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Introduction
to Ezekiel
This summary of the book of Ezekiel provides information about the
title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a
brief overview, and the chapters of the Book of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel lived during a time of international upheaval. The
Assyrian empire that had once conquered the Syro-Palestinian area and destroyed
the northern kingdom of Israel (which fell to the Assyrians in 722-721 b.c.)
began to crumble under the blows of a resurgent Babylon. In 612 the great
Assyrian city of Nineveh fell to a combined force of Babylonians and Medes.
Three years later, Pharaoh Neco II of Egypt marched north to assist the
Assyrians and to try to reassert Egypt's age-old influence over Canaan and Aram
(Syria). At Megiddo, King Josiah of Judah, who may have been an ally of Babylon
as King Hezekiah had been, attempted to intercept the Egyptian forces but was
crushed, losing his life in the battle (see 2Ki 23:29-30; 2Ch 35:20-24).
Jehoahaz, a son of Josiah, ruled Judah for only three months,
after which Neco installed Jehoiakim, another son of Josiah, as his royal
vassal in Jerusalem (609 b.c.). In 605 the Babylonians overwhelmed the Egyptian
army at Carchemish (see Jer 46:2), then pressed south as far as the
Philistine plain. In the same year, Nebuchadnezzar was elevated to the
Babylonian throne and Jehoiakim shifted allegiance to him. When a few years
later the Egyptian and Babylonian forces met in a standoff battle, Jehoiakim
rebelled against his new overlord.
Nebuchadnezzar soon responded by sending a force against
Jerusalem, subduing it in 597 b.c. Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin and about 10,000
Jews (see 2Ki 24:14), including Ezekiel, were exiled to
Babylon, where they joined those who had been exiled in Jehoiakim's "third
year" (see Da 1:1 and note). Nebuchadnezzar placed
Jehoiachin's uncle, Zedekiah, on the throne in Jerusalem, but within five or
six years he too rebelled. The Babylonians laid siege to Jerusalem in 588, and
in July, 586, the walls were breached and the city plundered. On Aug. 14, 586,
the city and temple were burned.
Under Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, Babylon dominated the
international scene until it was crushed by Cyrus the Persian in 539 b.c. The
reign of the house of David came to an end; the kingdom of Judah ceased to be
an independent nation; Jerusalem and the Lord's temple lay in ruins.
What is known of Ezekiel is derived solely from the book that
bears his name. He was among the Jews exiled to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in
597 b.c., and there among the exiles he received his call to become a prophet
(see 1:1-3). He was married (see 24:15-18), lived in a house of his own (see 3:24; 8:1)
and along with his fellow exiles, though confined to Babylonia, had a
relatively free existence there.
He was of a priestly family (see NIV text note on 1:3)
and therefore was eligible to serve as a priest. As a priest-prophet called to
minister to the exiles (separated from the temple of the Lord with its
symbolism, sacrifices, priestly ministrations and worship rituals), his message
had much to do with the temple (see especially chs. 8
- 11; 40
- 48) and its ceremonies.
Ezekiel was obviously a man of broad knowledge, not only of his
own national traditions but also of international affairs and history. His
acquaintance with general matters of culture, from shipbuilding to literature,
is equally amazing. He was gifted with a powerful intellect and was capable of
grasping large issues and of dealing with them in grand and compelling images.
His style is often detached, but in places it is passionate and earthy (see
chs. 16; 23).
More than any other prophet (more even than Hosea and Jeremiah) he
was directed to involve himself personally in the divine word by acting it out
in prophetic symbolism.
Though Ezekiel lived with his fellow exiles in Babylon, his divine
call forced him to suppress any natural expectations he may have had of an
early return to an undamaged Jerusalem. For the first seven years of his
ministry (593-586 b.c.) he faithfully relayed to his fellow Jews the stern,
heart-rending, hope-crushing word of divine judgment: Because of all her sins,
Jerusalem would fall (see chs. 1
- 24). The fact that Israel was God's covenant
people and that Jerusalem was the city of his temple would not bring their
early release from exile or prevent Jerusalem from being destroyed (see Jer 29-30). The only hope the prophet was
authorized to extend to his hearers was that of living at peace with themselves
and with God during their exile.
