Expanding Ezekiel

Timothy P. Mackie focuses on the quantitative differences between the Greek and Hebrew text witnesses of the book of Ezekiel and explores the interrelationships between the production, transmission, and interpretation of scriptural scrolls by Jewish scribes during the late Second Temple period. A comparison of the Hebrew Masoretic text and Greek Septuagint versions of Ezekiel provides a large body of evidence for the phenomenon of "scribal expansion," instances where scribes added words and phrases into the body of the text.Mackie starts off by laying out a methodology for identifying scribal additionsamong the many textual differences between the Hebrew and Greek text-forms of Ezekiel. Having compiled an index of such quantitative differences, he proposes a descriptive typology for categorizing and analyzing the different types of additions in order to understand their purpose and significance. The body of the book is a commentary on all the various types of scribal expansion.The scribal additions in Ezekiel show how scribes expressed reverence for the text's divine authority, by not only by preserving the sacred text, but supplementing it in order to increase its coherence and clarity for future readers. They also demonstrate an awareness of an emerging collection of scriptural scrolls in the post-exilic Judean community and represent attempts to coordinate Ezekiel with other parts of that collection.Ultimately, the scribal expansions in Ezekiel provide a glimpse into the intersection of scriptural interpretation, scribal production, and the transmission of these texts. Mackie's Conclusions are relevant not only for text-critical scholarship on the Hebrew Bible, but also for research on the early history of Jewish scriptural exegesis and scribal culture.

The first twenty-four chapters of the book of Ezekiel are characterised by vehement declarations of judgement. This observation leaves the impression that Ezekiel 1–7 is devoid of references to hope and restoration. However, there is a redactional stratum in this section that supplemented the texts with material that conveys restoration and hope for the future. In Ezekiel 1–7, many of these additions focus on priestly topics. The motif of restoration in the redactional material of Ezekiel 3–5 is expressed by the reinstatement of Ezekiel in his priestly role. This editorial emphasis on Ezekiel as priest in the redactional material suggests that the redaction was influenced by Zechariah 3, a text that depicts the reinstitution of the exiled Zadokite priesthood. Moreover, the redactional material of Ezekiel 6-7 drew inspiration from the Law of the Temple in Ezekiel 43-46, as the redactors sought to enhance Ezekiel’s priestly role. The study provides new insights into how redactors, who may have been associated with the Zadokite priesthood, inserted the message of hope and restoration into the literary unit Ezekiel 1-7 during the post-exilic period.

Jason Gile argues that the ideas of Deuteronomy influenced Ezekiel's response to the crisis surrounding the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile in significant ways, shaping how he saw Israel's past history of rebellion against Yahweh, present situation of divine judgment, and future hope of restoration. By examining Ezekiel's use of Deuteronomy's language and concepts, Gile stresses that the prophet not only accepted distinctive elements of Deuteronomic theology but in some cases drew from specific texts. The main body of this volume describes Deuteronomy's influence on Ezekiel under five main categories: Ezekiel's language and conception of idolatry, the rise and fall of Israel in chapter 16, Ezekiel's view of Israel's history in chapter 20, the scattering of Israel as an image for exile, and the related motif of gathering as an image for return to the land. Gile concludes that Ezekiel's use of its language for his messages of indictment, judgment, and hope shows that the prophet regarded Deuteronomy, along with the Holiness Code, as Yahweh's torah given to Israel in the wilderness.

The current state of scholarship on the book of Ezekiel, one of the three Major Prophets, is robust. Ezekiel, unlike most pre-exilic prophetic collections, contains overt clues that its primary circulation was as a literary text and not a collection of oral speeches. The author was highly educated, the theology of the book is "dim," and its view of humanity is overwhelmingly negative. In The Oxford Handbook of Ezekiel, editor Corrine Carvalho brings together scholars from a diverse range of interpretive perspectives to explore one of the Bible's most debated books. Consisting of twenty-seven essays, the Handbook provides introductions to the major trends in the scholarship of Ezekiel, covering its history, current state, and emerging directions. After an introductory overview of these trends, each essay discusses an important element in the scholarly engagement with the book. Several essays discuss the history of the text (its historical context, redactional layers, text criticism, and use of other Israelite and near eastern traditions). Others focus on key themes in the book (such as temple, priesthood, law, and politics), while still others look at the book's reception history and contextual interpretations (including art, Christian use, gender approaches, postcolonial approaches, and trauma theory). Taken together, these essays demonstrate the vibrancy of Ezekiel research in the twenty-first century.

