent reference to the
  release of Jehoiachin indicates imprisonment, but
  we have no means of knowing whether the
  imprisonment was constrictive or reasonably
  humane, except that it is clear that Jehoiachins
  royal status was acknowledged. Ackroyd, Exile
  and Restoration, 31

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9. Historical Background

• 9.2 Life in Babylon
• 9.2.1 General Life Conditions
• Indirect information from Ezekiel and Jeremiah
  Here the indications are of reasonable freedom,
  of settlement in communities - perhaps engaged in
  work for the Babylonians, but possibly simply
  engaged in normal agricultural life - of the
  possibility of marriage, of the ordering of their
  own affairs, of relative prosperity. Ackroyd,
  Exile and Restoration, 32) Note the location of
  Eze (3.15).
• The ideas found in Psalm 137 and the distress of
  Ezekiel 4.14, the complaining of the injustice in
  Ezekiel 18 and the impossibility of escaping
  divine judgment in Ezekiel 37 set the mood of the
  Exile.

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9. Historical Background

• 9.2 Life in Babylon
• 9.2.1 Worship in Exile
• Although many have argued for the beginning of
  the synagogues in the exile, there is no clear
  foundation. Note however Kraus, Worship in
  Israel, 229-31.
• The sabbath and circumcision rites came into
  prominence. Ackroyd, Exile and Restoration, 35f
  

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9. Historical Background

• 9.3 Theological Challenges
• Almost all of the old symbol systems had been
  rendered useless. Almost all the old institutions
  no longer functioned. What kind of future was
  possible for a people which traced its unique
  election to a God who had just lost a war to
  other deities? What kind of future was possible
  for a people who had so alienated their God that
  categorical rejection was his necessary
  response. Klein, Israel in Exile, 5

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9. Historical Background

• 9.3.1 The Destruction of the Temple
• Considered the footstool of God (Lam.2.1),
  hwhys dwelling place (1 Kings 8.13 Ezk.43.7),
  his resting place (Ps.132.1), or the place where
  his face was to be seen (Isa. 1.12 BHS), it had
  also opened the door to Canaanite influences and
  to the motion that God was the guarantor of the
  status quo. Klein, Israel in Exile, 3
• ...the temple was a tangible symbol of the
  peoples election and a reminder of Gods
  unfailing actions in history on their behalf.
  Klein, Israel in Exile, 3

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9. Historical Background

• 9.3.1 The Destruction of the Temple
• Note the Temple Sermons of Jeremiah in Jer 7, 26.
• The temples destruction called God into
  question either there were deities stronger than
  or superior to hwhy, or for some reason hwhy had
  rejected his own people and his own place.
  Klein, Israel in Exile, 3-4

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9. Historical Background

• 9.3.2 The of the Davidic Dynasty
• Kings had come and gone, but kingship itself and
  the state had endured through thick and thin. Now
  Zedekiah had been captured, his two sons had been
  murdered before his eyes, and then he had been
  blinded, His nephew, Jehoiachin, king himself for
  only three months in 597, sat in a Babylonian
  prison. Klein, Israel in Exile, 4

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9. Historical Background

• 9.3.3 The Promised Land Lost
• The promises of land and descendants were the
  key items from the patriarchal tradition. hwhy
  was the owner of the land, and his gift of the
  land to Israel was hailed by the Deuteronomist
  and by the psalmists, among others. The land,
  Israels inheritance, was now in the hands of the
  foreigners. Klein, Israel, in Exile, 4

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9. Historical Background

• 9.3.4 The Broken Covenant
• Covenant broken by Israel in spite of Josiahs
  attempt to revive Israel. As Jeremiah saw it, the
  covenant was broken. (Jer. 31.32)
• The problem of the decimation of the priesthood
  thought exile and execution and by the cessation
  of sacrifices.