After being informed by the Lord that Jerusalem was under siege
and would surely fall (24:1-14), Ezekiel was told that his beloved wife
would soon die. The delight of his eyes would be taken from him just as the
temple, the delight of Israel's eyes, would be taken from her. He was not to
mourn openly for his wife, as a sign to his people not to mourn openly for
Jerusalem (24:15-27). He was then directed to pronounce a
series of judgments on the seven nations of Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre,
Sidon and Egypt (chs. 25 - 32).
The day of God's wrath was soon to come, but not on Israel alone.
Once news was received that Jerusalem had fallen, Ezekiel's
message turned to the Lord's consoling word of hope for his people -- they
would experience revival, restoration and a glorious future as the redeemed and
perfected kingdom of God in the world (chs. 33
- 48).
Since the book of Ezekiel contains more dates than any other OT
prophetic book, its prophecies can be dated with considerable precision. In
addition, modern scholarship, using archaeology (Babylonian annals on cuneiform
tablets) and astronomy (accurate dating of eclipses referred to in ancient
archives), provides precise modern calendar equivalents.
Twelve of the 13 dates specify times when Ezekiel received a
divine message. The other is the date of the arrival of the messenger who
reported the fall of Jerusalem (33:21).
Having received his call in July, 593 b.c., Ezekiel was active for
22 years, his last dated oracle being received in April, 571 (see 29:17). If the "thirtieth year" of 1:1
refers to Ezekiel's age at the time of his call, his prophetic career exceeded
a normal priestly term of service by two years (see Nu
4:3). His period of activity coincides with Jerusalem's darkest
hour, preceding the 586 destruction by 7 years and following it by 15.
The OT in general and the prophets in particular presuppose and
teach God's sovereignty over all creation, over people and nations and the
course of history. And nowhere in the Bible are God's initiative and control
expressed more clearly and pervasively than in the book of Ezekiel. From the
first chapter, which graphically describes the overwhelming invasion of the
divine presence into Ezekiel's world, to the last phrase of Ezekiel's vision
("the Lord is there") the book sounds and echoes God's sovereignty.
This sovereign God resolved that he would be known and
acknowledged. Approximately 65 occurrences of the clause (or variations)
"Then they will know that I am the Lord" testify to that divine
desire and intention (see note on 6:7).
Overall, chs. 1 - 24
teach that God will be revealed in the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of
the temple; chs. 25 - 32
teach that the nations likewise will know God through his judgments; and chs. 33
- 48 promise that God will be known through the
restoration and spiritual renewal of Israel.
God's total sovereignty is also evident in his mobility. He is not
limited to the temple in Jerusalem. He can respond to his people's sin by
leaving his sanctuary in Israel, and he can graciously condescend to visit his
exiled children in Babylon.
God is free to judge, and he is equally free to be gracious. His
stern judgments on Israel ultimately reflect his grace. He allows the total
dismemberment of Israel's political and religious life so that her renewed life
and his presence with her will be clearly seen as a gift from the Lord of the
universe.
Furthermore, as God's spokesman, Ezekiel's "son of man"
status (see note on 2:1) testifies to the sovereign God he was
commissioned to serve.
The three major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel) and Zephaniah
all have the same basic sequence of messages: (1) oracles against Israel, (2)
oracles against the nations, (3) consolation for Israel. In no other book is
this pattern clearer than in Ezekiel (see Outline).
Besides clarity of structure, the book of Ezekiel reveals
symmetry. The vision of the desecrated temple fit for destruction (chs. 8
- 11) is balanced by the vision of the restored
and purified temple (chs. 40
- 48). The God presented in agitated wrath (ch. 1)
is also shown to be a God of comfort ("the Lord is there," 48:35). Ezekiel's call to be a watchman announcing
divine judgment (ch. 3) is balanced by his call to be a watchman
announcing the new age to follow (ch. 33).
In one place (ch. 6) the mountains of Israel receive a prophetic
rebuke, but in another (ch. 36)
they are consoled.
