JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

According to Isaiah, Assyria was to perish on the mountains
of Israel, not by the sword of man (14:24ff.; 31:8). In pre-exilic
prophecy, however, the assault of the heathen was punishment
for Israel’s sins, and their collapse must precede Israel’s
redemption. Ezekiel adapted these unfulfilled prophecies to
the exilic situation. A heathen assault could come now only
against a restored Israel, and it could not be punitive. Inspired
by the ancient model of Pharaoh’s fall at the sea, Ezekiel conceives
the motive of the assault to be the prospect of pillaging
a defenseless people (Ex. 15:9); the significance of the heathen’s
fall is derived from the same model: to shed glory on God (Ex.
14:4; cf. Ezek. 39:13).
A Messianic Priestly Code (Kaufmann; chs. 40–48)
Following the general topical order of the priestly writings in
the Pentateuch, a description of the future sanctuary, regulations
for the cult and its personnel, and provisions for settlement
in the land are set out in detail. Modernization and rectification
of past wrongs are pervasive motives.
A VISIONARY TRANSPORTATION TO THE FUTURE TEMPLE
(40:1–43:12; a counterpart to chs. 8–11). A blueprint of the
Temple area is narrated as a tour through its courts, gates, and
rooms, the prophet being guided by an angelic “man” with a
measuring rod and line. The design appears to follow the latest
form of the Solomonic Temple, with some schematization
(e.g., the preference for the number 25; cf. the 25th year,
40:1). The prophet witnesses the return of the divine Majesty
through the east gate, by which it had exited in 11:1, into the
inner sanctum. Thence an oracle issues, condemning the past
contiguity of the palace and the Temple as a defilement of the
latter, and banning it for the future.
ORDINANCES OF THE CULT AND ITS PERSONNEL (43:13–
46:24). These sections deal with the altar, the reorganization
of the clergy (Zadokites alone to remain full priests, the rest
to be degraded to menials for having served at the “idolatrous”
rural sanctuaries), their regulations and perquisites, the
territorial “sacred oblation” which is to be set aside for them
and the temple, a brief cultic calendar. Mention of the “oblation”
attracts regulations concerning the “chieftain” (king),
to whom holdings on each side of the oblation are assigned
(in consequence, his ancient right [or abuse] of expropriation
(I Sam. 8:14) is abolished). Besides his role in the cult,
his responsibility for maintaining justice is touched upon
(45:9ff.).
The discontinuity and loose order of this section suggest
that it is a composite that took shape piecemeal.
THE LIFE-GIVING STREAM ISSUING FROM THE TEMPLE
(47 :1–12). The vision of this marvelous stream, through which
the prophet is led by his angelic guide, bridges the topic of the
Temple and cult and that of the land, which follows.
THE ALLOCATION OF THE LAND (7:13–48:35). The boundaries
of the future Land of Israel are essentially those of Numbers
34:1–12, and consequently exclude Transjordan, histori-
ezekiel
cally Israelite. Another rectification is the right extended to
permanently resident aliens to share in tribal holdings. Yet another
is the equalization of the tribal holdings: all receive equal
latitudinal strips of land with some coastal plain, some highlands,
and some bit of the Jordan-Dead Sea depression. Jerusalem
will bear the new name “YHWH is there” (cf. 37:26–28).
the text and its integrity
According to critical scholars, the text of Ezekiel is among the
most corrupt of the Bible. That technical passages (e.g., the account
of the divine vehicle, the list of Tyre’s merchandise, the
Temple blueprint) – at best difficult to understand – should
have suffered in transmission is not surprising. However, poetry
too has been garbled (cf. chs. 7; 21). The Greek (“Septuagint”)
often provides a remedy, but at the same time raises new
questions because of its frequently shorter text. In the light of
the Greek, the received Hebrew text appears conflate – i.e., it
exhibits variants, synonymous readings, and tags that have
been collected from several versions of the prophet’s words.
The texts of Ezekiel and Jeremiah were peculiarly susceptible
to expansion and the addition of tags owing to the fact that
they are very formulaic, their idiom being modeled upon the
two most highly stylized and formulaic works of early Israelite
tradition – the pentateuchal priestly writings and Deuteronomy
respectively.
On occasion, allusions to events later than the prophecies
that contain them indicate post-event touching up (see,
e.g., on ch. 12, above). Since none reflects events later than
the last-dated item in the book (see below), the assumption
that someone other than the prophet is responsible for them
is unnecessary.
Recurrently, a piece will show a juncture at which a breakdown
in form (20), a skewing of theme (16; 23; 34), or change of
mood (17) appears. Repetitions (see on ch. 33), discontinuities,
and erratic blocks (38–39; 40–48) argue against the originality
and integrity of a piece. But whether such phenomena point to
another hand rather than to later reflections or editorial activity
of the prophet himself is a matter of dispute among critics.
The common assumption that a circle of disciple-transmitters
existed who had a large part in the shaping of the present text
and its disjunctures lacks any evidential basis.
locale and historical background
Information supplied by contemporary records suffices to test
the claim of the book that its contents fall between July 593
and April 571 B.C.E.
Just before breaking off, the Babylonian Chronicle reports
that in December 594 Nebuchadnezzar called out his
army against Syria – for the first time since his conquest of
Jerusalem in 597. It seems hardly coincidental that (a) just at
that time a new king, Psammetichus II, came to the throne
of Egypt, who showed a lively interest in Syria, and (b) an
anti-Babylonian conspiracy of Phoenicians and Palestinians
was formed in Jerusalem in Zedekiah’s fourth year – 594/3
(Jer. 27).
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6 641