The Book of Ezekiel is certainly one of the strangest books to survive from antiquity and has been the source of much speculation throughout centuries, by Jews, Christians, and atheists alike. Ezekiel's opening vision, of the flying machine, was the source of an entire branch of Jewish literature, Merkabah mysticism. Merkabah, which translates as 'chariot,' developed during the Second Temple era, and had a major impact on early Christian literature, although was ultimately abandoned by both Jews and Christians. The Christians abandoned the 'cloud literature' during the creation of orthodoxy, and the Talmud includes many interdictions concerning Merkabah speculation. Merkabah, and the Heikhalot literature that developed from it, ultimately fell out of favor in the 11th century AD. The Book of Ezekiel recounts a series of visions that Ezekiel had over the course of his life, in the late-600s and early-500s BC. Most of Ezekiel's prophecies were set during the rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and his view of who the Israelites were, is fundamentally different than the view generally expressed. According to Ezekiel, the Israelites were Canaanites, the descendants of Amorites and Minoans (or Hittites in an alternate interpretation). This is clearly not the view that was popular in Judah, either when it was independent, or later under Babylonian or Persian rule. Several contradictions exist between the writings of Ezekiel and the Torah, which suggests that the Torah was not fully composed at the time, or if it was composed, not in circulation where Ezekiel lived. It is also a fact that Ezekiel did not mention Moses or Aaron, yet did refer to the Israelites leaving Egypt, which Moses and Aaron were central to. He mentioned Job and Noah, as well as the ancient Canaanite hero Danel, and Abraham, but under his older name Abram, suggesting that he had not read Genesis, in which Abram's name was changed to Abraham. The description of Ezekiel's thunder god, or his flying chariot, or his flying wheels, depending on the interpreter, is by far the strangest part of the book. It contains many references to electricity, which were generally omitted from early translations due to the belief that electricity was magical nonsense. The rediscovery of electricity in the early-modern era was largely based on the Classical Greek records of their experiments with amber, which is where William Gilbert derived the English term electricity from, êlectrou, meaning amber. The earliest surviving record of experimentation with electrostatic fields was by Thales of Miletus, who lived between approximately 624 and 548 BC, which is the same time as the life of Ezekiel, circa 630 to 545 BC. Ezekiel mentions the Greek city of Miletus in his books but does not mention visiting the place, nevertheless, there is no reason to assume Thales's experiments into static charges were the first, or unique at the time.

An introduction to the study of Ezekiel that lays out for the reader the central issues for the interpretation of the book of Ezekiel. After explaining how the message of the prophet was relevant to the exilic situation in which he lived, this thorough guide shows how later generations shaped, transmitted, and used Ezekiel in their own communities. The book summarizes the literary shape and contents of Ezekiel, then examines the theories and methodologies used in current scholarship that explain the formation of Ezekiel. Lyons next explains for the reader the theology and major themes of Ezekiel, and closes by evaluating how the arguments of Ezekiel relate to each other as a coherent rhetorical strategy.

In Language Contact, Colonial Administration, and the Construction of Identity in Ancient Israel, Boyd offers the first book-length incorporation of language contact theory with data from the Bible. It allows for a reexamination of the nature of contact between biblical authors and the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Achaemenid empires.

A fresh interpretation of the final major sections of the Hebrew book of Ezekiel, chapters 38-48 Stephen L. Cook offers an accessible translation and interpretation of the final sections of Ezekiel. These chapters, the most challenging texts of scripture, describe the end-time assault of Gog of Magog on Israel and provide an incredible visionary tour of God's utopian temple. Following the approach of Moshe Greenberg, the author of the preceding Anchor Yale Bible commentaries on Ezekiel, this volume grounds interpretation of the book in an intimate acquaintance with Ezekiel's source materials, its particular patterns of composition and rhetoric, and the general learned, priestly workings of the Ezekiel school. The commentary honors Greenberg's legacy by including insights from traditional Jewish commentators, such as Rashi, Kimhi, and Eliezer of Beaugency. In contrast to preceding commentaries, the book devotes special attention to the Zadokite idea of an indwelling, anthropomorphic "body" of God, and the enlivening effect on people and land of that indwelling.