Prophetic books are usually largely poetic, the prophets
apparently having spoken in imaginative and rhythmic styles. Most of Ezekiel,
however, is prose, perhaps due to his priestly background. His repetitions have
an unforgettable hammering effect, and his priestly orientation is also reflected
in a case-law type of sentence (compare 3:19, "If you do warn the wicked .
. .," with Ex 21:2, "If you buy a Hebrew servant . .
.").
The book contains four major visions (chs. 1
- 3; 8
- 11; 37:1-14; 40
- 48) and 12 symbolic acts (3:22-26; 4:1-3; 4:4-8; 4:9-11; 4:12-14; 5:1-3; 12:1-16; 12:17-20; 21:6-7; 21:18-24; 24:15-24; 37:15-28). Five messages are in the form of
parables (chs. 15 - 17;
19; 23).
Other prophets deal largely with Israel's idolatry, with her moral
corruption in public and private affairs, and with her international intrigues
and alliances on which she relied instead of the Lord. They announce God's
impending judgment on his rebellious nation but speak also of a future
redemption: a new exodus, a new covenant, a restored Jerusalem, a revived
Davidic dynasty, a worldwide recognition of the Lord and his Messiah and a
paradise-like peace.
The contours and sweep of Ezekiel's message are similar, but he
focuses uniquely on Israel as the holy people of the holy temple, the holy city
and the holy land. By defiling her worship, Israel had rendered herself unclean
and had defiled temple, city and land. From such defilement God could only
withdraw and judge his people with national destruction.
But God's faithfulness to his covenant and his desire to save were
so great that he would revive his people once more, shepherd them with
compassion, cleanse them of all their defilement, reconstitute them as a
perfect expression of his kingdom under the hand of "David" (34:23-24), overwhelm all the forces and powers
arrayed against them, display his glory among the nations and restore the glory
of his presence to the holy city.
Ezekiel powerfully depicts the grandeur and glory of God's
sovereign rule (see Themes) and his holiness, which he jealously safeguards.
The book's theological center is the unfolding of God's saving purposes in the
history of the world -- from the time in which he must withdraw from the defilement
of his covenant people to the culmination of his grand design of redemption.
The message of Ezekiel, which is ultimately eschatological, anticipates -- even
demands -- God's future works in history proclaimed by the NT.
I.
Oracles of Judgment against Israel (chs. 1-24)
A.
Ezekiel's Inaugural Vision (chs. 1-3)
B.
Symbolic Acts Portraying the Siege of Jerusalem (chs. 4-5)
C.
Oracles of Divine Judgment (chs. 6-7)
D.
Corruption of the Temple and Its Consequences (chs. 8-11)
E.
Ezekiel Symbolizes the Exile of Jerusalem (ch.
12)
F.
Oracles concerning God's Judgment on Judah (13:1;24:14)
G.
The Death of Ezekiel's Wife Symbolizes Jerusalem's Fall (24:15-27)
II.
Oracles of Judgment against the Nations (chs. 25-32)
III.
Oracles of Consolation for Israel (chs. 33-48)
──《New
International Version》
Introduction to Ezekiel
Ezekiel was one of the priests; he was
carried captive to Chaldea with Jehoiachin. All his prophecies appear to have
been delivered in that country, at some place north of Babylon. Their chief
object appears to have been to comfort his brethren in captivity. He is
directed to warn of the dreadful calamities coming upon Judea, particularly
upon the false prophets, and the neighbouring nations. Also to announce the
future restoration of Israel and Judah from their several dispersions, and
their happy state in their latter days, under the Messiah. Much of Christ will
be found in this book, especially in the conclusion.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Ezekiel》
00 Overview
EZEKIEL
INTRODUCTION
The Author of the Book
Ezekiel’s name, God will strengthen, like the names of so
many others of the saints of old, was singularly appropriate to his life and
work. He speaks of himself (Ezekiel 1:3) as a “priest, the son of
Buzi.” Of Buzi trothing whatever is known; but the fact that Ezekiel himself
was of the Aaronic family is a most important one in the interpretation of his
writings; for he was evidently “every inch a churchman,” and his strong
ecclesiastical character pervades and gives tone to his prophecies. Whether he
actually entered upon the exercise of priestly functions at Jerusalem cannot be
known without a previous determination of the uncertain question of the age at
which he was carried into captivity; but he was certainly well-instructed in
