The Metaphorical Narratives In The Book Of Ezekiel

Examines eleven passages in the book of the prophet Ezekiel that can be understood as metaphorical narratives. This book includes metaphorical narratives examined in an order where consideration can be given not only to the metaphor itself, but also to the types of metaphors that Ezekiel used.

Sharon Moughtin-Mumby explores metaphor as a tool of persuasion in the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible. She emphasises the importance of context and challenges previous scholarship which has read such language in terms of the concept of 'the marriage metaphor' and the hypothetical background of cultic prostitution.

This multivolume work is still proving to be as fundamental to Old Testament studies as its companion set, the Kittel-Friedrich Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, has been to New Testament studies. Beginning with father, and continuing through the alphabet, the TDOT volumes present in-depth discussions of the key Hebrew and Aramaic words in the Old Testament. Leading scholars of various religious traditions (including Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Greek Orthodox, and Jewish) and from many parts of the world (Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States) have been carefully selected for each article by editors Botterweck, Ringgren, and Fabry and their consultants, George W. Anderson, Henri Cazelles, David Noel Freedman, Shemaryahu Talmon, and Gerhard Wallis. The intention of the writers is to concentrate on meaning, starting from the more general, everyday senses and building to an understanding of theologically significant concepts. To avoid artificially restricting the focus of the articles, TDOT considers under each keyword the larger groups of words that are related linguistically or semantically. The lexical work includes detailed surveys of a word s occurrences, not only in biblical material but also in other ancient Near Eastern writings. Sumerian, Akkadian, Egyptian, Ethiopic, Ugaritic, and Northwest Semitic sources are surveyed, among others, as well as the Qumran texts and the Septuagint; and in cultures where no cognate word exists, the authors often consider cognate ideas. TDOT s emphasis, though, is on Hebrew terminology and on biblical usage. The contributors employ philology as well as form-critical and traditio-historical methods, with the aim of understanding the religious statements in the Old Testament. Extensive bibliographical information adds to the value of this reference work. This English edition attempts to serve the needs of Old Testament students without the linguistic background of more advanced scholars; it does so, however, without sacrificing the needs of the latter. Ancient scripts (Hebrew, Greek, etc.) are regularly transliterated in a readable way, and meanings of foreign words are given in many cases where the meanings might be obvious to advanced scholars. Where the Hebrew text versification differs from that of English Bibles, the English verse appears in parentheses. Such features will help all earnest students of the Bible to avail themselves of the manifold theological insights contained in this monumental work.

In this original study, Dr Davis argues that Ezekiel's place in the history of prophecy is overdue for reassessment. As against current views that Ezekiel represents the collapse of prophetism into priestly and scribal forms, she argues that something radically different in prophecy begins with Ezekiel. Ezekiel represents the creation of a new literary idiom for prophecy. He develops an archival speech form oriented less toward current events than to reshaping the tradition. He has taken a step backward from direct confrontation with an audience as the basic dynamic of communication, and has made the medium of prophecy not the person of the prophet but the text. Like the postexilic prophets, Ezekiel participated in the transformation of the social role of prophecy, and thereby saved himself from oblivion.

This volume includes nine essays that move Ezekiel's creative reuse of older materials to the foreground of discussion. The essays highlight the transformation of earlier texts, traditions, and theology in Ezekiel. They explore the diverse ways thatEzekiel reshapes Israel's legal texts, rituals, oracles against foreign nations, royal ideology, conception of the individual, remembrance of the past, and hope for the future. The work concludes by noting the subsequent transformation of Ezekiel inscribal transmission and in the New Testament.

One of the most perplexing and misunderstood books of the Bible, Ezekiel has left many scholars and exegetes scratching their heads regarding its message, coherency, and interpretation. Brian Peterson's look at the book of Ezekiel as a unified whole set within an exilic context helps explain some of the more difficult symbolic aspects in the book and makes Ezekiel as a whole more intelligible. Drawing on ancient Near Eastern concepts and motifs such as covenant and treaty curses, the various gods that made up the Babylonian pantheon, and the position that Israel held as the people of Yahweh, Peterson enlightens readers by showing that Ezekiel can only be understood in its original context. By placing the book first in its historical context, Peterson demonstrates how the original hearers of its message would have understood it, and how this message can be appreciated and applied by people today as well.

Though interest in the use of metaphor in the Hebrew Bible has gained momentum in recent years, there is, to date, no investigation which concentrates exclusively on the animal metaphors in the book of Jeremiah. In this book, the author brings to light this neglected area of study by examining the language and imagery of the animal metaphors for the people of Israel in the book of Jeremiah. The contribution that these metaphors make to the theology of the book is given special attention, and since different interpretations have been given to many of the metaphors in question, the author resolves some of the questions regarding the meaning of these images in his in-depth study. Additionally, scholars have not tended to research metaphors for the nation of Israel and thus this volume draws attention to a particular subject which has largely been overlooked.In chapter one Foreman familiarizes the reader with the major theoretical approaches to metaphor and spells out the approach taken in his investigation. Eighteen metaphors are then thoroughly analyzed in chapters two, three, and four. These metaphors are grouped into three categories, each of which constitutes a chapter: pastoral metaphors, mammal metaphors, and bird metaphors. Chapter five draws the results of the inquiry together. This study reveals how animal metaphors make important theological claims about the nation of Israel and demonstrates that they are essential elements of the message of the book of Jeremiah. Foreman's elucidation of the language and imagery of the animal metaphors for the people of Israel leads to a richer understanding of these metaphors and ultimately contributes to a more precise interpretation of the message of the book of Jeremiah as a whole.

Sharon Moughtin-Mumby considers the often unrecognised impact of different approaches to metaphor on readings of the prophtic sexual and marital metaphorical language. She outlines a practical and consciously simplified approach to metaphor, placing strong emphasis on the influence of literary context on metaphorical meaning. Drawing on this approach, she read Hosea 4-14, Jeremiah 2:1-4:4, Isaiah, Ezekiel 16 and 23, and Hosea 1-3 with fresh eyes. Her lucid new readings reveal the way in which scholarship has repeatedly stifled the prophetic metaphorical language by reading it within the 'default contexts' of 'the marriage metaphor' and 'cultic prostitution', which for so many years have been simply assumed. Readers are encouraged instead to read these diverse metaphors and similes within their distinctive literary contexts in which they have the potential to rise vividly to life, provoking the question: how are we to respond to these disquieting, powerful texts in the midst of the Hebrew Bible?