Custom Search

Next (Translation and Textual Issues)
Table of Contents
Henry Neufeld - Religion, Philosophy and Politics

Copyright © 1979 Henry Neufeld.  All Rights Reserved

Ezekiel 1

A Glimpse of the Glory of Yahweh

Introductory Comments

Ezekiel 1 and the Book of Ezekiel

In order to correctly understand any small portion of scripture it is essential to place it in relation to the entire book of scripture in which it is contained as well as the historical context of the period in which it was written.  It is appropriate, therefore, before looking directly at the first chapter of Ezekiel to develop an historical and contextual framework in which to place our study.

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the book of the law had been discovered in the temple.¹  The warnings and judgments contained in it had struck fear to the hearts of the people who read it.  Immediately the word of Huldah the prophetess was called for.  Her message was:

Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book which was read before the king of Judah.  Because they have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore will my wrath be poured out upon this place. .  .  "²  

But, she said, Josiah himself would be spared--the evil would come after his death.³  Upon Josiah's death, it seemed that this word was certain of fulfillment.  Of Jehoiakim (following his [brother] Jehoahaz, who had been deposed by Pharaoh Neco), it is said, "He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God."⁴

At the same time the instrument of destruction was prepared.  In 625 BC Nabopolassar became king of a revived Babylonian empire.⁵ he eliminated the Assyrian empire, and was then prepared to set Babylon on the road to world conquest.  In 605 BC he was replaced by his son Nebuchadnezzar.⁶

Ezekiel was called in the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin.⁷ He was also a captive, probably living in Tel Abib with a group of others.  He was a part of "the beginning of the end."

Due to her continued apostasy, in spite of warnings, God was now allowing Judah to come to her end.  Immediately after Josiah's death in battle, Pharaoh Neco came and took Jehoahaz (Josiah's son), captive and replaced him with Jehoiakim.⁸  In 605 BC the country was taken by Nebuchadnezzar who took some of the most important people captive.  Jehoiakim was continued on the throne as the new conqueror's vassal.  He rebelled, however, and brought the king of Babylon to Judah again.  Killed during an invasion (598 BC) from neighboring nations and a nearby Babylonian garrison, Jehoiakim was thrown outside the city, and Jehoiachin, his son, replaced him.⁹  The new king was to last for only three months, and then he was taken captive to Babylon and replaced on the throne of Judah by his uncle, Zedekiah.

It was with this exile in 597 BC that Ezekiel was taken captive.¹⁰ The exiles continued to regard Jehoiachin as their legitimate king and dated events according to the years of his exile.¹¹

Ezekiel and his Book

There are a number of theories concerning Ezekiel and his work. The traditional view, which is the view that the book takes of itself is that Ezekiel, a priest end the son of Buzi was called to the prophetship while an exile in Babylon, that he ministered there, and finally that he wrote the book that bears his name. This view has not remained unchallenged.  For example, G.  Hölscher suggested that Ezekiel was not an author of prose, but rather, that he was author only of certain poetic sections.  His critical work reduced the length of the book from the current 1273 verses to 144.¹²  C.  C.  Torrey maintained that the entire book was a pseudograph of the 2nd century BC, referring back to the time of Manasseh, while James Smith maintained that Ezekiel was a prophet who actually worked in the time of Manasseh.¹³ H.  Schulz and some others have set forth a "Deutero-Ezekiel theory, which postulates that several passages are not genuine Ezekiel, but rather come from another hand.¹⁴  Eberhard Baumann, in 1955, maintained that while the book generally was written by Ezekiel (not in final form, of course), Ezekiel's ministry was not entirely in Babylonia.  Citing the evidence of Ezekiel's unusual knowledge of events in the homeland, he maintains that the possession of this information would not be possible for one actually living among the exiles.  He visualizes a round-trip: the call occurring in Babylon, the prophet going to Jerusalem to carry out the first part of his mission, and afterwards returning to Babylon with the exile of 587 BC.¹⁵

The most of these theories will have to wait for an answer insofar as they effect the interpretation of Chapter 1 until the commentary section.  It will suffice here to mention a couple of more recent comments.  R.  Tournay analyzes a number of "Babylonisms" in the linguistic structure of the book and states, "Particulièrement nombreux dans son livre, ces babylonismes s'expliquent plus aisément si le prophète vit, parle et ecrit dans un milieu proprement babylonien."¹⁶  W.  Zimmerli, in 1965, states that the work of these and other scholars working in a similar vein " .  .  .  appears to me not to do proper justice to the text."¹⁷ With regard to the Deutero-Ezekiel theory, Zimmerli states, "Die Angaben bleiben in dieser Hinsicht seltsam vage."¹⁸

Thus the general basis for this study will be that the book of Ezekiel is basically a unity, composed by the prophet Ezekiel in Babylon.  The basic dating structure of the book will be taken seriously.

Next (Translation and Textual Issues)