what seemed likely to be his future duties. These facts, taken in connection
with the disordered condition of the country, and the tendency to concentrate
the priests in and around the holy city, make it probable that he lived in
Jerusalem or its immediate vicinity. The prophet was carried captive to Babylon
with the King Jehoiachin (Ezekiel 1:2; cp. with Ezekiel 33:21) in the eighth year of the
reign of Nebuchadnezzar (B.C. 596), ten thousand of the more important part of
the people being transplanted to Babylonia at the same time (2 Kings 24:14), eleven years before
the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. According to Josephus (Ant. 10.6,
3), he was then a young man. However this may be, it is certain that he entered
on his prophetic activity “by the river Chebar” (Ezekiel 1:3), where the mass of the
captives had been planted. Recent authorities generally identify it with the Nahr
Malcha, or royal canal of Nebuchadnezzar, on the excavation of which it is
supposed that the Jewish captives were employed for a time. These were
doubtless “the rivers of Babylon” by whose side the Jewish exiles wept when
they “remembered Zion” (Psalms 137:1). Here Ezekiel lived in his
own house (Ezekiel 8:1), to which the elders of
Judah resorted to receive his counsels. He was married, and when his wife died
suddenly, he was forbidden to mourn for her (Ezekiel 24:16-17). This occurred near the
close of the ninth year of his captivity (Ezekiel 24:1), and left the exiled
prophet to bear in solitude the great trials of his prophetic life. There is no
record of the time of the close of his prophetic activity or of his life, and
the few traditions that remain about him are of little value. (F. Gardiner,
D. D.)
Authorship of the Book of Ezekiel
The authorship of the book has not been seriously assailed,
although the Talmud asserts that it was written by the Great Synagogue, of
which Ezekiel was not a member; and Zunz dated it about 400 B.C. Keil and
Kuenen make Ezekiel both its author and editor; Ewald detects obvious traces of
later elaboration, and suggests that the collection and combination of the
various prophecies into a book may not have been the prophet’s own doing. Graf
believed Ezekiel also the author of part of Leviticus (chaps. 18-23, 25, 26),
and has been followed by many supporters (Chambers’s Encyclopaedia.)
Literary Style of the Book
The style of the book exhibits a falling off from the idiomatic
purity of earlier writers, like Amos or Isaiah. The influence of Aramaic is
more perceptible than in any previous prophet; the construction is loose, and,
as a rule, prosaic; the constant recurrence of mannerisms and set phrases is at
times monotonous, although the lack of variety is often compensated by a large
rhythmic movement of the thought, running like a ground swell through some of
the longer orations. It is, on the whole, the careful style of a literary man,
rather than that of a public speaker in living touch with his audience. With
obscurity it cannot fairly be charged, for the serious difficulties which the
book presents are mostly due to the imperfect condition of the text. Of the
higher qualities of Ezekiel’s genius, the most striking is a powerful and
grandiose imagination, which reveals itself in a variety of directions--now
revelling in weird mythological conceptions, and at other times clothing itself
in artificial realism. That there was a vein of true poetry in his nature is
proved by his effective use of the Kinah or dirge, as well as by the
many fine images which ocour throughout the book. His first conceptions,
indeed, are almost invariably beautiful and true, although to our minds their
aesthetic effect is frequently lost through over-elaboration. Ezekiel is
perhaps not more deficient in plastic power than Hebrew writers generally; but
in his case the defect is more apparent from his love of detail, and his
anxiety to exhaust the didactic significance of every conception before he can
persuade himself to let it go. On the other hand, the prophet’s talent for
lucid and methodical exposition appears to advantage when he comes to deal with
practical and technical matters, as in the description of the sanctuary (chap.
40 ff.). A certain architectural faculty is, in truth, a marked characteristic
of his intellect, being visible alike in his plan of the temple buildings, in his
sketch of the theocratic institutions, and in the orderly arrangement and
division of the book. (John Skinner, D. D.)
The Style of Ezekiel
The visions of Ezekiel are more elaborate and complex than those
of the earlier prophets. Compare, for example, in the opening consecration
vision of Ezekiel, the appearance of the wheels and living creatures (occupying
twenty-five verses in the first chapter) with the more simple and sublime
imagery of Isaiah’s consecration vision (Isaiah 6:1-13). There is a strongly
marked preference by Ezekiel for symbol and parable in his prophetic teaching,
but in comparison with Isaiah and Jeremiah, the representations are far more
overladen with detail, and though there is a certain majestic stateliness of
effect, the total impression falls short of that which is produced by the
earlier prophets. Ezekiel possessed a very keen sense of minute detail, and he
evidently possessed a retentive memory and a mind richly stored with varied and
special information. Of this characteristic a remarkable example is presented
in his oracles on Tyre, especially chap. 27, with its long and elaborate
enumeration of the nationalities and articles of commerce in which they traded
with the great Phoenician emporium. Ezekiel was essentially a literary prophet.
To a far larger extent than in any of his predecessors do we find in him the
reflections of ideas already presented in older literature. His obligations to
his elder contemporary, Jeremiah, are numerous and remarkable (cp. Jeremiah 1:17 with Ezekiel 2:6, and Jeremiah 1:8; Jeremiah 1:17; Jeremiah 15:20 with Ezekiel 3:8 ff., and Jeremiah 24:7; Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:39 with Ezekiel 11:19-20). But he was evidently
an attentive student of earlier oracles. Chap. 16, the highly wrought parable
of the faithless Jerusalem, is evidently based on the leading conception of
Hosea’s oracles, the infidelity of Israel to her Lord Jehovah, shown in foreign
alliances and the adoption of the cult of neighbouring peoples. Isaiah had
already applied the same image to Jerusalem (Isaiah 1:21). That Ezekiel consciously
borrowed from earlier oracles, and was a student of patriarchal histories, is
clear from Ezekiel 38:17; Ezekiel 39:8; Ezekiel 14:14. Moreover, Ezekiel
reproduces the tradition inaugurated by Amos and developed by Isaiah, of
delivering “utterances” (called in the A.V. “burdens”) against foreign nations.
The foreign policy of Ezekiel, it may be observed, closely follows the lines already
marked out by Isaiah and Jeremiah, namely, avoidance of Egypt as an ally. After
the overthrow of Assyria, Babylonia became the dominant power of Western Asia,
and Ezekiel followed Jeremiah in advocating friendship with Nebuchadnezzar. It
is quite evident that, during the lifetime of Ezekiel, there were no signs of
the decay which soon overtook Babylonia after that monarch’s death. (O. C.
Whitehouse, D. D.)
The Contents of the Book
The book seems to be arranged chronologically, and naturally falls
into two divisions of twenty-four chapters each, corresponding to the two great
periods of the prophet’s life. He saw the national catastrophe and survived it,
and his book is occupied with two great subjects--
I. The ruin of the
city and state (1-24).
II. Prophecies of
future restoration and glory (25-48). The treatment throughout is highly
symbolical; and chaps. 40-48, are quite unique in Old Testament literature.
1. The first division (chaps. 1-24) consists of the following
parts:--
2. The second division (chaps. 25-48) consists of the following
parts:
3. The symbolism which is characteristic of Ezekiel’s style shows
itself--
With one of the grandest of these the book opens
The Teaching of Ezekiel
In his teaching Ezekiel shows that he had been influenced by that
of Jeremiah; and he carries out into greater detail, and enforces with more
emphasis, the great truths which that prophet taught. In particular--
1. He insists upon the responsibility of the individual; combating
the prevailing ideas of his time, that the people suffered for the sins of
their fathers (Ezekiel 18:2), and that they were under a
ban which no repentance could remove (Ezekiel 33:10).
2. Like Jeremiah, he pronounces condemnation on the past history of
Israel, and accuses them of idolatry even in Egypt (16, 20:7, 8, 23:3, 8, cp. Jeremiah 7:25; Jeremiah 16:12).
3. Being of priestly family, like Jeremiah, he shows great zeal for
the law (20) and clothes his vision of the final glory in forms borrowed from the
temple and its service (40-48). Yet no two prophets teach more distinctively
the inward spiritual character of religion.
4. Though the new order of things is to be based on individual heart
religion, it will be a Messianic kingdom (Ezekiel 17:22-24), with “David” as prince
forever (Ezekiel 37:24-25). (James Robertson,
D. D.)
Effect of Ezekiel’s Prophecies
From Ezekiel 2:6; Ezekiel 3:7-11, we infer that Ezekiel’s
prophetic declarations awakened at first dislike, and even demonstrations of
hostility, but indications are not wanting that afterwards they secured for him
respectful attention. The exiled elders became his willing listeners and sought
his counsel (Ezekiel 8:1; Ezekiel 14:1 ff; Ezekiel 20:1; Ezekiel 24:18; Ezekiel 33:21 ff.). But Ezekiel 33:32 clearly shows that the impression
which he made upon his hearers was superficial, and that his addresses
attracted them by their beauty of form and their rich imaginative colouring. (O.
C. Whitehouse, D. D.)
Ezekiel’s Place in History
Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, belongs to the stormy transition time of
the Jewish race. He beheld in his early youth those tragic scenes which the
elder prophet heralded with warning voice. Like Jeremiah, he saw his nation’s
midnight darkness, and it was his eagle eye which was to pierce the darkness
and discern clearly the first streaks of dawn. The new Babylonian empire had
succeeded the rapid downfall of the great Northern Assyrian power which, after
the brilliant reign of Asurbanipal, had so suddenly collapsed. The succession
of Babylonia to the inheritance was the more easy because its language and
literature were so nearly the same. Indeed, it possessed a literature, a
language, and a civilisation which was far more ancient; in fact, it was the
parent out of which Assyria was born. Nebucadrezzar, son of Nabopolassar, was
the Babylonian ruler who succeeded to the proud position of the Assyrian
monarch (605 B.C.). (O. C. Whitehouse, D. D.)
.
EZEKIEL
INTRODUCTION
The Author of the Book
Ezekiel’s name, God will strengthen, like the names of so
many others of the saints of old, was singularly appropriate to his life and
work. He speaks of himself (Ezekiel 1:3) as a “priest, the son of
Buzi.” Of Buzi trothing whatever is known; but the fact that Ezekiel himself
was of the Aaronic family is a most important one in the interpretation of his
writings; for he was evidently “every inch a churchman,” and his strong
ecclesiastical character pervades and gives tone to his prophecies. Whether he
actually entered upon the exercise of priestly functions at Jerusalem cannot be
known without a previous determination of the uncertain question of the age at
which he was carried into captivity; but he was certainly well-instructed in
what seemed likely to be his future duties. These facts, taken in connection
with the disordered condition of the country, and the tendency to concentrate
the priests in and around the holy city, make it probable that he lived in
Jerusalem or its immediate vicinity. The prophet was carried captive to Babylon
with the King Jehoiachin (Ezekiel 1:2; cp. with Ezekiel 33:21) in the eighth year of the
reign of Nebuchadnezzar (B.C. 596), ten thousand of the more important part of
the people being transplanted to Babylonia at the same time (2 Kings 24:14), eleven years before
the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. According to Josephus (Ant. 10.6,
3), he was then a young man. However this may be, it is certain that he entered
on his prophetic activity “by the river Chebar” (Ezekiel 1:3), where the mass of the
captives had been planted. Recent authorities generally identify it with the Nahr
Malcha, or royal canal of Nebuchadnezzar, on the excavation of which it is
supposed that the Jewish captives were employed for a time. These were
doubtless “the rivers of Babylon” by whose side the Jewish exiles wept when
they “remembered Zion” (Psalms 137:1). Here Ezekiel lived in his
own house (Ezekiel 8:1), to which the elders of
Judah resorted to receive his counsels. He was married, and when his wife died
suddenly, he was forbidden to mourn for her (Ezekiel 24:16-17). This occurred near the
close of the ninth year of his captivity (Ezekiel 24:1), and left the exiled prophet
to bear in solitude the great trials of his prophetic life. There is no record
of the time of the close of his prophetic activity or of his life, and the few
traditions that remain about him are of little value. (F. Gardiner, D. D.)
Authorship of the Book of Ezekiel
The authorship of the book has not been seriously assailed,
although the Talmud asserts that it was written by the Great Synagogue, of
which Ezekiel was not a member; and Zunz dated it about 400 B.C. Keil and
Kuenen make Ezekiel both its author and editor; Ewald detects obvious traces of
later elaboration, and suggests that the collection and combination of the
various prophecies into a book may not have been the prophet’s own doing. Graf
believed Ezekiel also the author of part of Leviticus (chaps. 18-23, 25, 26),
and has been followed by many supporters (Chambers’s Encyclopaedia.)
Literary Style of the Book
The style of the book exhibits a falling off from the idiomatic
purity of earlier writers, like Amos or Isaiah. The influence of Aramaic is
more perceptible than in any previous prophet; the construction is loose, and,
as a rule, prosaic; the constant recurrence of mannerisms and set phrases is at
times monotonous, although the lack of variety is often compensated by a large
rhythmic movement of the thought, running like a ground swell through some of
the longer orations. It is, on the whole, the careful style of a literary man,
rather than that of a public speaker in living touch with his audience. With
obscurity it cannot fairly be charged, for the serious difficulties which the
book presents are mostly due to the imperfect condition of the text. Of the
higher qualities of Ezekiel’s genius, the most striking is a powerful and
grandiose imagination, which reveals itself in a variety of directions--now
revelling in weird mythological conceptions, and at other times clothing itself
in artificial realism. That there was a vein of true poetry in his nature is
proved by his effective use of the Kinah or dirge, as well as by the
many fine images which ocour throughout the book. His first conceptions,
indeed, are almost invariably beautiful and true, although to our minds their
aesthetic effect is frequently lost through over-elaboration. Ezekiel is
perhaps not more deficient in plastic power than Hebrew writers generally; but
in his case the defect is more apparent from his love of detail, and his
anxiety to exhaust the didactic significance of every conception before he can
persuade himself to let it go. On the other hand, the prophet’s talent for
lucid and methodical exposition appears to advantage when he comes to deal with
practical and technical matters, as in the description of the sanctuary (chap.
40 ff.). A certain architectural faculty is, in truth, a marked characteristic
of his intellect, being visible alike in his plan of the temple buildings, in
his sketch of the theocratic institutions, and in the orderly arrangement and
division of the book. (John Skinner, D. D.)
The Style of Ezekiel
The visions of Ezekiel are more elaborate and complex than those
of the earlier prophets. Compare, for example, in the opening consecration
vision of Ezekiel, the appearance of the wheels and living creatures (occupying
twenty-five verses in the first chapter) with the more simple and sublime
imagery of Isaiah’s consecration vision (Isaiah 6:1-13). There is a strongly
marked preference by Ezekiel for symbol and parable in his prophetic teaching,
but in comparison with Isaiah and Jeremiah, the representations are far more
overladen with detail, and though there is a certain majestic stateliness of
effect, the total impression falls short of that which is produced by the
earlier prophets. Ezekiel possessed a very keen sense of minute detail, and he
evidently possessed a retentive memory and a mind richly stored with varied and
special information. Of this characteristic a remarkable example is presented
in his oracles on Tyre, especially chap. 27, with its long and elaborate
enumeration of the nationalities and articles of commerce in which they traded
with the great Phoenician emporium. Ezekiel was essentially a literary prophet.
To a far larger extent than in any of his predecessors do we find in him the
reflections of ideas already presented in older literature. His obligations to
his elder contemporary, Jeremiah, are numerous and remarkable (cp. Jeremiah 1:17 with Ezekiel 2:6, and Jeremiah 1:8; Jeremiah 1:17; Jeremiah 15:20 with Ezekiel 3:8 ff., and Jeremiah 24:7; Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:39 with Ezekiel 11:19-20). But he was evidently
an attentive student of earlier oracles. Chap. 16, the highly wrought parable
of the faithless Jerusalem, is evidently based on the leading conception of
Hosea’s oracles, the infidelity of Israel to her Lord Jehovah, shown in foreign
alliances and the adoption of the cult of neighbouring peoples. Isaiah had
already applied the same image to Jerusalem (Isaiah 1:21). That Ezekiel consciously
borrowed from earlier oracles, and was a student of patriarchal histories, is
clear from Ezekiel 38:17; Ezekiel 39:8; Ezekiel 14:14. Moreover, Ezekiel
reproduces the tradition inaugurated by Amos and developed by Isaiah, of
delivering “utterances” (called in the A.V. “burdens”) against foreign nations.
The foreign policy of Ezekiel, it may be observed, closely follows the lines
already marked out by Isaiah and Jeremiah, namely, avoidance of Egypt as an
ally. After the overthrow of Assyria, Babylonia became the dominant power of
Western Asia, and Ezekiel followed Jeremiah in advocating friendship with
Nebuchadnezzar. It is quite evident that, during the lifetime of Ezekiel, there
were no signs of the decay which soon overtook Babylonia after that monarch’s
death. (O. C. Whitehouse, D. D.)
The Contents of the Book
The book seems to be arranged chronologically, and naturally falls
into two divisions of twenty-four chapters each, corresponding to the two great
periods of the prophet’s life. He saw the national catastrophe and survived it,
and his book is occupied with two great subjects--
I. The ruin of the
city and state (1-24).
II. Prophecies of
future restoration and glory (25-48). The treatment throughout is highly
symbolical; and chaps. 40-48, are quite unique in Old Testament literature.
1. The first division (chaps. 1-24) consists of the following
parts:--
2. The second division (chaps. 25-48) consists of the following
parts:
3. The symbolism which is characteristic of Ezekiel’s style shows
itself--
With one of the grandest of these the book opens
The Teaching of Ezekiel
In his teaching Ezekiel shows that he had been influenced by that
of Jeremiah; and he carries out into greater detail, and enforces with more
emphasis, the great truths which that prophet taught. In particular--
1. He insists upon the responsibility of the individual; combating
the prevailing ideas of his time, that the people suffered for the sins of
their fathers (Ezekiel 18:2), and that they were under a
ban which no repentance could remove (Ezekiel 33:10).
2. Like Jeremiah, he pronounces condemnation on the past history of
Israel, and accuses them of idolatry even in Egypt (16, 20:7, 8, 23:3, 8, cp. Jeremiah 7:25; Jeremiah 16:12).
3. Being of priestly family, like Jeremiah, he shows great zeal for
the law (20) and clothes his vision of the final glory in forms borrowed from
the temple and its service (40-48). Yet no two prophets teach more
distinctively the inward spiritual character of religion.
4. Though the new order of things is to be based on individual heart
religion, it will be a Messianic kingdom (Ezekiel 17:22-24), with “David” as prince
forever (Ezekiel 37:24-25). (James Robertson,
D. D.)
Effect of Ezekiel’s Prophecies
From Ezekiel 2:6; Ezekiel 3:7-11, we infer that Ezekiel’s
prophetic declarations awakened at first dislike, and even demonstrations of
hostility, but indications are not wanting that afterwards they secured for him
respectful attention. The exiled elders became his willing listeners and sought
his counsel (Ezekiel 8:1; Ezekiel 14:1 ff; Ezekiel 20:1; Ezekiel 24:18; Ezekiel 33:21 ff.). But Ezekiel 33:32 clearly shows that the
impression which he made upon his hearers was superficial, and that his
addresses attracted them by their beauty of form and their rich imaginative
colouring. (O. C. Whitehouse, D. D.)
Ezekiel’s Place in History
Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, belongs to the stormy transition time of
the Jewish race. He beheld in his early youth those tragic scenes which the
elder prophet heralded with warning voice. Like Jeremiah, he saw his nation’s
midnight darkness, and it was his eagle eye which was to pierce the darkness
and discern clearly the first streaks of dawn. The new Babylonian empire had
succeeded the rapid downfall of the great Northern Assyrian power which, after
the brilliant reign of Asurbanipal, had so suddenly collapsed. The succession
of Babylonia to the inheritance was the more easy because its language and
literature were so nearly the same. Indeed, it possessed a literature, a
language, and a civilisation which was far more ancient; in fact, it was the
parent out of which Assyria was born. Nebucadrezzar, son of Nabopolassar, was
the Babylonian ruler who succeeded to the proud position of the Assyrian
monarch (605 B.C.). (O. C. Whitehouse, D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》